If you’ve been on the 4.23 Communication Facebook page in the past week, you know that April Is National Poetry month.
Which I’ve turned into Haiku-A-Day month.
Like this one from yesterday:
I see you blank page
You can’t intimidate me
(You totally can)
Haikus are way more fun to write than long-form sales letters and replies to antsy vendors.
They are engaging and shareable on social media.
But that’s not why I write them.
(Well, that’s not the only reason.)
The truest, deepest reason I write and post haikus is because they represent me some pretty big truths about me:
that I can come at things from wonky angles sometimes
that I cherish words and word-play
that I absolutely believe that writing for our businesses does not have to be drudgery
Haikus — along with these blog posts, the 23rd Newsletter, my website (though I am in the midst of a rewrite there) — represent me owning my voice.
When you own your voice and put it out there, you are making the single biggest contribution to your marketing that you can make.
Clever taglines are nice and beautiful photos may reel someone in, but what makes them choose to work with you?
You.
What is the thing that differentiates you from all the other coaches, designers, consultants, agencies?
You.
We show our audiences who we are through what we say and how we say it.
It’s an old maxim of fiction writing instruction: “show don’t tell.” It doesn’t translate 100% to writing for your business — some things need to be told.
But even the things we have to “tell” get “shown” when we tell them in our voice, as we would speak to a friend over lattes (back when you could do things like leave the house or get together with friends.)
Owning your voice means not showing up as a college professor when it comes time to write web copy (unless you are in fact a college professor). Or hiding behind the jargon of a corporate drone to write about your latest offer.
I like how Tara Mohr, author of Playing Big: Practical Wisdom for Women Who Want To Speak up, Create, and Lead puts it:
“Can we resist the fear-based tendency to make our work abstract or overly complex and instead trust that our lived experiences, insights, and natural ideas are enough to bring to the table?
Often that kind of authenticity and vulnerability is needed to move hearts and create change. Quite often, that is also what will cause us to be noticed, to be respected, and to receive the opportunities we desire.”
Does the fact that I write and post haikus throughout the year appall you? Bad question. If it did, you wouldn’t be here reading this, you’d have written me off long ago.
Based on the likes and shares (and “threats” I received when I considered stopping with the haikus) I know that being me, putting my voice — quirks and all — out there is exactly what some people want to hear.
If you’d like a safe, fun space to play around with owning your voice and writing business content with it, join me every week in April for On Fridays, We Write: Virtual Co-working to Get. Writing. Done.
It’s a four-hour block of 45-minute writing sprints along with some creative commiseration and an antidote to isolation. Find out more here.
Your voice is your differentiator. Go out there and use it.