Communications 101 – Sharing Your Heart

How Can You Achieve Truly Powerful Communication With Your Target Market?

I used to be a big letter writer. With friends and family scattered over the globe, it was a truly joyful thing to sit down with a particular person in mind and compose words expressly for them. One of my favorite things to do when I was done writing was to decorate the envelope in a collage of magazine picture cutouts, just to add one more touch unique to that person.

Now, I must confess, I’m lucky if I get Christmas cards out every other year!  While Facebook and e-mail have certainly made it easier to keep in touch, they’ve encouraged some laziness in me on that end as well. That’s because writing a personal letter is significantly different than dashing off an e-mail or a wall post.

You’ve got to sit down with a pen and paper (ever noticed how actually writing for a significant amount of time gets harder on the hands the more you get used to the keyboard?). It may be special paper that you’ve picked out – something that has meaning for you or for the recipient.

You’ve got to think about what you will say, how you will put it, remember all the details, the inside jokes, the references to things only the two of you will understand. You want to draw some sort of emotion from the person receiving your letter – joy, memory, shared sorrow. All of that takes some serious thinking!

You might include something else along with your words – a photograph, a newspaper clipping, a child’s drawing. It’s a significant attempt at really reaching someone else.

Once it’s written and ready to be sealed, you’ve got to make sure you have the envelope, the stamp, the address. A trip to the post office might be involved. As busy as our lives have gotten, even these simple tasks and expenditures can seem like a lot!

Finally, you send it off. What’s your feeling when that mailbox closes over your precious cargo? You’ve created something important – something that will hold special meaning for a fellow human being - something they may keep over the coming years as a reminder of you and your relationship.

I know when I receive a letter in the mail, it’s a special day. I wait until I get home before I open it. I examine the envelope, think about who it’s from, prepare myself to really soak in what that person has to say. When I first read it I run over the words quickly, wanting to devour it all at once. Then I go back over it more slowly, feeling my joy through the big smile that is on my face.

Over the next few days I’ll think of that person more. I’ll feel singled out and special to have heard from them in such a way. I’ll talk about them more to my husband, put the pictures they may have sent on the fridge, start thinking about what I might right back to them.

It’s a profound journey – this writing of a letter. Even when it comes to someone you’ve known for years, it still takes a significant amount of effort. You hold a picture of that person in your mind as you write – a vision of them that allows you to be incredibly specific and meaningful to that person.

In business, you’re also writing letters all the time, but it never seems to even get close to the power of a real letter, written to a long-time acquaintance. Would it ever be possible to achieve that same kind of connection with your market through a letter written by you?

Get fired up this fall to start sharing your stories!

The approach of autumn seems to bring about a renewal of zeal for work and ‘back to school’ sense of expectation for just about everyone, no matter how long it’s been since you’ve actually hit the books.

I have one last summer hurrah coming up on Labor Day Weekend when I’m off to spend time at a friend’s cottage, and then I’ll be gearing up for an exciting mini-course I’ve signed up for with superstar copywriter Cathy Goodwin & Internet empire builder Connie Ragen Green on storytelling.

Aside from the thrill of getting to sit at the feet of some great mentors, I am even more excited about the theme of this course, which is all about how you can use your own personal stories throughout your marketing efforts.

The truth is, anyone who is marketing anything can find it very easy to fall into the hype trap when it comes to the way you’re communicating about your product or service. You know what you have to sell is amazing, so you’ve gotta get out there and pump it up to get people as excited as you are!

To an extent, of course, this is necessary, but all too often your hype can overflow into the point where you’re putting people off by promising something that seems too good to be true, or offering more than you can actually deliver with the intention of getting people in the door and clearing up any misconceptions later.

If you consider yourself to be any kind of ‘conscious’ entrepreneur, you know that people just don’t want that stuff anymore. Your real and true authenticity in your communication is going to reach so much farther than any hype ever will – and its effects will be much more lasting.

Of course, one of the most authentic ways to communicate about your product or service is through your stories!

Figuring out how to use the everyday stories of your life to both make connections and make sales will make a drastic difference in your marketing efforts – and it’s a lot easier to be natural than to try to come up with all that hype!

If you’re interested in learning more about the upcoming story class with Cathy Goodwin and Connie Ragen Green, visit here to find out more information. And in the meantime, consider some of the ways you can be more authentic with your customers and clients: