Home | Stella Orange Wordsmith

Take off your fancypants.

Published June 19, 2012

Quit trying to dazzle people

True story: before I wrote copy, I wrote short plays.

The last play I wrote was based on my friendship with two dear friends. It was a deeply personal piece called “The Things We Lost (Socks We Miss The Most)” about 4 women who go into the woods in search of everything they’d ever lost in their lives. (Heady, right?).

I loved that play so much. Sometimes I made myself cry when I was writing it, because it was so personally meaningful to me. I felt that I was being vulnerable and taking risks… expressing how much I loved and … Read the rest >

Posted in brand + message, copywriting, how to write

The world’s worst geishas.

Published June 12, 2012

It’s not about you. It’s about them.

Picture a geisha.

She’s lovely. She’s charming. She knows how to tell stories and dance and play an instrument. Her wit is disarming. She makes you laugh and can speak artfully. She asks you questions, and she is genuinely interested in what you have to say.

It would make you feel like the world revolves around you. Wouldn’t it?

But then the conversation takes a turn. She starts talking about how it took her several hours to do her hair and makeup. She tells you that she’s been taking fan dancing lessons in a little town outside the city every … Read the rest >

Posted in brand + message, copywriting, how to write

4 things to do when you don’t know what to write

Published June 5, 2012

There is something about pen and paper that shifts the way you think

Sweet petunias!

Hopping horseradish!

Sparkling seahorses!

I knew this day would come.

The day I reveal to you that I don’t always know what to write about.

It’s perfect, actually.

Because it’s Monday night, and I just got home from improv class. Where a bunch of adults agree to suspend the normal rules of interaction, talk gibberish, make things up, and see what happens.

(Tonight, I was a stewardess, a scuba instructor, and a 14-year-old auditioning for the Village People).

And the whole thing about improv is that whatever you do is okay. Which is a message that we Recovering … Read the rest >

Posted in brand + message, copywriting, how to write

5 Simple Steps to a Clearer Message

Published May 29, 2012

Is your message "mealy"?

There’s a rampant problem out there, superstars. And it’s gutting your ability to win raving fans and high-caliber clients from your newsletter, website, and emails.

I call it the “mealy message.”

Have you ever bitten into an apple that’s mealy?

They may look all shiny and red, but when you bite into them, they make your mouth say “yuk”! The texture is all grainy and gross. The flavor is bland. And no amount of convincing can get you to take another bite.

Mealy messages are the same.

And if you can’t get your readers to keep reading… if you can’t … Read the rest >

Posted in brand + message, copywriting

Is your message attracting cheapskates?

Published May 22, 2012

Tire kickers + cheapskates are not ideal clients

This whole “message in your marketing” thing is a slippery fish.

But it’s a slippery fish that really can make or break your business.

Case in point: if your message and words are attracting clients who can’t afford you. (Or worse: who can afford you, but don’t want to.)

Now, of course, it makes sense to look within to your own beliefs about money and self-worth.

But it also makes sense to look at your message and evaluate what you are “putting out there.”

Here are some of the ways your message may be attracting cheapskate clients:

1) You talk … Read the rest >

Posted in brand + message, copywriting, how to be

The magical money-making unicorn

Published May 15, 2012

Online marketing is not a magical unicorn

Lately, I’ve grown fond of saying that online marketing is not some magical, money-making unicorn.

Mostly because I keep talking to people who think it is.

As far as I can tell, they seem to believe that having a website means you get a golden ticket to ride the magical money-making unicorn.

And that “having a list” means your computer magically turns into an ATM machine that spits out hundred dollar bills.

As fun as that sounds…

I wonder if any of them ever had pets.

Because if they had, they would know that unicorns, like any other pet, require … Read the rest >

Posted in brand + message, copywriting, how to be

Take yourself seriously

Published May 8, 2012

Fooling around with your marketing?

Stella’s undies are all twisted up. And it’s making her kinda crankypants.

I’ve been talking to too many service professionals who have their sights set on greatness.

They have some ambitious goals for their business.

They want some serious income. But the problem is…

They aren’t taking themselves seriously.

Because to grow your business with online marketing, you gotta take yourself seriously.

What does that mean, exactly?

You have to hustle. For example, you must hustle your buns to write your newsletter every week. Even when you are tired. Even when the day exploded on you and you’d rather

… Read the rest >

Posted in brand + message, copywriting, how to be

The tough love talk

Published May 1, 2012

You need more than online marketing to grow you biz

Dear ambitious service professional,

I love your drive.

I admire your moxie.

And I really, really want to work with you to craft your message and start your movement.

But here’s the thing: I am talking to too many smart business owners who have convinced themselves that all they need is online marketing + words to make them money.

And it just isn’t true.

Here’s a partial list of what else you need:

- a plan for how you will systematically promote your work
- clarity about what your business is and how you make money at it
- other … Read the rest >

Posted in brand + message, copywriting, how to be

The big 5 writing problems (and the cure)

Published April 24, 2012

Get the roadmap, I’ll help you make your message your own

When you intend to use online marketing to grow your business, there are 5 problems that crop up

1. Finding time to write everything
2. How long it takes to research, post, publish and send
3. What to write – a.k.a. your message
4. What to write – not your message, but which strategy to use
5. How to persuade people using words

I spend a whole 6 months in my Uncork Your Message lab teaching my clients how to do this. But I see this dense thicket of problems causing such trouble for service professionals—I can’t keep it to … Read the rest >

Posted in brand + message, copywriting, how to be

Like playing tennis on a plane.

Published April 16, 2012

Are you trying to be too fancy in your writing?

There’s two kinds of writing in this world, when it comes to marketing your business.

Regular and too fancy.

Regular is when you just say “here’s what I’m selling” and just—PLUNK—put it out there. A lot of fliers do this. Unfortunately, so do a lot of emails.

Regular writing doesn’t work so well when it comes to promoting your business.

Because regular writing rarely answers the question “what’s in it for me?”… which is the question that your reader is asking herself. Without talking in HER language about the results SHE wants, your stuff falls on deaf ears. Or … Read the rest >

Posted in brand + message, copywriting, how to be, how to write