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Welcome to the final episode of Season 4! Have some writing prompts to tide you over till Season 5,
--including one for Halloween
--another one for Diwali (or whatever other festival speaks to you)
--plus the writing prompt that keeps on giving
You'll want to grab a pen and paper before you dive in!
If you liked these prompts but want more guidance and accountability to turn them into marketing content, sign up for my storytelling and marketing workshop on Oct 28th, where you'll actually do some writing during the session and leave with solid drafts to use right away: https://cuttingchaistories.com/product/un-bore-yourself-2/
(Seats are limited, because it'll be an intimate session, so don't wait on this)
And while I look forward to seeing you back here for Season 5, in the meantime, you can keep in touch for more writing goodness like this on my email list, subscription to which is totally free, and which doesn't take a seasonal hiatus like this show.
Sign up to get my twice-weekly email newsletter, Chai in my Inbox, here: www.cuttingchaistories.com/subscribe
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In today's episode, listen in on a clip of a coaching call with Judy Pavone, who came to me with this question:
"I have a really hard time talking about myself, and explaining what I do, and figuring out how much to share of myself that doesn't overwhelm people, and make them think -- 'What? Why do I need to know this?''"
She wasn't happy with her About Me page on her website, so we worked on it in real time.
Listen in for the original, and what we did to transform it.
And if you're not happy with your About Me page, here are a few things to keep in mind from this episode that might help:
1) Start with a story. Stories captivate our attention. When we listen to an engaging story, we stop daydreaming and thinking about our grocery list, and instead we are transported to that moment in time that the story is happening. So start with a story.
2) Set the scene. Imagine you're an illustrator for a children's book. Or the videographer of a film. What are you pointing your camera at? What do you draw on the page? Tell us.
3) Try to show, not tell. Telling is important too, but from what I see, most people do too much of telling and not enough telling. Give us an example.
4) Edit edit edit. What you wrote down is just the first draft. Now it's time to make it better.
5) Try to play with the order of your sentences, or words. Or the order in which you're presenting information. What would happen if you started at the end?
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Before you go -- I wanted to tell you about Un-Bore Yourself 2. It's a workshop I'm holding on Friday, October 28th, and it's going to be AWESOME.
It's all about storytelling and how to use in your marketing.
We're going to first have a masterclass in how to tell a story, all the elements you need for an engaging story, how to turn a boring story interesting, AND, most importantly, how to use it in your marketing.
Stories are the best way to supercharge your marketing -- you JUST saw it in action on Judy's About page.
But most of us aren't using stories in our marketing, or we're using stories that aren't relevant, or our stories are simply boring.
So in Un-Bore Yourself 2, we're going to cover 3 strategies to link UNRELATED stories to your marketing, and best of all, just like in the call with Judy, we're going to do some actual WRITING during the workshop so you'll leave with some content you can start to put out there.
It's 3 hours, it's on Zoom, and it's from 10 am to 1 p.m. Eastern Time on October 28th. Sign up here: https://cuttingchaistories.com/product/un-bore-yourself-2/
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More about Judy:
Judy Pavone spent many years serving as an elementary school teacher and reading specialist. Her greatest passion is bringing children’s literature to life, joyfully engaging kids and their families while creating life-long learners.
Follow her on Instagram @creatingajoyfulreader.
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You may not know it, but there's a story gremlin sitting inside us, choking us when we try to turn a story into the dreaded "M" word: MARKETING.
We are all perfectly adequate, even competent or dare I say thrilling storytellers when it comes to talking about what just happened to us in swim class.
But when we need to WRITE, as opposed to TALK; or when our stories need to have a PURPOSE that's linked to our business, well, that's when the story gremlin strikes and our riveting anecdotes turn dry like charred toast.
Then what comes out the other end are—
>> Stories that are irrelevant to your marketing purpose and therefore unconvincing or unsuccessful
>> Stories that don’t really go anywhere
>> Stories that don’t really FEEL like stories at all
In today's episode of Cutting Chai Stories, I take you through the three elements of storytelling that'll help you dissolve the gremlin choking your stories, and show you some practical examples of how to use those elements to tell a compelling story.
PLUS how to turn a boring, everyday occurrence into an interesting story for marketing purposes.
MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE:
Season 4 Episode 3: But Jayati, what do I write ABOUT?? -- for a storytelling based email that turns a boring anecdote into a relevant, interesting missive to the list.
AND the Friday 28th workshop,
Un-Bore Yourself: A 3-hour workshop on storytelling and generating endless marketing
Sign up here: https://cuttingchaistories.com/product/un-bore-yourself/
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In this clip of a coaching call with Erica, she talks about the lingering effects of someone at a long-ago job telling her that she wasn't a good writer.
What do you do when you can't get negative feedback like that out of your head?
I offer her two practical suggestions for how to deal with this kind of comment.
PLUS, this Saturday, Oct 1, I'm holding a Zoom workshop called Un-Bore Yourself. It’s all about finding new joy in your existing marketing, finding new and fresh and FUN ways to talk about your core message.
If you’re a yoga coach that works with the senior crowd, maybe YOUR core message that you need your audience to understand is that yoga isn’t just for the young and fit and that they can sign up for yoga with you and they won’t sustain injuries or be made to feel bad for all the asanas they can’t do.
If you’re a vegan caterer, maybe your core message is that vegan food doesn’t mean bad-tasting food. (As a temporary vegan I can attest to that, by the way!).
And when you have a core message you’re gonna need to repeat it again and again so that your audience absorbs what you have to say. But when you’re saying the same thing on repeat it can get boring, and that’s where Un-Bore Yourself comes in.
In the workshop, we’ll fall back in love with our own core message and discover new ways of talking about it that feel fresh and fun to us—and to our audience!
It’s at 11 a.m. Eastern Time, it’s on Zoom, and it costs $25.
Sign up for Un-Bore Yourself here: https://cuttingchaistories.com/product/un-bore-yourself/
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Do you ever feel like you create so much content but you still struggle to populate all the platforms you’re on?
Like you have ideas pouring out of your brain like water but somehow you still run short?
Like when you sit down to write a social media post or an email to your list, it feels as dry as my skin in winter?
I sometimes feel like that, and when I do, I sit myself down and think: Am I using the Swiss Army Knife of content?
What can I borrow from over here and put in over there?
So if the Swiss Army Knife in my analogy is ALL of your content, then the different tools that come out of it are the different ways your content can be formatted and chopped up and expanded and shared.
In today's episode of Cutting Chai Stories, I take you through three real-life examples of how to repurpose your content like a pro.
In one, I start with a longform piece of content (an episode of this podcast, actually), and show you how to chop it up for use on social media and email.
In another I show how to start with a 60-second Reel and deepen it to a longer piece of content.
Once you start looking at your own content this way, you'll find it easier to be more consistent, to get your audience's attention, and will have a TON more ideas for content because nothing goes to waste.
Also, I want to make sure you know about my new workshop, Un-Bore Yourself, which is all about how to rediscover the magic and passion behind your core message.
You know when you get bored of saying the same thing over and over? Like you know you’ve said it so many times you yourself start yawning when you need to say it again? When you’re worried your subscribers will hit unsubscribe coz THEY’RE so bored of you saying the same thing over and over again?
Well, your core message is your core message for a reason. It’s important. It forms the backbone of what you do. Your potential customers NEED to understand this so they can take the next step. So you can’t stop saying it. But you CAN stop being bored by it. Because the way that it DOESN’T turn your audience off is when YOU are so irresistibly in LOVE with your message that your enthusiasm shines right through.
And this workshop I’m hosting is gonna do just that. It’s gonna help you re-discover the deliciousness of your OWN message.
It’s called Un-Bore Yourself, it’s on Saturday, October 1st, one and a half hours on Zoom and it’s just $25, which means you have NO excuse to not fall back in love with your own message.
SIGN UP HERE: https://cuttingchaistories.com/product/un-bore-yourself/
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In today's episode, I interview podcast marketer and Star Wars fan Jeremy Enns, whose email newsletter, Creative Wayfinding, is one of the few I read religiously every week.
We go in-depth into the particular format he landed on, an Easter Egg hidden in there, why he'd do it for no money at all, and what a newbie email marketer can do when they're just launching out.
Some quotes from the interview:
"I always welcome new subscribers to the newsletter every week. People want to be..they want to follow something that is popular."
"One of the things I remember hearing around audience growth and engagement is…reward the behavior you want more of, essentially."
"We don’t have to have such high bars for ideas, they don’t have to be some fully formed thing."
