The Essential Message Blog

Missions and mantras and messages...oh my!

Mission statements. We've all read them. We've all tried to write them. And we've all discovered that, nine times out of ten, they stink.

The EM Diet

When I was a kid, I could eat anything and stay skinny as a rail. But once I hit my late teens, I started to...ahem...fill out. I am short, and have a small frame. 5 pounds on me LOOKS like 5 pounds. By the time I hit my mid-twenties, I'd gone from a wiry 95lbs to a sturdy, puffy 140lbs, most of it around my middle.

Thing is, I was anything but a junk-food junkie. Sure, I ate some "fun food" now and then, but for the most part my diet was low fat, lacto-ovo vegetarian. I ate eggs, low-fat dairy, and lots of whole grain pasta and bread. I religiously checked nutrition labels, selecting foods that fit the high-fibre, low-fat criteria that the media and the health community assured me would guarantee good health and a trim waistline. Butter, to me, was the Antichrist in spreadable form. Still, the weight kept coming.

Messaging RX

I am a regular reader of Protein Power author Dr. Mike Eades' blog. He mainly covers issues relating to nutrition, and how to control or treat certain conditions (like diabetes) with diet - but lately he's been posting often about the dangers of statin drugs, used to lower cholesterol. In his opinion, statins are over-prescribed, have no proven benefit, and can actually lead to harm. So what does this have to do with your Essential Message?

Watch for Libby!

I just wanted to welcome our latest addition to the Essential Message team, and guest blogger, Libby Dyment!

Her first post appeared June 15 with "Taking it to the Mattress" and I expect she will continue to delight us with her writing and her words of wisdom.

So stayed tuned, and keep an eye out for more great posts! Oh - and don't forget to make your mark and leave a comment!

- Camille

PS If you want to tell who has written a post, just check the fine print under each blurb or article.

If The Shoe Fits...

Today I was thinking about my shoes.

Now, I'm certainly no Carrie Bradshaw, spending hundreds of dollars on Manolo Blahnik's latest creation, but I do have more than one pair. My shoe rack includes pointed-toe kitten heels for professional occasions, a sassy pair of calico-print stilettos I brought back from Paris, runners for all those marathons (read: treadmill jaunts), flip-flops (or 'slip slops,' as my Zimbabwean friends call them), and, of course, my trusty old Cons - the beloved black and white Chuck Taylors that I've been wearing since the 7th grade. (No, not the same pair of course, just the same style.)

What the heck does this have to do with business? Well, I'm glad you asked.

Beware He/She Who Knows All

If you've got questions, there's always someone with an answer. But are answers always what we want?

Self-help books, motivational talks, coaching programs, workshops, DVDs, flyers on the subway...there are so many solutions to your problems. And usually they come at a price.

Whether you're looking for spiritual wellness or business guidance, it can be tricky to find real value from sources that proclaim to solve your problems.

"User-Generated Content"

Jeffrey Veen talks about Vox, the democratization of publishing, and 'user-generated content.' He doesn't like that term. Personally, I can't stand it.

More Essential Reading

Hungry for more Essential Message copywriting and strategic marketing advice? Then head on over to our corporate site, where you'll find articles and our E-ssential Messages newsletter, written by our owner and resident guru, Michel Neray.

Some recent articles (all of which are free for you to reprint!):

• Three Ways to Start a Conversation and Finish with a Sale.
• Three Big No-No's of Networking That Almost Everyone Makes -- Including You.
• Self-Mutilation, The Imposter Syndrome and Your Essential Message.
• The Selling Power Of The Provocative Question

  Some recent newsletters:

  • E-ssential Message # 062: Why I write...
  • E-ssential Message # 061: I am getting my 2nd Degree Black Belt in... Essential Messaging?
  • E-ssential Message # 060: Do you have the Product-People-Price formula backward?
  • E-ssential Message # 059: A simple (and disarmingly honest) sales 'technique'

  Check them out - they're terrific.

  And as always, let us know what you think!

Don't Do What Everyone Else Does

Conventional wisdom tells us that in order to succeed, we have to do the same thing as those who have preceded us.

When it comes to marketing, conventional wisdom is wrong.

The Elephant in the Room

Last week, a caller to the Essential Messages got angry with me.

How "CALL" stops your conversation with a prospect

Everything starts with a conversation.

Writing Proposals the Essential Message Way

I don’t always like writing proposals. The task can feel like performing the actual work, when all I’m doing is setting down what we’re going to be doing.

Proposals limit you by giving you a set of constraints you have to obey. That’s the bad part. The good part is that they definitely focus your mind on what is possible within your time and budget.

When It’s Okay to Be Offensive

Does this sound familiar? You’re in a meeting, or hanging out with a group of friends, when you happen to drop what seems like a totally innocuous comment.

The room goes silent. You realize you’ve offended someone’s sensibilities. You make amends and remind yourself never, never to do that again.

"It's not selling!"

That was the summary of a perplexing email I received from a client a week ago. Now, I would expect that kind of response if I'd written a direct mail piece that he felt wouldn't pull, or Web copy he thought was a little limp.

But this was for his biography.