Category Archives for Articles
How Watching TV Can Make You a Better Writer
What’s your favorite TV show to fold laundry to? You know, the one you can half pay attention to and still keep up with the plot?
Maybe you don’t have any shows you only half-watch because everything on TV right now is so good. Peak TV is a real thing.
Or maybe you think watching TV is a waste of time. It’s a “guilty pleasure” or a purely leisure activity.
I’ve seen writers who encourage others to trade TV watching for book reading, but those activities don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Yes, to be a really good writer, you have to be a really good reader. But, my friends, there is some excellent TV on right now. And if you want to be a better writer, you should be watching some of it.
How to Use a Rubber Duck to Beat Writer’s Block
It’s writer’s block: the moment you run into a mental wall while writing and can’t think of a good idea or a way to continue your story, paragraph, or even a single sentence. All creatives run into this problem at some point. Most run into it rather frequently. Sometimes it gets so bad that people give up on their creative pursuits entirely.
Thankfully, there’s a solution to the problem. It’s well-known in computer programming circles, but writers can use it, too: Talk to a rubber duck.
How To Define and Use Your Brand Voice
In a world filled to the brim with different products, services, and brands to choose from, it can be difficult for a brand to stand out. Yet, many companies have managed to break out of the masses, sometimes even creating cult followings. So what are they doing right?
A critical element of successful brands is their voice. Take Apple, for example. Its ads, with concise sentences, minimalist presentation, and a strong emphasis on “cool,” set Apple up as having modern, innovative, and must-have products, and the audience eats it right up.
You may not be aspiring to be a tech startup of Apple-like proportions (or maybe you are!), but one thing that is consistent across businesses of all kinds is the need for a strong brand voice. Small businesses, especially, can benefit from how a solid and consistent voice maximizes their marketing efforts.
Brand voice is what a brand says and how it says it; it’s how a brand conveys its personality, attitudes, and values to its audience. Brand voice creates an image for the company that will stick in the consumer’s mind and make them more likely to choose that product or service.
This is how you build brand loyalty—it’s how your audience recognizes you, and an important part of creating a brand that they know, like, and trust.
4 Compelling Reasons You Need to Make Time for Your Passion Project
Losing a client is an unfortunate reality of running a service-based business.
That’s exactly what happened to me in June after I landed what I thought was a dream client for my communications agency JL&Co.
(Spoiler: I was very, very wrong.)
We parted ways after just two weeks of working together, and I suddenly found myself with an abundance of free time for the summer.
As many entrepreneurs know, summer tends to be a slower time in the business world. I receive fewer inquiries than other times of the year and rarely start on new client projects between June and August.
With this knowledge in mind, I decided to transform my temporary setback into an opportunity.
Instead of seeking out new client work, I turned my attention to a few personal projects that I’ve pushed to the back burner because of my busy work schedule.
I called it “The Summer of Passion Projects.”