"Even when you don’t have an idea, or your idea is, I don’t have anything to write about, you sit down to write and suddenly something interesting can come from it. "
“You *think* you don’t have anything to write about, you start writing anyway and you’ll land on something that comes out and you’re like, oh, that’s kind of an interesting thought. Your brain realizes sooner or later, oh, we’re doing this, I better come up with ideas."
“It’s way easier to stand out by being different than being better.”
"When you have something that is actually unique and original, the language doesn’t necessarily exist to describe it well."
More about Jeremy:
Jeremy Enns is the founder of Podcast Marketing Academy, the only growth-focused podcast education platform for experienced creators, brands, and marketers looking to build long-term, sustainable audience growth systems.
He loves any sport that involves a frisbee, used to co-host an explicit-rated ice cream podcast, once bicycled across Europe, and will always look back on the day he finally saved up enough money to buy the Millennium Falcon Lego set as one of his proudest achievements.
Connect with Jeremy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamjeremyenns
Sign up for his Creative Wayfinding newsletter: http://jeremyenns.com/newsletter
Check out his podcast marketing course: http://podcastmarketingacademy.com/
ALSO, I'm THRILLED to announce the "Un-Bore Yourself" workshop, where you'll fall back in love with your core messaging and ditch the boring and blah language you've gotten used to, to describe what you do.
I know, I know. You've said it a million times before, no WONDER you're bored to tears by your own message! (Also no wonder then that your LISTENERS are ALSO bored to tears by what you say!)
Rediscover your own passion and conviction in your messaging at Un-Bore Yourself, where we'll recall what we love about it, why we chose that messaging to begin with, and all the different ways you can say the same thing and NOT bore yourself (or your audience) while doing it.
It's from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. EST on Zoom, on Saturday, Oct 1st, and it's $25.
Register for Un-Bore Yourself here: https://cuttingchaistories.com/product/un-bore-yourself/
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We're doing something new today: going behind the scenes of a coaching call I did with my client Delphine to eliminate some of the common mistakes entrepreneurs make when they're naming their thing.
In this clip, you'll hear my top 2 questions for refining your language and punching it up so that your clients know from a mile away that you're speaking just to them, and all the flutters and jitters that come along with these edits.
If you liked this episode, do review it, write to me and tell me what you thought, so that I can bring you more like this in the future.
If you want to join my email list, where I share my best offers and giveaways (like this one), you can do that at cuttingchaistories.com/subscribe
More about Delphine:
Delphine is a psychotherapist and intuitive guide.
She helps soulful women to alchemise fear and self-doubt into deeper self-trust, so they can share their inner wisdom and magic with the world, while enjoying flourishing lives, work and relationships.
The one-to-one programme we discuss in this episode: https://embodymytruth.com/services/private-sessions/
Join Delphine's 'Inner Oracle Sanctuary' free FB Group and keep updated on monthly women's circles: https://www.facebook.com/groups/InnerOracleSanctuary
Connect with Delphine on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/embody_my_truth__delphine
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When I speak, when I write, and I’m writing for MYSELF and for Cutting Chai Stories, I write how I speak, and how I speak is peppered with desi slang.
Just the word desi, for instance, which I just used. It means someone who comes from the des, or desh, which in this case means India. So I *could* have said Indian slang, but that’s not the way I speak, and it’s not the way I think.
Those of us who come from non-English speaking countries and cultures that are not the ones we live in, well, we have our own words and our own ways of saying things. I talked about this a little bit in the last episode, when we were talking about words that don’t have exact translations in English, coz they are closely connected to the CULTURE or lifestyle or worldview of the people who speak that language.
Personally, I do this unconsciously. I use the word “desi” in my speech a lot to talk about Indians and so that’s the word that comes to mind. But I also do this CONSCIOUSLY. Because I am not apologizing for who I am and the way I speak and if this means that you have to figure it out as you go along, that’s fine by me. Sometimes I’ll explain what I’m saying, and sometimes I won’t, and sometimes I know that you’ll understand from the context, but what I WON’T do is erase myself and my speech patterns, SHRINK my vocabulary, to fit your understanding. I’d rather EXPAND your language than shrink my own.
And now I’m speaking to all of you who live and work and communicate in a country and language and culture that’s not your own—your language, your customs, your knowledge, they are PART of you and they ENRICH the culture you currently inhabit.
