Maggie Patterson

First of all, welcome to my new digs and thanks for stopping by. This has been a big ass project going from zero to today – and I wanted to share a few things I’ve learned along the way.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to wax poetic about font combos, but more my perspective going through this project.

Last May, I was going through some serious growth in my business, and I knew I was outgrowing my lovingly bootstrapped website. And then, in a single week two people that I know, love and trust gave me the straight goods. Unprompted. And somewhat uncensored.

Then I got some really distinct opinions on how I was hiding out behind my so-so brand and not doing myself any favors. So I took the plunge and decided to step up my game – time to get a real brand and a website to go with it.

It started with photos. First point of resistance. Massive pain. Not because I have any particular concern with how I look, but rather, why personal branding matters in the first place. Like, why do you need to see my face to know that I’m really freakin’ good what I do? You’re hiring me for my brain so why do I need a cute necklace on? Like really?

Building a personal brand or business requires a certain level of commitment when it comes to “putting yourself out there”, which means we are spending a lot of time “talking”. Whether we’re blogging, podcasting, emailing, hanging out in a community or working with our clients we’re always talking.

We talk so much that it’s easy to get stuck in our own script. You know, where you decide what people want from you, where people need to agree with you and where most of all, we aren’t really listening.

The problem being that our own script is only part of the story. To succeed, we need to stop and listen to our customers, our peers and our market to get the full picture.

As I’ve been working on my own story and creating The Story Distillery, I’ve started to become hyper aware of how listening is dying a painful death right before our eyes. Sure, we create ideal customers and maybe do some market research, but after that, we fall into a hype cycle where it’s all about the talk.

If we’re really only listening 20% of the time and spending the rest of the time deciding what we’re going to say and saying it – our script, our bias, our opinions are given far too much weight.

Less talk, more listening is what will give us the clues on how to build a stronger business, not just writing another blog post or trying to take down someone whose opinion we don’t agree with.  Ask yourself this – Are you really listening?

Pick Your Moments

Us entrepreneurial types tend to have strong personalities and be stubborn and willful. Which when it comes to listening can be a huge challenge as we’re hell-bent on getting our point of view across. Which is why you want to pick your moments. Not everything is for you to own, and sometimes the best thing you can do is to listen.

Maybe you’ve heard the saying “not my circus, not my monkeys” which is a great way to filter what you need to talk about. By not talking about every single thing, you can get focused and be a much better listener. Taking a step back whether you’re working one-on-one with a client who has problems which are out of your scope or reading a thread in a group that you’re tempted in chime in on, holding back your opinion can be the most effective course of action. It’s okay to just listen and take it in as information or data that you may never act on.

Drop the With Me or Against Me Mentality

We’ve all been there. The moment where you have a really strong reaction to someone’s opinion because you think they are dead wrong. Or ridiculous. Or full of shit. You start to stew and you have about a million things to say to that person.

Now, if you were in person, you may stand down, but online, it’s way too easy to let it rip. But opinions are just that: opinions and the sooner you can accept that people don’t all see things the same way as you, the easier your life will be.

On the flip side, if someone has a divergent point of view, you need to be willing to hear them out. To listen. Unless it’s hate speech or discriminatory, they are entitled to their opinion, and you should have the balls to hear them out.

[Tweet “Have the balls to hear opinions you disagree with. New blog post from @magspatterson”]

Your willingness to listen and accept other’s opinions is a strong reflection of your character. There’s a quote from Robert Schuller “Big egos have little ears” that sums this up beautifully.

Don’t get caught up in ego and automatically default to the “if they aren’t with us, they are against us” mentality. You don’t have to like what someone says, or even agree with them, but don’t dismiss it out of turn and go on the defensive. I’ve witnessed this mentality one too many times online, and have wondered why the automatic reaction is to be dismissive or belittle that persons opinion.

Opinions are valuable, they make family dinners way more interesting and saves us all from being cookie cutter marketing minions. Chill out – choose to be happy instead of being right, while hearing other people out.

Open Up Your Ears (And Your Heart)

The more we listen, the more we’ll learn. If we spent even 10% more of our time listening versus talking, we’d quickly be better business owners. Listening is not just a sometimes thing – it should be an all the time thing – just like you write a blog post or work with clients, listening should be a day-to-day activity.

If you work with clients, start by asking them questions and opening up your ears, head and heart to what they are saying. Throw in a feedback-driven question when you are on a Skype with them or in an email. You may be surprised at what you find out and how that can shape your work or even your worldview.

When you’re out there in the “real world” beyond your own bubble, look at how you can listen more. Set time aside to just read what’s being posted in groups instead of posting yourself, or see what’s trending on Twitter. Social media and community-based listening offers you bread crumbs that can start to shape messaging, your story and so much more.

Before you create a damn thing – a service, a program, an ebook – listen to what the market wants. To what your customers want. Do listening-based research via surveys and more to understand their pains, motivations and what makes them tick. The world does not need another vanilla offer that doesn’t really fill a real need.

Listening more, talking less can make all the difference to your business, so stop creating more and speaking more and see where you can truly hear from others. That time and space of listening is where the magic happens.

[Tweet “Our script is only part of the story. New post from @magspatterson”]

What’s one thing you can do to talk less, and listen more? Comment below.

