Stella Who?
When I was a kid, I used to stitch together my own books, write and direct plays, run an imaginary ad agency, and roller skate in my basement. Those are my credentials.*
The Original Stella
That, and the fact that people ask me to write and edit their stuff. Always have.
School papers became freelance articles. Family holiday letters turned into training manuals, newsletters, websites. Slogans. Grad school admission essays. Tough emails. Media kits. Letters. You name it. I've written it.
For years, I kept a day job. Law firm clerk, high school teacher, long-distance cycling guide, non-profit administrator. Always wrote their stuff, too.
And then, I started to wise up.
(Imagine this: I used to believe that everyone on the planet wanted to spend their time writing. Finding the right words. Taking adjectives seriously. Studying how to persuade people -- and, to be totally honest? Seduce them -- using language.
It also took me awhile to get that most people aren't so deeply conflicted about using exclamation points. But that's for another day...)
Stella Redux
So there I was. Naive to my peculiar obsessions. Curious. Adventuresome. And in Montana. I'd just been hired on at a community art center. And I did what any fun-loving, results-driven person would have done in my position: I started tinkering with their direct mail program.
Long story short, I developed a habit. Turns out, good writing moves people to do things… like give money and talk about you to their friends. (Bad writing, on the other hand, prompts other things. Like being ignored, forgotten, and thrown away.) But good writing? It's part passion, part math. I read everything I could and taught myself how to do it.
As it turned out, I was really good at writing those letters. People didn't just send checks. Sometimes they'd send compliments. Nice letter. Keep up the good work. Mind you, this was on a fundraising letter. You don't see that everyday. We doubled our membership in a year. And another campaign went from bringing in a few hundred dollars to a little under ten thousand. So that got my attention.
(Mae West, to wit:
“It’s not what I say. It’s the way that I say it.”)
At the same time, I was also learning to write plays. A local theater in town made a point of supporting emerging writers. A real motley crew. Really dysfunctional relationships with punctuation. I fit right in. Started writing and directing for the stage.
(Can you see where all this is going?)
This got me thinking in terms of audience. How to set the scene. Stir up emotion. Whip up drama. Deploy mystery. Vital elements to every last piece of sales and marketing that doesn’t bore us to tears (or read like schlock), by the way.
And so, I left the day job. And started my own copywriting business. Now I help entrepreneurs, service professionals and other businesses express themselves with their own authentic voice, so that they attract their biggest fans and really grow their bottom line.
I specialize in wordsmithing for websites, and also help my clients write sales materials like email campaigns, brochures, letters, product descriptions and other things that create a genuine excitement about what they’re selling. And I continue to help folks get clear on what it is they want to say, and find juicy and magnetic ways to say it.
P.S. Oh, and if you're curious: My real name is Stephanie. But some of my friends call me Stella. It's my grandma's name. She was a real sweetie, and I actually like it when people call me Stella.
(*Well, that, a Bachelor's degree from Northwestern and a Masters from the University of Washington.)
Think I could be your gal?
If you're ready to bump up your game, shoot an email to concierge@stellaorange.com to inquire about the next available "Find Your Voice" session with Stella.