And if you were ever told or admonished to use the PROPER English word—thank god I wasn’t, or if I was, it didn’t make an impression on me—and had to learn to use a word that didn’t feel RIGHT to you, well, this is my permission slip to you to let that go.
If YOU have a word or a phrase that comes from your culture or language that you don’t use when you’re speaking to English speakers, would you write me and tell me what it is and what it means? I’m collecting a list of them and if there are enough of them I might share them later. You can write to me at Jayati AT cuttingchaistories DOT com.
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Finding new ways of describing things is ESSENTIAL, especially for a service provider or a coach or course creator who has absorbed years of learning, integrated that learning with her own experience and perspective, and condensed it to impart to her students.
Back in my early 20s, I would not have understood the need to name a particular framework or methodology. I can’t say for sure, but I might have thought it was unnecessary or EXTRA.
But now I understand that without the words to REFER to what you’re talking about, you can create confusion and a LOT more.
For example, if you’re Inuit, and you need a way to explain to your friend the conditions of the snow outside the village, if you simply do NOT have a word for it that BOTH you AND your friend understand, your friend might go out and be unprepared for what she might find, and that really MIGHT be a matter of life and death.
For the rest of us, maybe it’s not DANGEROUS to not have the words, but it hampers our ability to communicate.
Here’s another example of this. If you speak multiple languages, sometimes don’t you find that you have a word for something in one language that simply doesn’t exist in another?
As feminist theorist and coach Kelly Diels says, naming something is SUPER POWERFUL. Diels explained this really well in an email to her list. She wrote, and I’m quoting that email here,
“In transformative traditions -- movements, feminism, academia -- we name things.
We use language and even invent words and portmanteaus to make what was invisible, visible.”
Learn more about Kelly Diels here: https://www.kellydiels.com/
If you enjoyed this episode, if you learned something from it or even had a good chuckle, won’t you leave the podcast a review? It helps other listeners like you discover Cutting Chai Stories and it helps ME to know what you found helpful, what you enjoyed, and what you’d like more of.
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In real life, it’s considered kinda sh*tty to ghost someone.
But on social media, there are some times when it's ok to ghost people who comment on your stuff.
When? Why? And some examples of actual comments I have ignored, and who I look to for examples of responding to people on the internet with hateful opinions.
In this episode, I mention:
Alok V Menon on Instagram @alokvmenon
My 30-minute Zoom coaching sessions aka chai play dates, where I coach you on anything copy or marketing-related (for free). I have two spots left; to apply, email me at jayati AT cuttingchaistories DOT com.
If you're not on my email list, you probably missed the email on Monday about musical jam sessions and how they relate to running your business (it was a good one). Don't miss the next one! Sign up at cuttingchaistories.com/subscribe, and I'll send you a free mini course on getting your audience to see you the relatable human behind the business.
See you in your inbox!
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Here's the link to the Thomas Moore poem, Spring and Autumn, that I read out in the beginning of this episode: https://internetpoem.com/thomas-moore/spring-and-autumn-poem/
What if we took this idea of seasons and applied it to our content, our creativity?
There are times when ideas flow like crazy, like the monsoon deluge of rain in my hometown of Mumbai. And there are other times when everything dries up, like in winter, and what the *heck* are you going to post or write then? The tap of inspiration has been firmly turned off, but your business still has to run.
In this episode, I give you five things to try when you're in the winter season of YOUR creativity, plus one thing you can do to PREPARE for winter.
And if you enjoy this episode, would it be impossible for you to leave a review for Cutting Chai Stories on the app of your choice? It tells me what you like about the show and helps new listeners to find it. Thank you so much for your time!
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If you've heard of Gary Chapman's concept of five love languages -- the way we express and receive love -- then you know that frequently two people in a relationship clash because they speak DIFFERENT love languages.
Well, what if we took that concept and applied it to copy?
Imagine the way you communicate most easily, totally naturally, no stress involved.
Is that actually the way you express yourself in your marketing and your copy? What would happen if you doubled down on your copy love language?
In this episode, how to find your copy love language, lean into it, and what to do when your audience speaks a different copy love language than you.
