Oct 27, 2014
The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 29 with Brand Strategy Consultant, Copywriter & Author Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius (@susangunelius) is a 20-year marketing veteran who has worked in corporate environments for some of the largest companies in the world. Today, she’s on the agency side as President & CEO of Keysplash Creative, which offers brand strategy consulting along with writing and all marketing communication services.
In addition, Susan has written 10 books not only on marketing, branding social media, and technology, but also on subjects like the marketing of Harry Potter. She now contributes her marketing expertise to sites like Forbes and is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women On Business, an award-winning blog. Our conversation moves from working with clients to managing an agency of one and the habits required to author a book.
Show Notes & Links
- Susan’s website describes her many offerings
- Susan focuses on Marketing Strategy and Marketing Communications, was a Marketing major in college
- Ad Agencies are crazy places
- “There’s a gap in perception of what the designers are doing.” ← Click to tweet
- “Tell me about your business” is the hardest question for clients to answer (and it’s not even a question!)
- “Clients are so close their business they can’t get out of their own way” ← Click to tweet
-
Kick-ass Copywriting in Ten Easy Steps by Susan
Gunelius
- Talking animals in advertising. Why.
- The Budweiser Frogs
- Local business advertising. Oh boy.
- “People are choosing something else if they’re not choosing your product. There is always competition.” ← Click to tweet
-
United We Brand by Mike Moser
-
Designing Brand Identity by Alina Wheeler
- Interrogation tactics such as Good Cop/Bad Cop
- David Ogilvy on selling fire extinguishers — ”When you advertise fire-extinguishers, open with the fire.”
- “Don’t chase Google; build a business for the long-term.” ← Click to tweet
- Price, Place, Promotion, Product — The Four P’s of Marketing
- Some ads create the want, not the sale
- Florida has better weather than New Jersey (but headlines like this are an everyday hazard.)
- b5 Media — blog network
- Susan writes for Forbes and Entrepreneur
- WomenOnBusiness.com
-
Harry Potter: The Story of a Global Business
Phenomenon by Susan Gunelius
- Manager’s Schedule vs. Maker’s Schedule
- Gantt Chart
- Recurring Theme: Get rid of email
- Freemium
Tools
- Mac and a PC (sometimes a third Mac laptop)
- All-in-one plus a B+W Laser Printer
- Notebook
- Trello
- SproutSocial
- HootSuite
- Buffer
Techniques
- To get clients to be honest about their brand/company 1.) play Devil’s Advocate; or 2.) circumvent the main question and ask unrelated questions.
- Use questionnaires and forms for clients with tough communication skills
- Use psychology to get at the heart of a brand
- Use case studies and real world examples to hammer home your strategy
- Write content to build credibility (via blogs or books)
- Narrow your focus to one or two topics
- “Chunking”, the process of planning your topics, especially chapters in books
Habits
- Write a section a day, don’t worry about a whole book
- Build uninterrupted chunks of time
- Work all day on Saturday
- Write stuff down to remember them