My Personal “Old is Gold” Celebrity Experience

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When executed successfully, a celebrity endorsement lets you leverage their fame and influence. But, even if all that’s happened is that you’ve met a former celebrity, you can leverage the nostalgia and authenticity it provides. “Brands have long realized that tapping into fond memories isn’t just a feel-good moment; it’s a powerful marketing strategy,” the mediaant.com points out.

Fifteen years ago, as president of my Indiana chapter of the National Speakers’ Association, I attended the NSA Winter Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Country music star Mel Tillis led a breakout discussion, ending by inviting all of us to attend the Grand Ole Opry performance he was hosting later that day.

There are two special points Mel Tillis made during the question/answer session about communicating with an audience (None of us could help noticing his stutter, which he explained would disappear when he was performing music):

  1.  “I’m always coming up with new anecdotes and stories.” It’s important for any speaker to keep coming up with new anecdotes and stories to illustrate each point, Tillis stressed. That’s a lesson content marketers need to learn, for sure, since maintaining high rankings on search engines means creating content again and again over long periods of time. Anecdotes and stories keep the material fresh.
  2. 2. “Sure, I get tired, like if I have to sing ‘Coca Cola Cowboy’ one more time, I think I’m gonna die. But what you need to do is act like it’s the first time you’ve ever done it. After all, every time I walk out there, it’s a different audience.” In “pull marketing” through content, you are attracting only searchers who have a need relating to what you do, what you sell, or what you know about. You may be “tired” of “same old, same old”, but, for most of those searchers, it will be the first time they’ve ever read your content.

 No, I don’t have a celebrity endorsement from country singer Mel Tillus (The singer died in 2017, after performing onstage for fifty-two years), but I wanted to share with my content marketing friends the nostalgia and authenticity of this memorable and inspiring “Grand Ole Opry” encounter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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How to Build Killer Sales Pitches, Marketing Moves, and Brand Stories as a Small Business Team

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You’ve got a product or service, a team that believes in it, and a market that needs it—now what? Selling it, of course, but not with a shrug and a hope. Sales, marketing, and storytelling are where businesses win or spiral, and if you’re working with a lean crew, the stakes and the focus sharpen. You need tactics that punch above your size and messaging that doesn’t just land, it sticks. The good news? Creativity is cheaper than a bloated ad budget, and resourcefulness often outpaces experience. Let’s get into how to shape your pitch, tighten your strategy, and make your story sing.

Start with a pitch that makes people stay

Sales pitches shouldn’t feel like someone reading bullet points off a brochure. You want rhythm, voice, tension, and resolution. The goal isn’t to sell a product, it’s to sell a shift in thinking, a new convenience, or a fix they didn’t know they needed. So how do you do it? Strip it back to the problem and build the pitch around the solution, using language that invites, not pressures. A perfect sales pitch weaves customer pain points into an effortless narrative with a clear next step. If you sound like every other team with a script and a smile, you’ll disappear with them too.

Market with movement, not noise

Marketing only works when it’s aimed, not sprayed. Start by figuring out where your audience already spends their time—scrolling Instagram reels, opening local newsletters, searching YouTube tutorials—and meet them there. From there, consistency beats virality every time. A steady drip of content that informs, entertains, or sparks curiosity builds more brand recall than a one-off blitz. This is especially true for budget-conscious teams who need bang for every buck and second. For inspiration, these small business marketing ideas show how scrappy campaigns can still dominate attention spans.

Tell a story that actually matters

Nobody remembers taglines, they remember feelings. That’s the whole point of a brand narrative—it’s the emotional thread that ties everything together. You’re not just a boutique coffee roaster, you’re the shop that sponsors open mic nights and buys beans from farmers by name. Stories like that are sticky, shareable, and defensible against cheaper competitors. The mistake most small businesses make? Talking about themselves too much and their customers too little. Study compelling brand narratives and you’ll see that it’s always the audience who ends up the hero.

Go back to school without pausing your business

If your marketing or sales muscles feel flabby, there’s no shame in hitting the books again. Earning a business management degree will help you gain skills in operations, marketing, and sales—yes, all three, which is what most small team leaders need. What’s even better is how flexible the programs have become. You can go here to see how online courses make it possible to stay in the trenches while sharpening your strategy. Nights, weekends, even lunch breaks can turn into workshop hours. It’s a long play, but one that stretches your ceiling for the years ahead.