Also, I have a FABULOUS offer going on right now. I have 9 spots for FREE coaching sessions via Zoom, 30 minutes each, to give away. You can ask me anything about copy and I'll do my best to help -- no strings, no agenda. If you want one of those spots, email me at jayati AT cuttingchaistories DOT com; it's first-come, first-served.
And if you want ME speaking MY primary copy love language, where I'm most at ease, subscribe to my email list, Chai in my Inbox, at https://www.cuttingchaistories.com/subscribe
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Ever filled out a Mad Libs template? Those are FUN-NY.
Put an adjective here, a common noun there, and when you read it back to the group, everything's all jumbled up in the most hilarious way.
That's pretty much the only place I think templates are a good thing. (Ok, that, and Wordpress blog themes.)
When it comes to marketing and your copy, they fall FIRMLY in the buzzkill category.
That's because words are oh-so-important at conveying your meaning and building a relationship with your audience.
And borrowing someone else's words, no matter how pretty, never works in the long run.
Kinda like jamming your feet into the wrong shoes and only realizing *after* hobbling away that they're a half size too small.
A step up from templates are guides and frameworks. They offer you more wiggle room to experiment, to inject some personality into the words, and make them your own.
The other big plus? They offer you a solid foundation to get started, so you don't have to start from scratch every time.
Personally, I love writing prompts too (so much so that I give you two of them in the episode, just for fun!) -- they spark new ideas in me directly from the prompt, but also giving me tangential ideas to turn into new stories.
And if you're truly confident, you can be a juggler of words, putting them together in any order. (This is rare though, so don't worry if you're not at this point.)
Finally, a promotion I'm running:
If you have a website or landing page that you'd like MY expert eyes on, I'm doing FOUR reviews of 4 webpages for FREE. How it works is, you email me at jayati AT cuttingchaistories DOT com with the URL you'd like me to review, and any comments you have on what you're wanting feedback on in particular, if anything. I'll take a look, and review four entries and make videos of my suggestions. You get to keep the videos for life, and I get to use them on my podcast and other places.
That's it! No strings, no payment, no obligations.
And if you DO use templates, email me and let me know what you use them for and what you think about them -- I love hearing from my listeners!
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In today's episode, I speak with Catherine Stagg-Macey, an executive coach and mojo wing woman for mid-career professionals ready to reclaim their spark in their career. She’s spent 20 years in a corporate career wondering if there was a more fulfilling chapter. Her own journey to find work that was meaningful has formed the basis for the work she now does with others.
Here are a few choice quotes from our conversation:
I have a principle of never outsourcing stuff I don’t know. And this goes back to my consulting—we would tell our clients the same thing. Don’t outsource a problem, don’t outsource something that you don’t understand how it works. Because then you’re never gonna know, whether what you get back, is of any good, or have any value, right?
I’m still learning how I think when I write. I’m still finding my own voice, and I find, having to write the weekly email letter, having to write the sales page, forces me, in a good way, to kind of go, well, what ARE the pain points I’m trying to address, who IS the person I’m trying to talk to, who IS the ideal client that I have in mind.
You know, you’ve asked me some great questions that I couldn’t answer, around my ideal client. But it’s only through copy, I think you can create content and create a program without being that clear, but I think doing your own copy helps you, forces you to be VERY clear on that, which I think is GREAT.
Whatever kind of copywriting support you get, I think you need someone else to look at the copy. Because there is so much, and after a while you’re like, I can’t think of another email to write, I can’t think of another story. Do I have to say the benefits again, or the outcomes AGAIN. And your copywriter or freelancing buddy is going to say YES, or NO.
If you’re going to embrace your copywriter side, as an entrepreneur or a small business owner, I think you have to face your stories and assumptions you have about yourself as a storyteller. Like…who’s going to be interested in my story? Does it matter? How do I make a story about learning to do pottery link to my career rut course? How do I make that bridge? And not sound totally naf.
Copywriting is not about being “correct,” it’s an invitation into a relationship, it’s an invitation into connecting through a story, to be human with each other.
Connect with Catherine:
On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/staggmacey/
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/staggmacey/
Visit her website: https://www.conversationsattheedge.co.uk
Find out your leadership style: https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/6011b3a9b2b16d001691e67d
Read her blog post about writing Out of Office emails: https://www.conversationsattheedge.co.uk/blog/out-of-office
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You believe in what you sell with a PASSION. But you can't see why your prospective clients don't seem convinced.
