What Are Your T-shirts Saying to and About You?

What Are Your T-shirts Saying to and About You?


I saw a few t-shirts today in my travels and was reminded of the power and impact of our words. The first shirt I noticed, worn by a dejected looking woman, said simply, i don't count. A glimpse of the back of the shirt showed a big green "K" - indicating the Cricket phone company brand. Next, I saw a woman wearing a Family Guy shirt that said Master of Disaster.

The second grouping of shirts had a more positive slant. First, there was the UA Wildcat Pride shirt. The next was imprinted with the words, Protecting children is everyone's job, a message of hope and awareness.

As soon as I saw that it was a Cricket product, the i don't count message made sense (one of the company's biggest selling points is unlimited calls and text messages). But the message, on its face, struck me as negative, bordering on hopeless. Made me wonder what Cricket was thinking in okaying this campaign. And what the people who voluntarily wear the shirt must be thinking - or not thinking - when they put it on in the morning.

Now my boyfriend's a big Family Guy fan - meaning I catch an episode every now and again. As distasteful as some of the subject matter can be, Seth MacFarlane's satire pushes the envelope and is sometimes laugh-out-loud hilarious. Nonetheless, I'm not sure how aware of this satire the gal sporting the Master of Disaster shirt actually is. And my first question on seeing it - much like seeing the i don't count shirt - was to wonder how much thought she'd given to purchasing and wearing it.

This is not to suggest that the gals (yes, all of the t-shirt wearers were female) in the Wildcat Pride and Protecting Children shirts are necessarily aware of the more positive messages on their clothing. Who knows what other phrases adorn the unworn t-shirts in their dresser drawers?

I had two big takeaways in all of this: (1) as business owners, it is imperative that we select our branding messages carefully, and (2) as people trying to have the best possible lives, it is essential that we take great care in the messages we allow to surround us - including the ones we actually wear on our bodies.

My facebook friend, David Bell, recently cautioned some of his friends about their language. He mentioned cringing when he hears people say things like, "I love her to death," and "This economy sucks." You've probably heard before that what we think about, we bring about. But thoughts cannot exist without words, and those words carry a powerful impact. For yourself and for your business, doesn't it make sense to choose them wisely?


Seen any shirts that got you to scratching your head? Share your comments below!


This is Day 15 in the 60-Day Content Challenge. See you tomorrow for the next post!
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Sign up today for Laura's next workshop, Want to Charge More? Start Writing! Or e-mail your questions on creative marketing strategies - to Laura.

An Exercise Plan/A Marketing Plan: Lots of Similarities

An Exercise Plan/A Marketing Plan: Lots of Similarities

After a fairly substantial hiatus, I recently returned to working out at the gym. Getting over that initial  hump, resistance, and pain has been a challenge, but I'm very glad I'm back to it. In thinking about this 60-Day Content Challenge, it occurred to me that there are a number of ways a good marketing campaign is similar to a good weight-training campaign.

Be Accountable - One of the best ways to make sure you'll follow through on your plan (especially if you're a small/one-person shop) is to set up an accountability system. At the gym, you can hire a trainer, or find a workout partner. That way, when you don't feel like it, you've got someone else there to nudge you along. This 60-Day Challenge was all the motivation I needed to dust off some good ideas that had been hibernating for a while, and get busy typing! You might want to consider hiring a coach to help with strategy and accountability.

Follow a Regular Schedule - The only way exercise works is if you do it. Same thing with marketing. I'll never forget these words from marketing guru, Kelly O'Neil: "Bad marketing done regularly is always superior to good marketing done sporadically."

Don't Overdo It - One of the most important rules of the gym is knowing when enough is enough. Same is true of your marketing plan. First, make a plan. Then make sure you can realistically adhere to it. Don't shoot for the moon and have your rocket fizzle out because it didn't have enough fuel.

Exercise ALL Your Muscle Groups - A good workout strategy works all of your muscle groups, on a a regular rotation. Consider the same for your marketing. With the explosion of online marketing in the early 2000s, lots of people seemed to forget all about offline tactics. An integrated plan that includes both on- and offline strategies is the best plan.

Maintenance Is Essential - What happens if you begin an exercise plan and then quit as soon as you begin to see results? They don't last very long, do they? This will happen with your marketing, too, if you neglect it as soon as you start seeing returns. The best time to market your business is when you are B-U-S-Y. Don't wait until the phone's stopped ringing to ramp up again. Maintain your marketing progress for best results.

There are no two ways around it - marketing, like an exercise plan, involves time and effort. Lots of dedicated effort. But you don't have to go it alone, and once you get going, it will get easier. Focus on just one of these steps at a time, and add subsequent ones as you are ready.

Let's keep each other accountable - share your success with me so I can cheer you on!

This is Day 14 in the 60-Day Content Challenge. See you tomorrow for the next post!
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Sign up today for Laura's next workshop, Want to Charge More? Start Writing! Or e-mail Laura with any questions you have about building the best marketing strategy for your small business - even if it's just YOU.

Stop Looking for New Ideas - Start Looking for YOUR Ideas

Stop Looking for New Ideas - Start Looking for YOUR Ideas

OK, I am not going to lie to you. The fact is, there really are no new ideas. Unless you’re performing cutting-edge scientific or medical research or are hot on the trail of the biography of the most up-to-the-minute celeb-to-be, there will be other people out there writing on your subject. And depending on the subject, there may be a LOT of people out there writing in your area of interest.

