The thing about having a communication blog is that, really, everything communicates. Everything you say, of course, but also what you wear, how you spend your time and money, the friends you have... it all says something about you, intended or not. Even accurate or not, it communicates.
So, that's why I feel justified in talking about how to handle domestic chores on this blog. I am a huge fan of outsourcing. Really, I believe in outsourcing virtually anything that is not either one of your personal strengths, something you genuinely want to improve upon for your own internal reasons, or something you hold dear to your heart and soul and therefore do not want to hand over to another person to handle. Often, the three go together so keeping particular things "in-house" is a no-brainer. For example, my friend Lydia absolutely adores gardening. She is good at gardening, she wants to be a better gardener all the time, and she holds gardening dear to her heart. So, Lydia should garden!
I, on the other hand, am lucky if my thumb gets even the slightest tint of greenish yellow in Spring and, when I am honest with myself, I really don't prefer to garden. It can be fun to pick out plants and flowers and even a bit satisfying to stick them in the ground and have an instant remodel of my front flower mound. But really, I'd be equally happy (okay, maybe even more happy) to have our earth-loving, a-bit-too-laid-back, talented landscape designer/gardener work his magic in our garden and then adore his mastery when we have dinner picnics on the front lawn.
Still, sometimes I feel guilty about this position I so passionately hold. It's as though I have some old programming that says that my very womanhood depends on my ability to handle all of the zillion domestic duties involved in caring for a household. That makes sense since my mom really was a brilliant homemaker. Our house was drop-by-visitor ready anytime, she made dinner most nights, she showered every day(!!) and she was always ready to go out with my dad when he got home from work and wanted to see a movie or go get dinner on a whim. When I get particularly insecure about my total disregard for domestic prowess, I like to seek out others who share my position. It's validating. That's why I was pleased to find this article in the Wall Street Journal and then run across this wish-I-could-say-things-this-beautifully blog post a few weeks ago on my friend Melissa's blog.
We have a wonderful woman deep clean for us once a month and we have a brilliant, fun, totally fabulous person come in for two hours three days a week and do whatever makes life easier that day. Some days she just picks up the total crazy mess we've left in every room. She has installed a closet organizer system, reorganized our kitchen cabinets and cleaned out our garage. She has made dinner and played countless games with our girls while she did various things around the house. She is a huge, meaningful part of our lives and I could not be more grateful for the help. It would take a pretty dramatic change in our financial situation (which is not extravagant, by any means) to let go of this amazing gift in our lives.
I'm not sure what this communicates about me - or anyone else who does it any other way. I just want to offer it up to anyone who can swing it. Life is so much better with help. Feelin' the love tonight (and the thrill that tomorrow is Monday and Olivia will be here!), I guess.
Showing posts with label Eloquence Communication. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eloquence Communication. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Monday, October 6, 2008
You Talk, You Brand
I've been working on a new brochure for my business, Eloquence Communication. The process is shockingly lengthy, with a zillion tiny decisions. What size brochure do I want? Where do I want to place client testimonials? Is it obvious enough, early enough in the brochure experience exactly what service we provide?
Oh, so many little details. And this follows a zillion more details I already attended in the process of doing the re-brand we are implementing (more on that in another post, when I have enough distance from the process that I can talk about it with some enthusiasm).
The brochure was virtually done and I was showing it to some friends to get feedback on the layout. Looking at the client testimonials page which I had titled "Praise", my friend, Cynthia, said, "I would use a different word besides 'Praise' on this page. The way it is now, I can't tell if this is a service you provide or what."
Totally useful feedback. Obviously, further reading would indicate that this is the place in the brochure where we share "testimonials". But no one wants to work that hard to find out what you are trying to say to them in your business brochure. And the thing is, I had already decided against "testimonials" (too dry) and "buzz" (too cliche, too marketing-speak) and I was out of ideas for what to title this section.
I kept trying to decide it wasn't that big of a deal, but the fact is, it does matter. What you say brands you and your business. And while "branding" is the epitome of marketing-speak now, it is a serious fact-of-the-matter that you are branding all the while you are doing anything.
When you are marketing a small business that you own, you are your walking, talking branding machine. The words you choose, the way you listen, the questions you ask - they tell the world what you value, what the experience of working with you will be like. So the words in my brochure, which I plan to distribute far and wide (strategically targeted, of course) should be an indication of the experience of working with my business.
This requires me to be very clear about the experience of working with my business; which I am because this is a huge part of what we do at Eloquence Communication. We help you get very clear who you are in your business so that you can bring Authentic Eloquence to your work. I reminded myself that Eloquence Communication is about authenticity and beauty in language. We believe in finding the most natural word that clearly makes whatever point is sought, while investing a bit of time exploring nuances in language that might be even clearer and more interesting. It is first about authenticity and clarity, but a close second about creativity and innovation in language.
Finally, I decided to label that section "Praise for the Eloquence Experience" (with help from my wordsmith husband) because it was on-brand - and I liked it. It feels right. It sounds good to me. It is clear and useful. And did I say, I liked it?
That's the other thing - be sure you really like the brand you create. Only way to do that is to create it with intention. And get it that every little thing you say and do contributes to your personal brand. For small business owners, your personal brand is often your business brand.
Oh, so many little details. And this follows a zillion more details I already attended in the process of doing the re-brand we are implementing (more on that in another post, when I have enough distance from the process that I can talk about it with some enthusiasm).
The brochure was virtually done and I was showing it to some friends to get feedback on the layout. Looking at the client testimonials page which I had titled "Praise", my friend, Cynthia, said, "I would use a different word besides 'Praise' on this page. The way it is now, I can't tell if this is a service you provide or what."
Totally useful feedback. Obviously, further reading would indicate that this is the place in the brochure where we share "testimonials". But no one wants to work that hard to find out what you are trying to say to them in your business brochure. And the thing is, I had already decided against "testimonials" (too dry) and "buzz" (too cliche, too marketing-speak) and I was out of ideas for what to title this section.
I kept trying to decide it wasn't that big of a deal, but the fact is, it does matter. What you say brands you and your business. And while "branding" is the epitome of marketing-speak now, it is a serious fact-of-the-matter that you are branding all the while you are doing anything.
When you are marketing a small business that you own, you are your walking, talking branding machine. The words you choose, the way you listen, the questions you ask - they tell the world what you value, what the experience of working with you will be like. So the words in my brochure, which I plan to distribute far and wide (strategically targeted, of course) should be an indication of the experience of working with my business.
This requires me to be very clear about the experience of working with my business; which I am because this is a huge part of what we do at Eloquence Communication. We help you get very clear who you are in your business so that you can bring Authentic Eloquence to your work. I reminded myself that Eloquence Communication is about authenticity and beauty in language. We believe in finding the most natural word that clearly makes whatever point is sought, while investing a bit of time exploring nuances in language that might be even clearer and more interesting. It is first about authenticity and clarity, but a close second about creativity and innovation in language.
Finally, I decided to label that section "Praise for the Eloquence Experience" (with help from my wordsmith husband) because it was on-brand - and I liked it. It feels right. It sounds good to me. It is clear and useful. And did I say, I liked it?
That's the other thing - be sure you really like the brand you create. Only way to do that is to create it with intention. And get it that every little thing you say and do contributes to your personal brand. For small business owners, your personal brand is often your business brand.
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