That's because there's a difference between telling them about something and taking them along for the ride so they can see for themselves.
And in today's episode of Cutting Chai Stories, I show you how writing with your 5 senses can immerse your readers in the moment with you -- for creative writing, for pulling together an ideal client avatar, and for writing a product description.
For each scenario, I show you how regular writing, the kind of writing you're used to seeing everywhere (and used to IGNORING, too, just like your clients ignore YOUR marketing) compares with writing that invokes the 5 senses. (And, bonus, does that whole show, not tell, bit.)
And yes, I give you a bit of homework that involves taking off your clothes to write better, more compelling copy (not sleazy at ALL, get your mind out of the gutter!).
Best of all, I put together a Google Doc for you with all that lovely text for those three examples so you can compare them side-by-side AND get a behind-the-scenes look at WHY I chose those words, those phrases, and what effect they can have on the reader (aka you). Make a copy of this free resource now so that you can put this technique into action and start putting better marketing and copy into the world (which sorely needs it).
Get your copy of this resource here so you can start writing the most convincing copy of your life: https://cuttingchaistories.com/5senses/
If you're unfamiliar with the "show, don't tell" dictum, I cover it in greater detail in Season 2 Episode 17 of Cutting Chai Stories, so back and listen to that.
And finally, if you weren't totally bored by this, if you didn't find it a waste of your time, would you consider leaving a review for the show? It helps others like you to find Cutting Chai Stories, and it would personally mean a great deal to me. Thank you!
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Welcome to the third and final installation of the mini series on what to prep before you write a SINGLE word of copy. This series is ESPECIALLY important for sales pages, so if you’re planning to launch a course or group program or a new product, listen up.
Over the past two episodes, we covered two other elements to prep before you start to write your copy, and those were Voice of Customer and Core Transformation.
Today we’re going to talk about benefits versus features.
Chances are that if you’ve been in the online business space for more than a minute, you’ve heard people say, talk about the benefits of your product, not the features.
But what does that MEAN?????
Well I like to think of features as the NOUNS.
So, if you’re selling an online course with live coaching calls and a 300-page workbook, the FEATURES might include:
--8 weeks of prerecorded calls that can be consumed in video, audio or transcript format
--Starts September 1, new videos released every week
--You have lifetime access, so you can watch at your own pace
--Live calls every Sunday at 2 p.m. Eastern in our private Facebook group
--Each participant will be mailed a 300-page workbook in physical and e-book format, which contains all the exercises and resources you’ll need to follow along
--Price, refund policy, size of cohort if that’s relevant, length of videos, length of coaching calls, etc
So that’s all the important information that you’ll need to know. Coz if you’re never available on Sundays at 2 p.m. and the live coaching is crucial to the success of the course, maybe you won’t purchase it this round. Or if you’re in a different time zone and want to know if they’ll be recorded so you can watch them at a time that’s more convenient to you, this list of features will be important to answer your questions.
So they’re pretty vital to know, right? The list of features?
So why is everyone pooh-poohing them all the time?
What’s WRONG with listing all the features?
The short answer is—nothing.
We want and NEED to know the nitty-gritties to help us make a decision.
But whether the calls are held at 2 p.m. Eastern or 2 p.m. Pacific is not the make-or-break factor when you’re just encountering this program.
First you wanna know if this can help you with the particular problem you’re having. And the timing and length of the calls isn’t going to tell you that. For that, you need the benefits.
Listen to the episode to understand the difference between benefits and features, with real-life and made-up examples for services and products.
PLUS how to supercharge your benefits so that potential clients can see that your offer is exactly right for them.
Also mentioned in the show are Cathy Heller and her podcast, Don't Keep Your Day Job, as well as Harry Dry's website marketingexamples.com. Both are invaluable sources of information for me, I highly recommend you check them out.
Finally, the content of this mini series on what to prep before writing a single word of copy (ESPECIALLY your sales or landing page) came about as a result of a question by an email subscriber.
I take conversations with my subscribers seriously and respond to each one. Want input into subsequent episodes? Have a question you haven't seen answered anywhere else or that you want my take on? Sign up for Chai in my Inbox at https://www.cuttingchaistories.com/subscribe and then hit reply to any of my emails to say hello!
