Copywriting vs Messaging

People are fuzzy on messaging. Is it just a synonym of copywriting and/or an empty buzzword? Or does it have a specific meaning and purpose?

George Washington on soloentrepeneurship

My observation is that whenever one person is found adequate to the discharge of a duty… it is worse executed by two persons, and scarcely done at all if three or more are employed therein. In no area is this so true as messaging and copywriting. Consensus doesn’t work. This is why large consulting firms homepages are as interesting as cardboard – but smaller ones sometimes achieve snappiness. Nothing wrong with a team, tbt, but each unto their own task.      

The Transition

The most important benefit of transitioning from freelancing to consulting is finding meaning in what you do

Storytelling (Strategic)

Storytelling was originally an advertising technique but is now associated with brand strategy. It is also called, for added polish, Strategic Storytelling. This is a concept and a professional practice, as opposed to a copywriting technique. As such, it is a form of Strategic Consulting. Strategic storytelling calls for creating stories about how people experience a brand. Thus, things like features, benefits, and UVP are revealed through characters’ experience with them in a brief story rather than through, for example, bullet points. Story characters could be customers, constituents, employees, owners, execs, etc.  Other common business-world synonyms include the slightly more abstract concepts, Narrative Messaging and Strategic Narrative. 

Copy

Writing that is specifically designed to further the sales and marketing efforts of a business. Product of copywriting or thinking in terms of how words will be received

Positioning

We might think of positioning as (a) a newer concept, (b) a linear process, with start and a finish, and (c) a matter of formulaic business logic. Here are some alternative perspectives to help you position your business and its solutions

Your Digital Self

We’re moving towards leaner, rougher, more authentic marketing materials, combined with more polished (and also more authentic) remote versions of ourselves

Digital Business

In retrospect, this week was all about Coronavirus and its impact on our businesses. Digital sales and marketing just got way more important.

About

I help digital entrepreneurs and consultants grow by injecting and articulating better ideas into their sales and marketing… I also write a daily newsletter on ideation, conduct revenue research, and more. Why this work? This is the big picture for me: a microscopic, change-averse sliver of the global population owns 3/4 of the world’s annual GDP. It earns 3 out of 4 dollars paid from anyone to anyone else, anywhere in the world, every year, every day, every hour. Thus, it controls financial, educational & governmental institutions, and steers the private sector’s status quo. If you lead a lean, digital business, that’s your challenge. If you own any kind of a knowledge business that leverages tech and innovation, then it’s your challenge. It’s my challenge, too. Somewhere in that block, or perhaps among its subsidiaries, you will find your villain, whether it’s a company, a product, or merely an old-fashioned way of doing business. They want to maintain the status quo. So they choke innovation. Instead, they deliver software, technology, and professional expertise the same way as they always have. But there’s a huge opportunity to undermine that dynamic and deliver value for ourselves and others with technical innovation. My vision is that tech innovation spreads according to its merits – not according to how much money is invested in it.  My mission is to use creative, original thinking to help my fellow underdogs take on the global cabal and claim their share of the world’s wealth. The Story Rowan Price Consulting is is a company of one but a company of one is a group.  The past: I started out doing UX and web development at an enormous digital agency in New York, freelance banana harvesting in Hawaii, solutions consulting at an enterprise SaaS firm in California, and grew a US-based data, dev, and web agency – from Spain. Then I went solo as a marketing and branding consultant. Along the way, I’ve worked on digital projects for about 1100 total clients, from a 21-million dollar website for Tiffany & Co. (it was a positive-ROI project too) to hundreds of healthcare orgs, nonprofits, SaaS/software companies, consultancies/agencies and tech startups. That’s the resume, at least. There are a view more details on LinkedIn. Here’s the real story: I’m an autodidact and polymath, and I have caught a glimpse of the power of words to connect people and transform them in some small way for the better – applied to business, I call that messaging. My Team If you have ever read the Company of One, you know my team. And you’ll know that it’s not just me. I have a professional relationship with a team of 7 assistants who help with bookkeeping, editing, podcast production, administrative work, web design and development, and project management.  I also have  a couple of key, trusted advisors and collaborators: Chris Hansen, Entrepreneur and Owner of You Don’t Need a CMO John Robert, Engineer-Philosopher and Owner of 3rd Coast Consulting Careers Administrative Assistant. I’m looking for a US-based Administrative Assistant who understands my business and is willing to help my frazzled mind succeed on a limited, 20-hr per week basis. You can be located anywhere and must be comfortable with video conference calls, a hard to predict workflow, and chaos. You will learn an enormous amount about digital marketing, consulting, software, digital health, copywriting, digital advertising, content marketing, and business development. Feel free to take this knowledge and go ply your trade when you are ready. If this sounds interesting, please let me know! Are you interested in joining this team in some other way? Surprise me. Drop me a line or schedule a call – I’d love to hear from you. Partnerships I’m open to informal partnerships based on common interests and complimentary capacities. I’m not open to formal partnerships, commission arrangements, cross-promotional deals, etc.  I’m specifically interested in partnerships with consultants and entrepreneurs on a similar trajectory to my own. If that makes any sense and you’re interested, reach out!

