Branding with Words

01/04/2024

Seth Godin says writer’s block is no more of a thing that speaker’s block is.

I can’t help but agree with him but I do this for a living so my might be a little skewed.

But if you do have trouble getting started, I’ve put together a quick little list of things that you can do to help you grease the wheels.

Read to the end, I have something special for you.

➡ What happened to you today? Is there something you can draw a lesson from? I don’t mean laying your personal life all over the socials, that would be weird, but I mean in your business. Someone will learn from that. Your everyday could be someone else’s life changing.

➡ Start with the main point or takeaway of your email, then work backwards to write a story that illustrates or supports that message.

➡ To use a technical term, in media res, start in the middle of the action. My favourite opening line of a novel is in Iain Banks’ The Crow Road, “It was the day my grandmother exploded”. Of course you’d want to know why and what happened next.

➡ What’s happening around you? You never know what’s going to inspire you. Listen to things going on around you, eavesdrop on conversations, news articles or social media posts.

➡ Try hypothetical scenarios or thought experiments: “What if" is an interesting way to start an email. What could your reader learn?

➡ Ask your friends. It can be fun to brainstorm with others.

➡ If all else fails, just write the first thing that comes into your head. Then the second. And the third. And continue. It will come good in the end. Never underestimate the power of crossing out.

So once you get started, what about getting the emails done with stories and calls to actioin and all that jazz?

I'm running a four-week workshop to teach you to write an email sequence:

✅ Learn how to make your email more engaging and memorable and build relationships with customers with storytelling.

✅ Get clarity on ideas and stories that matter to your customers

✅ Get the confidence to write your own email sequence with your stories to use in your marketing and increase your engagement and sales.

Storify Your Emails Basic costs just £99. Get more hands on support personal coaching from me for just £199.

More info here

Ready to write an email sequence that people will actually read?Get a process for using your stories to sell more in your emails and never struggle for inspiration againFrom just £99 Have you sat at a blank screen hoping for inspiration longer than you waited at the baggage pickup for your suitcase...

27/03/2024

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Mike Garner
Mike GarnerMike Garner
• You• You
Selling with stories using email with character | Email Copywriter and Brand Storytelling Mentor | Author: Stories That Matter | BilingualSelling with stories using email with character | Email Copywriter and Brand Storytelling Mentor | Author: Stories That Matter | Bilingual
1m • 1m •

Writing an email is challenging for some people. Writing an entire sequence is off the chart scary.

That's okay, if you've never done it before, I quite understand the kind of problems that can pose. it's not your job, why should you be an expert in it?

So here's what you get when you join the Storify Your Emails workshop:

Week 1: What you need to write emails with impact
▶ Introduction to story-driven email marketing and why storytelling is crucial for email engagement with some examples
▶ Brainstorm to uncover personal experiences
▶ The email storytelling framework
Week 2: Engaging Email Narratives
▶ Analyse storytelling elements in successful email sequences
▶ Understand emotional triggers that resonate with readers
▶ Techniques for maintaining reader engagement throughout the email
Week 3: Different Stages of Email Stories
▶ What are the stages of the customer journey?
▶ Stories that educate and nurture leads effectively
▶ Stories that highlight success stories and social proof
Week 4: Editing and Reviewing for Email Success
▶ Reviewing and editing email content for clarity and impact
▶ Make sure the sequence makes sense
▶ Celebrate all our successes

There are four weekly calls and Slack group, so you can talk to others about your work and maybe… network.

So if you struggle with emails, don't know how to do them or simply need a kick up the backside to get them done, please join us.

I'd love to see you there.

https://www.storiesthatmatter.co/storify-your-emails

26/03/2024

Daddy, where do stories come from?

From the story fairy. Everyone knows that.

Of course they don’t. Fairies don’t exist.

Well, they might.

Because if the story fairy does exist, you have to coax it out of you.

There’s a system for that in the Storify Your Emails workshop.

Storify Your Emails will run like this:

Week 1 - Set some goals
Week 2 - What problem do you solve and why are you best to solve it
Week 3 - You are the expert
Week 4 - The magic sauce of getting people to sign up.

It starts April 9th, just after Easter

Storify Your Emails costs £99 (is that all?)
Storify Your Emails Plus with extra bonuses is £199 - ask me what you get.

This is a launch price that probably won't be the same next time.

Join us here

Ready to write an email sequence that people will actually read?Get a process for using your stories to sell more in your emails and never struggle for inspiration againFrom just £99 Have you sat at a blank screen hoping for inspiration longer than you waited at the baggage pickup for your suitcase...