Let feedback shape your messaging

Forget guesswork. You’ve got emails, DMs, comment threads, reviews, even eye rolls at the end of your pitch—data is dripping from every edge of your business. The trick is creating systems that feed that data back into your approach without clogging your workflow. Use surveys, ask blunt questions, and don’t flinch at the answers. Your customers will write your next pitch if you let them. Start integrating feedback loops into your team’s weekly rhythm and you’ll find your voice evolving to match what people actually care about.

Proof it works: entrepreneurs are doing it

Sometimes the best advice is a mirror. When you see someone who looks like you—same hurdles, same goals—succeeding through education, the theory becomes real. One entrepreneur goes back to business school and finds their voice stronger, their strategy sharper, their brand more magnetic. That’s the ripple effect of learning with intention. It’s not a retreat from the hustle, it’s a weapon you bring back to it. And you’re not chasing a degree, you’re carving out a longer runway for your business. You’ll think longer, act faster, and speak louder. 

There’s no one-size script or silver bullet when you’re pitching with heart, marketing on a shoestring, and building a brand story that feels like yours. But there are instincts you can sharpen and strategies you can test, discard, or double-down on. Be the team that keeps learning, that writes fast and edits with curiosity. Chase feedback like it’s a cofounder. Take your voice seriously, because nobody else will until you do. And if that means going back to school or rewriting your pitch for the twentieth time, well, that’s just business.

 

Chantal Briggs created Neighbors Needed to make it easier for community members everywhere to connect with their neighbors, build strong relationships, celebrate one another, and in turn, create communities where everyone can thrive. The site offers resources and advice on how to make strong neighborly connections and build safer communities.

 

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Clarity Before Content: Why Trying to Talk to Everyone Hurts Your Message

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“Trying to reach everyone means you reach no one.”

It’s a phrase we hear often in marketing circles, but most business owners nod politely and keep casting a wide net. They fear that choosing a niche means turning down opportunities. After all, if your services can help everyone, shouldn’t your message try to include them all?

As a strategic consultant and the creator of Define Your Light’s Roadmapping Sessions, I see this hesitation constantly. Clients come in with good intentions and great ideas, but they’re stuck in what I call the content fog — producing a mix of blogs, social posts, and website copy that sounds helpful… but doesn’t land.

Why? Because the message is diluted.
And usually, the root problem isn’t the marketing — it’s the lack of clarity.

I’ve Been There Myself

For a while, I wrote almost exclusively to parentpreneurs. I thought that was my niche – other business owners juggling growing companies while raising kids. And while I absolutely care about that segment (I’m one of them), I realized something important: the people who were actually hiring me weren’t choosing me because of our shared family dynamics.

They were choosing me because I brought calm to their chaos. Because I could translate their ideas into action. Because I made strategy feel personal.

The label didn’t matter. The clarity did.

Why Content Needs a Compass

That realization reshaped my business, my content, and it’s now at the heart of the Roadmapping process I offer. I believe in Clarity Before Content — the idea that messaging only works when it’s grounded in a deep understanding of who you’re speaking to, what they need, and what you want to be known for.

One client, overwhelmed by a sea of possible audiences, told me:

“I feel like I can help everyone. I don’t want to box myself in.”

She wasn’t alone — it’s one of the most common things I hear.

So we slowed down and worked through a focused series of exercises designed to bring her audience into sharper view. Instead of staying stuck in vague generalities, she began to see patterns — the clients who energized her, the problems she solved with ease, and the places where her expertise created the biggest transformation.

Through this process, she realized she wasn’t narrowing — she was refining. Her message stopped trying to speak to everyone and started resonating with the right ones. And with that clarity, her content began working harder — not because she was producing more, but because every word had direction.

By the end, her messaging shifted from general to magnetic.
Her website, emails, and even how she described her work in conversation became clearer and more confident — not because she changed her offer, but because she finally knew who she was talking to.