LISTEN UP: Do NOT panic. I am in no way saying you shouldn’t write on the topics that interest you. You should write about them – all of them – and here’s why.

You were blessed with a brilliant brain. You’ve got insights and instincts and a perspective that are all your own. Your education, life experience, and professional expertise have given you a view and understanding that is different from everyone else’s – even others in your industry! Have you ever heard the saying, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”? With your blog (as well as articles, white papers, and/or books and eBooks), you will become a teacher for someone. Admittedly, chances are pretty good that folks will already have heard at least some of your message elsewhere before, perhaps many times. Sometimes, though, it takes a special turn of phrase for the message to actually sink in. Timing also is critical. I may have heard the lesson a thousand times before, but this time, at THIS moment, I am ready to learn it, embrace it, embody it, and act on it. This time – because of your message.


Do not let the idea of competition stop you from writing. That is a lack mentality and comes from a perspective of limited belief. Whether you agree or not, we live in an abundant universe. There is more than enough for all of us. More than enough business, more than enough clients, more than enough money – and certainly more than enough people who want to hear your message.

There is, however, one caveat: As Seth Godin says in Purple Cow, you must be ready to be better than the rest. What does that mean?

Fortunately – or unfortunately – to be better than the rest is not really a matter of intelligence or profound ability. What it takes is effort. It takes an investment of knowledge, skill, professionalism, and time. Make sure your articles contain useful content. Find someone to interview and use a quotation from them. Do a little research and include source material from another expert. Make sure you have double-checked all your facts. Make sure you have spell-checked and that your grammar and usage are precise and correct. Make sure you’ve formatted it for easy reading. Make sure your tone is appropriate for your audience. Make sure you attach appropriate keywords to it so that people can find it.

These things may all seem obvious, but they’re not. When showing up on time for work and knowing where the file is when your boss asks for it are now considered exemplary employee behaviors (and they are!), getting all these little details correct will make you stand out from the crowd in a major way.

Places to Go for Ideas

• I Thought EVERYONE Knew That! What are the things that, when you hear people ask you, you say to yourself, “Really? I thought everyone knew that.”
• Your Passions Are a GREAT Idea Feeder. What do you love (to do)? What do you hate (to do)? What would you like to learn more about?
• What Are You REALLY Good At? What do you do better than 90% of other people? At which part of your job/business/industry do you excel? What do other people tell you you are good at?
• What Are You Reading? What books and magazines are you reading? What are you reading on the Web? What exciting new thing did you learn about in a publication that had nothing to do with your business?
• What Happened to You Yesterday? Did you lock your keys in the trunk? Have a great (or terrible) customer service experience? Try a new restaurant? Have an interesting conversation with your kids? What lessons can you take from the day-to-day and apply to your business/industry?

Some industries are tailor-made for blogging all day, everyday. Coaches and therapists. Financial advisors. Indie bookshop owners. Others - like plumbers, chiropractors, or mortgage lenders - are more specialized and make take a bit more creativity. But the ideas are there - and as soon as you learn the secret of tapping them, they will gush at you in a torrent. Make sure you capture them by writing them in a notebook reserved for them, or on your digital recorder or phone.

Good topics get a lot of coverage. Don't shrink from adding your two cents. Take comfort - and confidence - in the knowledge that you have a new slant, perspective, set of life experiences to bring to the table. No one can write like you can - and somewhere out there is a person who's waiting to hear from you.

This is Day 13 in the 60-Day Content Challenge. See you tomorrow for the next post!
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Sign up today for Laura's next workshop, Want to Charge More? Start Writing! Or e-mail your questions about topics for content to Laura.

Practice Makes Perfect When It Comes to Creative Marketing

Practice Makes Perfect When It Comes to Creative Marketing

When I was first starting my business, I had a mentor who was one of the most creative marketers I'd ever met. We would have a blank sheet of paper in front of us; all I would see was white, but he would see 27 opportunities.

Spending time with him was simultaneously invigorating and incredibly frustrating. He seemed to have access to a never-ending stream of new ideas, and I wasn't able to think like that. Eventually, though, my own creative marketing brain kicked in and I learned how to think differently.

That's all creative marketing is, really. Thinking about the same situation in front of everyone else, but seeing it differently. My friend Tom Otstot, a sharp businessman and masterful public speaker, says that innovation is less about coming up with a new idea than it is about finding a new way to do or use something that already exists. He distinguishes innovation from invention in that both are new and useful, but innovation is applied.

Steps to becoming a more innovative marketer:

1. Find a role model who is a willing teacher. Pay this person if you have to - it will be so worth it in the long run.
2. Read and absorb everything you can get your hands on that is related to creativity, innovation, and marketing.
3. Take some time to process and let what you've learned percolate.
4. Act on your ideas, unafraid to fail.

Will every idea work? Of course not - but you won't know which ones do work until you try them all. Even the greatest inventors experienced many failures.

I failed my way to success.

- Thomas Edison

As with everything else we learn in life, practice makes perfect when it comes to creative marketing. What can you do TODAY to begin to think more creatively about your business?

This is Day 12 in the 60-Day Content Challenge. See you tomorrow for the next post!
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Sign up today for Laura's next workshop, Want to Charge More? Start Writing! Or e-mail your questions on creative marketing strategies - to Laura.