25/03/2024

Tomorrow, I will write those emails. I'll definitely do it tomorrow.

There are more important things to do today. Far more important things.

- I must procrasti-clean the old silverware/clear out the garage (delete as applicable).
-There's a cake to bake for that kids party at the weekend. Not my kid, someone else's
- Plan the holiday. Flight sell out quickly, you know?
Because writing a sequence of emails to people you hardly know is well… awkward.

In fact, the idea of sending any sales email to people brings you out in a cold sweat.

Well, maybe I exaggerated a little there, but you get the meaning.

Starting April 9, I'll be running a four week workshop to teach you how to write an email sequence using your stories.

This is a hands–on and do-the-work affair, but by the end of it, you have an email sequence you can use in your marketing and you have learnt the skills you need to write many more.

All for just £99

I've been writing emails, using stories for the best part of 10 years … I love doing them and they do their job like no other method of communication.

Top copywriter, Kira Hug, who founded the world's most popular podcast for copywriters said:

"When you start collaborating with a copywriter for the first time, and you have no idea what to expect… Every once in a while, you're blown away by the writing talent and beautiful mind of the copywriter you just hired. The writing hits the mark, and then some. The writing actually accused the desired effect (and increase in sales and seems almost effortless.

DM me and I'll send you the details.

It will be lovely to work with you.

05/04/2022

IKEA it is not. These things weigh a tonne.

05/04/2022

There comes a point in every story where there’s a resolution. When you get to the happy ending and, in our case, when the kitchen is installed as it will start to be today.

But that is only part of the story. Because once the kitchen is installed another adventure begins filling it up, moving into it, getting used to it and enjoying it.

A well-constructed marketing story never really ends. How’s your story shaping up? What’s your system for delivering joy?

If you want help increasing your conversion and scaling your business, i do free, 15-min brand audits where you can get personalized feedback on your content to help you improve your conversions. DM me for more.

31/03/2022

This really not a sales pitch.

If you’re having trouble getting the right clients. If you’re having trouble building a message. If you can’t seem to get off the ground.

Ping me a message and get on a totally free (about) 15-minute expert audit content call and we’ll see if we can find a way for you to do things better.

And remember, it’s free and no sales pitch at the end.

30/03/2022

Everyday Stories of Extraordinary Business Owners
If you want to read about people going from rags to riches, read Elon Musk, read Richard Branson, read the stories of any of your favourite gazillionaire, go ahead, they may well inspire you.
Yet perhaps more important are the stories that don’t get told in autobiographies. The stories of the vast majority of business owners who get up every morning and don’t do the early morning commute just to make someone else richer.
They face specific challenges and motivations, the problems of reconciling personal and business life, the pressures that family and clients can bring because they all want a slice of them.
Business owners who live with work and home constantly fighting for attention in their minds. It’s all consuming, never ending. They are the heroes. They are the ones trying to earn an honest living and, in their own way, trying to make the world a better place.
These are their stories, the things they tell themselves and the things they’re told when they’re young. They’re the reasons that lead them to start businesses in the first place and what happens along the way - when things go wrong, because things will go wrong at some stage - and when they go right.
They’re the mental blocks they have to get over, the imposter syndrome, the fear of failure, the barriers they invent for themselves.
And also the things that will help them tell their own stories, why it’s fine to talk about themselves, how they can control the narrative in any way they see fit and how they can get out of their own damned way.
Because when it comes down to it, they have no reason to stay small, they have a story to tell and they should be able to do it, if only they allowed themselves.

27/03/2022

Got to love a light evening.

26/03/2022

A babbling brook on a sunny afternoon. There must be a story in there.

25/03/2022

So I have a real sign up for the SMF Expert Audit. Rather than panicking and trying to control the process, I want to disconnect myself from the outcome.

So what do we say? We start with the first thing that comes into my head as usual.

Story stuff.

What problem are you really solving in your business?

The problem you solve is part of your story too. It’s where your expertise comes from. It’s what defines you. It’s why your customers love you.

And the deeper you go into that problem, the more you’ll understand and the greater your empathy and connection with the type of clients you want to work with.

Want to jump on a FREE NO SALES PITCH call to dig deeper into the problem you solve? You may be surprised.

DM me now and we’ll sort it.

24/03/2022

The problem you solve is part of your story too. It’s where your expertise comes from. It’s what defines you. It’s why your customers love you.

And the deeper you go into that problem, the more you’ll understand and the greater your empathy and connection with the type of clients you want to work with.

Want to jump on a FREE NO SALES PITCH call to dig deeper into the problem you solve? You may be surprised.

DM me now and we’ll sort it.