Use your words.

This week, a question from the mailbag:

Dear Stella,

My biggest challenge in writing about my work is how truthfully articulate what the actual benefits are from what I’m offering.

I feel like I can kinda sorta come up with stuff to say based on what I’ve seen on other people’s sales pages, but being able to really articulate what I TRULY offer and how it’s different is where I really get stuck.

So the page sounds like every other “do this and your life will be saved” kind of sales page. Yuck.

For many business owners, … Read the rest >

Is doing it alone taking its toll?

Last night, I read an article in Inc. Magazine about solo entrepreneurs.

It said that the biggest pitfalls for solo entrepreneurs are loneliness, inertia, and not having a sounding board to talk through your ideas and decisions.

Amen and hallelujah.

I’ve been talking to business owners about their goals, challenges, and dreams, and the thing that keeps coming up is that we aren’t talking to other people enough.

Not in the polite way.

In the real, open, receptive “I’ve done everything I know how to do and so I’m ready to listen to … Read the rest >

Tip #3 - Find your person in the crowd. Talk to THEM!

So, I’ve spent the past two weeks looking at other people’s copy.

I hosted a Copy Makeover call a couple weeks ago, so I got the chance to see what different business owners are working on, and what they’re having a hard time with.

I had a couple takeaways that I wanted to share with you. First, so you know you’re not the only one wrestling with this. And two, to give a little peek into how I think about copywriting in a bigger context.

Specifically, in the … Read the rest >

Cultivate ways to let your mind go blank…

Sheer and utter exhaustion.
Feeling completely spent.
Bone tired.

You are a go-getter. You love what you do. You work like your heart’s on fire. It matters – and then again, it’s play for you. You laugh, because you get to do THIS… and share THIS with people.

You’re one of the crazy ones.

For whom “work” and “play” don’t fit into neat little boxes. They blend. They dance. They mix.

Which is wonderful, most of the time.

And horrible, some of the time.

Because when your business is rooted in a … Read the rest >

You are the mama bear, and your creativity is your cub.

Ideas flow through you.
Muses sing to you.
And yah… you make things up. Regularly.

For all the praise of creativity in entrepreneur land, there doesn’t seem to be a how-to manual for how to keep your spigot of good ideas on… and grow your business at the same time.

In fact, the two goals can often seem in opposition.

Growing your business requires you to be regular, methodical, predictable.

Shout it from the rooftops!

"Being creative asks you to be relaxed, open, receptive."

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