As hard as it may be for me to admit, I’ve been in the throes of a brand identity crisis…for the last 18 months.  

Since the day I made the decision to pivot my business to focus online, I’ve been trying on a lot of different things as I figure it all out. At times I’ve felt like a kid wearing their mom’s shoes or like the dress I had on that was just not my style.

I know. How can someone who gets paid to write struggle with this? I mean, isn’t this what I do for my clients? Help them nail down what they are and how they do it in words? Raises hands, yes, that’s me!

Apparently when you’re doing it for yourself it is MUCH harder than anything you’ll ever do for a client. Which is why I spent the bulk of Q3 dealing with my brand identity crisis head-on.  It was uncomfortable and downright ugly at times as I got feedback I didn’t really want to hear and worked through a number of things that were doing my business a disservice.

But you know what…no pain, no gain, right? By cutting the crap and figuring out what was actually important to me and my business, I have more clarity, more confidence and a deeper commitment to where I’m heading. And it feels damn good.

Just so my discomfort has a greater purpose, I give you…my three branding identity crisis lessons. Anything sound familiar?

#1. Creating a Great Pick Up Line

How do I explain who I am, what I do and who I serve is a perennial question when it comes to communicating about our businesses. But it may be one of the hardest questions to answer without giving away too much or too little.

Offering Too Much = You overwhelm your audience and you’re on your way to being THAT person. Total turn off, right?

Saying Too Little = People don’t get the full flavor for what you do and don’t feel compelled to want to learn more because there’s not enough for them to make a decision based on.

My own pick up line was definitely in the category of saying too little. So much so that a little research uncovered something interesting – people either knew me as a copywriter or a PR person, and didn’t really know that I offered a full range of communications services.

The culprit? Being a bit of a chameleon and using the  pick up line that was based on the prospective client’s needs. Instead of really owning that I’m really a master at communications strategy which goes across various marketing disciplines, I took the easy way out.

The question then is…How do we pack enough into that elevator speech/cocktail pitch/pick up line that it creates enough interest that people want to go on a first date? That they are intrigued enough to learn more or that they aren’t feeling like they know everything they need to know already.

It’s quite simple. Start with your title. What the hell are you? In my case I’m a communications strategist. Short, simple, and to the point. No fluff.

Then answer who do you work with? I work with coaches and consultants. That’s pretty specific. Don’t say you work with people on the Internet, or anyone who wants to live a better life. Niche that sucker down.

And finally, how do you do it? What’s that splash of secret sauce? What do you help your clients do? I help them grow their business and the bottomline with intelligently crafted communication including copy, content strategy and customized marketing plans.

That opening line is an invitation – and your first impression. Taking time to nail that is the difference between being obscure and having clients knock down your door.

[Tweet “Do you have a strong pick up line for your business? @magspatterson explains “]

#2. What’s Your Thing?

I’ve worked in many parts of the marketing field over the years, so you could say I’m multi-passionate. Picking a single area felt confining and unnatural as I have more than one skill set.

Welcome to the very foundation of my brand identity crisis. I mean, what did I want to be known for? What would my legacy be? Yes, I help clients meet their business goals and make their mark on the world, but was I just destined to be the go-to girl to help them do that or did  I actually want to be known for something?

After many months, and some serious gnashing of teeth, I finally sat my ass down and formalized the process which is at the core of everything I do. It all come down to messaging and storytelling, because without that nothing else works, not to mention, your copy is seriously unfocused and your marketing is vanilla.

Can you answer without any waivering what your thing is? Have you formalized it? It is set in stone? If you aren’t clear what it is, no one else will be either.

It may take time to figure out exactly what that is, but when you nail it, it will feel like perfection. You don’t have to figure out what your thing is in a single weekend, but do give yourself time and space to think about what that really may be. Because that is truly the secret sauce for your business.

#3. Your Stories Matter

So much of my work is focused on helping other people tell their stories, but telling my own story does not come naturally to me. After a lifetime of being the sidekick, the behind the scenes chick and an introvert to top it off, it’s WAY safer to create list posts and focus on hard core business principles.

Maybe that gives me unique insight into my client’s brains as I literally know exactly how they feel and I can be more sensitive to helping them find a way that fits with them and their unique way of approaching things.

Over the Summer, I started playing with sharing my stories more on the blog as a way for people to get to know me a bit more and get a little bit of the behind the scenes of my business. Guess what? Those posts have seen FAR more engagement than most of my other posts. And with good reason, people connect with stories in a different way than they do with facts or lists.

When you don’t share your stories, you’re missing the opportunity to move people from the pick up line into completely falling in love with you and your business.

Start playing with how you can use stories to reinforce a point, bring things to life and simply be more human. Stories sell for a reason.

Doing the work to get through my identity crisis is starting to pay off, and I’m excited to show off the results with my new website. Coming soon!

Have you experienced a brand identity crisis? Share what tripped you up in the comments!

[Tweet “Could you be having a brand identity crisis? @magspatterson’s latest post”]

Learn more about The Story Distillery and how this experience works. 

The service is currently being offered at a wicked intro price – and I will be doubling it come December.

From now until October 20th, it is $100 off as my gift to you (only $399) – use the promo code – birthday – at checkout.