How express positioning as copy

It’s one thing to craft a positioning statement. But they usually read like cardboard tastes. So how do you express positioning in a way that’s effective and readable?

How to Hack a Positioning Statement

Positioning doesn’t mean you have to be a purple cow, or go viral. Or occupy a market niche over the long-term. It means you let someone else define you

How to design a creative brief

The creative brief was invented by ad agencies but it can be used for any kind of project work. The key rule: it’s not a specs doc, it’s an ideation tool

Press Kit

Press Info The following information is provided as a cut-and-paste resource for conference organizers, media professionals, podcast hosts, and other interested parties. Please feel free to use anything here as-is without checking with me first. Any further questions, just email. Short Bio Rowan Price is a technology and marketing expert who works with AI-based product startups. His focus areas include product positioning, messaging, and marketing strategy. As a former co-owner of a technology consulting company and staffer at multiple large digital agencies, Rowan also works with consultants who are productizing services or bootstrapping a software product. Rowan’s writings and recordings can be found at rowanprice.com. Photo Right click to download full-size image Being on your podcast I’ve recorded several podcast episodes both as a guest and a host, and I can bring that experience to your show. As a former podcast host, I know how hard it is to produce a great podcast, so I want to be the perfect guest. I use professional gear I show up on time I do careful advance research on your show, your business, and your audience I want to understand how my experience can be of value to your listeners. Questions you could ask me: How do you use AI in your daily work life? How about literature and poetry? How do you connect your personal beliefs with your business practices? What are the similarities between startup messaging, corporate messaging, and political messaging? What’s the difference between messaging and copywriting? What’s the difference between messaging and propaganda? Why should every knowledge worker keep her own dictionary? How have digital marketing strategies evolved since the first dotcom boom in the late 90s? Please email your pitch to rowan@rowanprice.com and we’ll set up a dat Sample Audio/video 9-minute book review of The Anatomy of Humbug (Substack audio essay) 20-episode podcast series consisting of 60-second segments:   What others have said “A very sharp, well-rounded, well-read, and personable professional. Most marketing consultants want to give you prefab ideas but Rowan sees the bigger picture and is thoughtful to your concerns. Very intriguing and entirely original insights were offered. A consummate professional.” – Peter Allen, founder of Translation SaaS Sample opinion pieces What’s Your Dictionary Death and Opportunity Thinking Outside the Box vs Productivity

1000 Little Ideas

A compelling argument for developing the skill of ideation lies in the 1000 Little Ideas vs 1 Big Idea paradigm

Can you “write” SEO?

SEO is a market intelligence process that helps you get into the minds of the people who can help. Here’s how to turn that in to words

Upside Down Homepage UX

Turn the page upside down. Header on the bottom. Learn how this approach can improve conversions with hurting your brand integrity

Hybrid Expertise: Design, Technology, Marketing

What’s the difference, between the difference, between a UX consultancy, a digital ad agency, and a tech consulting firm?  In my opinion, less than we think. All digital services firms should offer a hybrid mix of creative, technological, and marketing expertise.

The Ethics of Psychodynamic Marketing

Harry Browne’s definition of profit is selling happiness. in his book Secret of Selling Anything, he explores how the art of persuasion need not be a “dark art”

The Cannabis SEO Principle

Cannabis SEO consultants are in high demand all of a sudden. Why? Because you can’t advertise the stuff, so organic is the path

David Ogilvy’s Secret Weapon

David Ogilvy’s secret was a book about direct response marketing called “Tested Advertising Methods”, by John Caples. Make Ogilvy’s secrets your own

How To Get New Ideas

In the book, A Technique for Producing Ideas, author James Webb Young lays out an ideation method that is “as definite a process as the production of Fords.”