The Truth About Niching

Niching isn’t about cutting people out — it’s about drawing the right people closer.
It’s how you stop chasing and start attracting.
When your content reflects true alignment, the impression not only lands — it lasts.

That’s the kind of clarity I love helping clients discover — whether it’s in a full Roadmapping Session or a more nimble Marketing Sprint. These focused sessions are all about cutting through the noise, finding the message that truly resonates, and shaping content that connects with the right people.

That’s what clarity creates.
Not just better strategy, but deeper connection.
With your work.
With your audience.
And with the business you’re building on purpose.


Today’s guest post was contributed by friend and fellow networker Erin Jernigan, business & nonprofit strategy consultant,  at Define Your Light. 215 804 6870   www.DefineYourLight.com.

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Is Three Perfection in Content Marketing?

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Aristotle taught it. Hemingway used it. Matthew McConaughey still does.  In “The Oldest Rule of Compelling Writing”, Linda Caroll is referring to “Omni trium perfectum”, meaning Three is Perfection.  With the human brain a pattern-seeking machine, the smallest number it identifies is three, Caroll explains.  As an example, in McConaughey’s Oscar acceptance speech, he said that, in life, we all need three things: someone to look up to, something to look forward to, and something to chase.

 

The laminated student guide “Writing Tips & Tricks” by quickstudy.com advises: “Ask yourself what you want the reader to know about your topic….Think of three details or three examples for each idea.”  Quick Study is referring to student essays, typically much longer, much more formal, and more detailed than blog posts. In fact, their sample outline format contains three main ideas, each with three details and examples.

In content writing for business, by contrast, I recommend a razor-sharp focus on just one story, one idea, one aspect of a business, a practice, or an organization.  Other aspects can be addressed in later posts. Focused on one thing, I tell business owners and practitioners, your post will have much greater impact, since people are bombarded with many messages each day. Respecting readers’ time produces better results for your business.

That doesn’t mean blog content writing shouldn’t make use of the “the three-legged stool” idea, with three examples or details supporting the main idea of each post, and using the three elements of:

  • Visual (images and charts)
  • Word content
  • Delivery (expression of the opinion clarifying the difference between the business owner and his/her competitor )

Three may be perfection, but all three of those must support one main concept in each content piece.

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In Content Marketing, Aim for Signal, Not Noise

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With 2.5 quintillion bytes of data created every day, the true test of leadership isn’t managing it all – it’s mining what matters, Jess Carter writes in the Indianapolis Business Journal.  The “noise” tends to derive, she explains, from three sources:

  • Internal (bottlenecks within your company or practice)
  • External (industry hype, competitor activities)
  • Data noise (metrics and un-validated insights)

True leaders do not chase each new trend, instead filtering the noise in search of signals, which tell those leaders either to remain on track to realize their own goals or that a “course correction” might be needed.

This IBJ article reminds me of the importance of including, in content marketing, owners’ opinions along with news and information. Whether it’s business-to-business or business-to-consumer content creation, the content needs to clarify what differentiates that business, that professional practice, or that organization from its peers. When online readers find have found their way to a post, article, or blog, one question they need answered is “Who lives here?” Providing information about products and services is important, but in terms of conveying meaning and offering perspective – that takes sharing opinion. 

At Say It For you, we know that, when we’re telling the story of a business or a practice to consumers, we choose, in each case, to “frame” that story a certain way. Chris Anderson, head of TED Talks, reminds speakers to do a jargon check based on audience research, eliminating technical terms and acronyms that will be unfamiliar to listeners. Beyond that, though, it is the “worldview” of the entrepreneurs themselves that must be “framed” in the content.

Carter refers to the “noise” that is created in any field, with a constant barrage of data and un-validated insights in the form of “news”. When it comes to content marketing, we’ve found at Say It For you, the word “news” can mean several different things:

  1. Your own news: You’re introducing a new employee or partner, a new product line or service. That news needs to be presented in such a way that readers will consider it relevant to their needs.
  2. Community news: You’re giving an update on “what’s-going-on-and-how-do-we-fit-in”.
  3. Industry or professional news that can affect your audience.

While content marketing provides the framework for sharing news, it’s the business owner’s or the professional practitioner’s opinion and perspective that helps readers “hear” the signals and ignore the “noise”.

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