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If you're just joining in, this is the second episode in a three-part mini series answering the question: What do I need to prep BEFORE I write a single word of copy?
Last week's episode on Voice of Customer was the first; if you missed it, you can catch up here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s4-ep-5-what-to-prep-before-writing-a-single-word-hint-voc/id1504011822?i=1000565705402
Today we're talking about nailing our core transformations. Your product or service may have several benefits and even more features, but what's the ONE change that your customers will experience when they buy it?
Listen for two examples of a product and a service, plus three exercises that'll take you through crafting a brand transformation of your own.
There's one more episode to go in this mini series; subscribe so you don't miss it!
And if you liked it, if you found it useful, come hang out with me in my email newsletter, Chai in my Inbox. I send it out twice a week, with copy inspiration, writing tips, and funny stories from my life. You can sign up through this link to get a free checklist of the 12 things to do before you send your next email: https://www.cuttingchaistories.com/12emailcomponents
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There are a BUNCH of ducks you need to have in a row before you can start writing your copy (if you want it to be successful, that is). The list is too long to cover in its entirety in one episode, so this is the first of a short series about what to prep before writing your very first word.
Today's episode of Cutting Chai Stories with Jayati Vora focuses on "Voice of Customer."
What is it? Why is it important? And how do you as a fledgling marketer figure out what the voice of YOUR customer (even before you have a single one).
Thank you Yana, Angela, and The Cupcake Carriage for asking me this question and sparking the idea for this episode!
If you want to see real-life examples of marketing in the wild, hear zany stories from my life and the business and copy lessons I draw from them, and generally be in touch more often, sign up for my twice-a-week email newsletter, Chai in my Inbox. No spam, easy unsubscribe, and a shot of my signature masala every Monday and Thursday.
Subscribe here: https://www.cuttingchaistories.com/subcribe
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In the very first guest interview of this season, I speak to pre- and post-partum fitness coach Reena Parekh, who is killing it on Instagram. She doesn't think of herself as a writer, she doesn't use templates, and she abandoned the "rules" ages ago. How does she do it?
Key takeaways of this episode:
Have a purpose. Reconnect with who you're doing this FOR. Representation matters.When you become human, you become more relatable to people.It's all interconnected; our businesses are political. You have to be willing to have hard conversations, because when you're putting yourself out there, you're opening the door. Even the best creators take a break.Writing is a skill.The more you share what feels right to you, the more it will resonate with people.Best aha moments:
“I had this pivotal moment when I was going through my feed, and I realized everybody I followed was a young fitness professional who was white, thin, able-bodied…they all had that kind of similar lifestyle—it looked nothing like mine.”
“That was when I realized I had to diversify my feed. I had to find more people that looked like me, that kind of lived a life that I lived, aligned with my values and my beliefs – that’s when I started talking about why representation matters.”
“When we start sounding like everybody else, and talking about the same things as everybody else, you just become part of the noise.”
“The more that I started to share what felt right to me, that aligned with who I am and my values and my beliefs, the easier the words flow. And the more I find that resonates with others.”
“We have to know what we’re putting out there, WHY are we doing it, what is the purpose, what is the impact that you wanna make, how do you wanna use your voice on social media? We have been given platforms to use our voices—that is a gift.”About Reena:
Reena Parekh is a business owner, pre- and postpartum fitness specialist, speaker and mental health advocate. She is a proponent of change in this space, encouraging her clients and community to embrace their bodies and pushback against postpartum bounce back culture.
Connect with Reena:
Instagram: www.instagram.com/itsreenaparekh
Baby2Barbell™️ Core + Pelvic Floor Basics: https://www.reenaparekh.com/b2blevel1
Free Resources: https://www.reenaparekh.com/free-resources
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If you're stumped at the thought of using stories in your marketing, and what's holding you back is the thought that you have nothing exciting enough, nothing worthy enough of sharing, well, I'm about to banish that thought by reading you an email about the most boring thing I could imagine, to the most boring outcome.
Listen to this episode for a demonstration of how to use stories in your marketing -- and, this is key -- make them RELEVANT and INTERESTING to your audience.
Subscribe so you never miss an episode!
And if you listen to this and think, I need more of this in my life, I am taking 1:1 clients for copy coaching, and storytelling is a HUGE part of the work. To see if we're a good fit, email me at jayati AT cuttingchaistories DOT com.
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