Does your marketing content fulfill buyer hopes?Does your marketing content fulfill buyer hopes?Or does it give your buyers paper cuts?Imagine your ideal customer, a prospect who’d be PERFECT for you, reviewing a piece of your content.It doesn’t matter what content. Maybe they’re sitting on a landing page to download a white paper or reading your latest […]
Before we get into the journaling…Do you know why the work of building a business is so hard?It’s because we’re building something from scratch.We’re creating something that, at one time, existed nowhere but in our hearts and minds.This may sound blasphemous—it did to my heart when the thought first arose—but creating and running a business […]
How would you like to attract more clients into your business the way a sex god might attract … sex addicts? Wouldn’t that be lovely?Okay, the “sex god” thing is a bit of a stretch, but it got your attention, right?I want you to know, for reputation’s sake, that the idea didn’t just spring forth from […]
Hey there, reader! Renae Gregoire here. I’ve long been fascinated by the Middle Ages, when the Black Death, or bubonic plague, killed 20 million people in Europe. The last major outbreak of plague happened in London in the mid 1600’s, and the article that follows, reprinted with permission, shows how that outbreak is similar to the COVID outbreak […]
The first time you work with a marketing writer and editor (like me), you may be in for a rude awakening — like a slap in the face. Not that I want to be rude. In fact, I try to deliver bad news to my clients as gently a possible. Bad news about your content might sound something […]
Clarity is so freaking important to your business. Your website has to be clear. Your course material has to be clear. Your lead magnets have to be clear. Your landing pages have to be clear. Your offers have to be clear. Because Clarity is so dang crucial to the success of your marketing materials, I’d like to push you to look […]
I love the work I do. Here I am, creating content, writing and thinking about Clarity, in an effort to help YOU gain Clarity so you, in turn, can create content that delivers clear messages and Clarity to your audience. This is important work! The following quote from Kayla Severson explains it well, both what I’m doing and […]
Trying to increase two habits I long for: reading and blogging time. Hey there. I’m Renae, an online business owner since 2002. Running and growing that business, along with raising a family from toddlers to college students, has taken up much of my time — including my reading and blogging time. And even though my reading and blogging time […]
Tune in for a talk about blogs and bloggingGood news! On Friday, August 13th at 10 am EDT, Julian Leahy will interview me for his FollowJulian.com interview series. We’ll talk about blogging … how to use a blog to grow your business … and how to keep the ideas flowing when the initial jubilation of “blogging” has […]
Do you see what your customers and prospects see? Running a business can be kind of strange. Here we are, doing this thing we do, selling that thing we sell. Trying to get the word out. Trying to get our product or service in front of our ideal customers. It’s a lot of work, right? We’re busy scurrying here and there, […]
To blog … or not to blog?I’ve been talking a lot about blogging lately. I created a blogging card deck, a 30-day blogging challenge, and I’m working on a program to help solopreneurs and small business owners jumpstart their writing confidence along with their blogs. It’s been “Blog this, blog that, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog” around […]
You’re a solopreneur. Now what? I love being a solopreneur. I love peeling back, refining, and communicating deeper and deeper layers of talent, all with the glorious goal of serving my ideal clients and in some ways changing the world. Yeah, that’s lofty. But it’s also true. If you’re a solopreneur, then your goal might be something similar. You hold […]
Do you want to publish a blog? If you want to write blog posts, either for your blog or for other people’s blogs, but you know you’re no Hemingway, then this blog post is for you. (I’m no Hemingway either, and here I am, blogging.) Shoot, this post is for you even if you feel like Elaine […]
Hint: My confidence had more to do with role models than with writing Dateline: Freshman Year in College, 1994“Wake up, class!” Professor Harrison boomed, a big smile on his face, quickly clapping his hands twice by his right ear, as if clapping would jostle the remnants of sleep from our bleary, first-period eyes.He […]
Welcome to my bookshelves! Salutations! I’m very happy you’re here! I love to share my favorite books (nearly as much as I love reading them!), so it is my pleasure to take you on a brief journey to explore the treasures on my bookshelves. Note that I wrote this post several years ago as part of an […]
Pro or con? Choose your side, and stick with it! Have you seen this chart by Hubspot, on when it’s okay to use an exclamation point? You can click in below for a closer view, but what I really want you to see is the spoiler (in the blue box) at the top of the image. It says, […]
Sometimes even good writers need a reminderWhile watching a recording of a live event for the design industry yesterday, one of the speakers surprised me when she mentioned how she became a stronger writer by eliminating one word from her communications. As soon as she mentioned the word (I’ll tell you what it is in a […]
The Internet is like our oceans … filled with garbage. One day, while I was out on the Internet, doing typical Internet-y things — Facebooking, following links, reading articles — I discovered what seemed to be an intriguing article, both by the vivid image and promised topic: 10 colors that increase sales, and why. Sounds good. Looks […]
What happens when you try to sell ice to Eskimos?Before I became a product creator and writing coach, I used to troll all the job boards looking for writing and editing work. Believe me, applying for “gigs” is about appealing as I imagine that getting back into the dating scene would be after being married for […]
I am the walrus….As a professional who happens to be blessed to work out of a home office, I spend many hours each day in the solitude of my home. And I like it. I like it a lot. That said, there are some days — many days, actually — when I long for beats and rhythms to […]
Let me be luuuuuuminousEvery day during the 30 Day Blogging Challenge, I’m drawing a set of cards from my soon-to-be-available Blog Post Inspiration Deck. One of the cards today is luminosity. Luminosity. Luminous. I love that word, both the sound of it … luuuminous … and the diverse images it brings to my mind. Like … a sunbeam, […]
When I started my business back in 2002, I was on a mission. I wanted to help small business owners, solopreneurs, and marketers lead more people to YES with clear content and strong positioning that would differentiate them online and offline. As time went on, my motives became less altruistic. Growing more and more tired of crappy […]
