Style and Substance

Welcome back lovely listeners to season 9. After a lovely long break we are opening this season with what we hope is a juicy two parter on the topic of finding your authentic voice.

Both of us encounter business owners who struggle to do this for themselves and their brands and we are so passionate about the potential that finding and using your authentic brand voice can create for your business.

Having a clear, compelling and natural voice enables us to not only connect with our clients and move them to action but also to express the true value that we bring in our business. It enables us to win work, develop relationships, handle conflict more effectively and give us that sense of empowerment that comes from being able to articulate what it is that we want. But it doesn't come easy to everyone. So many of us struggle to find the right words for our website, to write compelling sales copy, to blog or produce newsletters that really connect and this can really hold us and our business back. Over the first two episodes of this new season we are going to be digging into all that. We'll explore some of the things that get in the way of using your voice, particularly if you are a woman in business, we'll cover how we approach finding a brand voice for our clients and some of the practical considerations we need to bear in mind when writing compelling copy that really connects. Happy listening.

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All design, good or otherwise, creates an impression. It affects our perceived credibility, opens up or closes down opportunities and influences the confidence we feel about our work. Whether we realise it or not, whenever we are producing any collateral for our brand we are producing design. From pitch presentations to social media graphics and everything in between, so let's get it right.

Understanding design fundamentals as an entrepreneur will help you be more intentional about the impression you are creating with your graphic design and ensure your investment in your brand identity isn't compromised. In this episode we walk you through those fundamentals, so note pads at the ready.

Fi explains the difference between brand design and graphic design, what a complete brand identity entails and what we should be watching out for to maintain the integrity of our beautiful brand identity when we are rolling that out across our businesses.

If you'd like to dig deeper and learn how to apply these fundamentals in more detail then Fi's brilliant course Design for Go Getters will help you do just that. You can find details on thebrand-stylist.com.

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Picture this: you've spent months, maybe even years, perfecting your unique product or service, pouring your heart and soul into every detail. Then, out of the blue, you stumble upon a carbon copy of your efforts being touted by a competitor. How do you handle it? Today, we're taking a deep dive into the murky waters of copying, comparison and competition within the entrepreneurial world.

Inspired by a listener's question, we break down how to handle the experience of being copied, the emotional toll it takes, and the different forms copying can take, such as mimicking branding, ideas, or approaches.

We'll look at how copying is not only a blow to the original creator but also a stumbling block for the replicator's business. As ever, we share from our own experience as well as valuable resources for addressing more serious copyright infringement.

The two mentioned in the episode are ACID more info can be found here https://www.acid.uk.com/ and Sarah Watson offers helpful advice on dealing specifically with product design copies on her website here https://www.balineum.co.uk/pages/dealing-with-product-copies

We also address how to approach things when confrontation feels like conflict, especially on public platforms such as social media. In an era of AI and shortcuts often leading to unoriginal content, we champion authenticity in branding and copywriting. We explore how to maintain professionalism and empathy, even when putting down a clear boundary. We wrap up with a word on creating agency in your own space, emphasising the need to take control of our own energy and create a positive impact that ripples.

We hope you enjoy listening and as ever do let us know what you think and if you like it do leave a rave review, we're always grateful.

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Hello lovely listeners, we are back and I cannot believe it's season 5 already.

This week Fiona and I are catching up about where we are at at the start of a new term and the last quarter of the year. Sharing some of our habits and ways we are staying motivated, some of our goals and aspirations and some of what we are really excited about this year. We hope you enjoy this rather more personal episode and will be back to more 'business' next week.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.