Hi Reader, One of the challenges of running a business for a long time is that you stop noticing things. The language you use every day feels ordinary because you've been saying it for years. The problems you solve seem obvious because you've solved them hundreds of times. The questions clients ask over and over again begin to feel so familiar that it's hard to imagine someone not understanding the answer. I've come to think of that as living inside the bottle. You can't read the label from...
7 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, Years ago, an insurance agency that offered both personal and commercial insurance hired me to write a client newsletter. The goal was simple. They wanted to stay in touch throughout the year so clients didn't feel like the only time they heard from their insurance agent was when it was time to renew a policy. That made perfect sense. We didn't spend much time reminding people that accidents happen or that they should review their policies. Instead, we showed what good insurance...
14 days ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, I have a homework assignment for you. The next time you're talking with someone who knows you well—a client, a colleague, a referral partner, or a friend—ask them one question. "If someone asked what I do, what would you tell them?" Then resist the urge to interrupt. Don't clarify. Don't explain what you meant. Just listen. Their answer will tell you something interesting. Sometimes they'll describe your business exactly the way you'd hoped. More often than not, they'll reach for...
21 days ago • 1 min read
Greetings Reader, Every once in a while, I have the privilege of working on a project that reminds me why I love this work. The new website for Brightway Advisors is one of those projects. What made it special wasn't simply the finished website. It was the way it came together. Every great website starts long before anyone writes a headline. In this case, it started with strategy. Marketing strategist Susan Gold worked closely with the Brightway Advisors team to clarify who they are becoming...
26 days ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, A lot of people come to me because they think they need a new website. The homepage feels dated. The About page has never quite sounded right. The business has changed, and they're convinced what they need is better copy. That's certainly where the conversation starts. It almost never ends there. Somewhere along the way, we stop talking about the website and start talking about the business. The clients they most enjoy working with. The work they've quietly become known for. The...
28 days ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, We may be getting ready to celebrate the end of summer, but today is my Very Boston Super Bowl: Allston Christmas. For the uninitiated, this is the biggest move day of the year across Greater Boston, and the sidewalks of Allston become a treasure hunt of furniture, lamps, questionable couches, and the occasional perfectly good bookshelf just waiting for its second act. It is chaos. It is community. It is, in my life at least, a holiday. And in what remains one of my finer...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, One of the questions I hear most often is, "What actually happens in a Voice Clarity Intensive?" The easiest way to answer that is to tell you what happened with one of my clients. He came to me because his employee benefits firm had a name that sounded more like a marketing agency. He assumed the company name was getting in the way. It wasn't. He wasn't about to change the company name. What he needed was language that made it immediately obvious what he did. People hire...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, One of my favorite moments in client work is when we realize we've been trying to solve the wrong problem. That happened recently with a client who owns a college admissions consulting business. She came to me because she wanted to create a thought leadership brand alongside her business—something that would speak more directly to parents and support them through the college application process. It seemed straightforward enough. The longer we talked, the more I realized we weren't...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, One of my favorite expressions is this: You can't read the label when you live inside the bottle. It's why writing your own website is so difficult. It's also why AI can only take you so far. Neither one can solve the biggest challenge: proximity. When you've spent years building a business, it's hard to tell the difference between what everybody knows and what only you know. The assumptions become invisible. The language feels obvious. The stories you've told a hundred times no...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
