Mostly because I keep talking to people who think it is.

As far as I can tell, they seem to believe that having a website means you get a golden ticket to ride the magical money-making unicorn.

And that “having a list” means your computer magically turns into an ATM machine that spits out hundred dollar bills.

As fun as that sounds…

I wonder if any of them ever had pets.

Because if they had, they would know that unicorns, like any other pet, require …

I’ve been talking to too many service professionals who have their sights set on greatness.

They have some ambitious goals for their business.

They want some serious income. But the problem is…

They aren’t taking themselves seriously.

Because to grow your business with online marketing, you gotta take yourself seriously.

What does that mean, exactly?

• You have to hustle. For example, you must hustle your buns to write your newsletter every week. Even when you are tired. Even when the day exploded on you and you’d rather
…

I love your drive.

I admire your moxie.

And I really, really want to work with you to craft your message and start your movement.

But here’s the thing: I am talking to too many smart business owners who have convinced themselves that all they need is online marketing + words to make them money.

And it just isn’t true.

Here’s a partial list of what else you need:

-       a plan for how you will systematically promote your work
-       clarity about what your business is and how you make money at it
-       other …

1. Finding time to write everything
2. How long it takes to research, post, publish and send
3. What to write – a.k.a. your message
4. What to write – not your message, but which strategy to use
5. How to persuade people using words

I spend a whole 6 months in my Uncork Your Message lab teaching my clients how to do this. But I see this dense thicket of problems causing such trouble for service professionals—I can’t keep it to …

Regular and too fancy.

Regular is when you just say “here’s what I’m selling” and just—PLUNK—put it out there. A lot of fliers do this. Unfortunately, so do a lot of emails.

Regular writing doesn’t work so well when it comes to promoting your business.

Because regular writing rarely answers the question “what’s in it for me?”… which is the question that your reader is asking herself. Without talking in HER language about the results SHE wants, your stuff falls on deaf ears. Or …

Lean in.

Look to your left. Look to your right.

Lean in some more.

And with a twinkle in your eye, tell your confidante something totally hot and dripping with juice.

“Oooh, this is so good. Promise me you won’t tell anyone else.”

I mean, right?

We all know how it’s done, people.

The real knack is translating that kind of “delicious secret” energy to your copy.

Another way to think of this is: what are the best-kept secrets in your line of work—that you’re ready to share with the lucky ducks who opted-in to …

Lately, I’ve been chewing on the idea that a lot of marketing out there is like fast food. Predictable, cheap, and ubiquitous.

And I feel sick, unnourished and hungry after I eat it.

Why? What we call fast “food” isn’t much like real food at all.  It’s been scientifically developed to store, travel and reheat well. Much of what we taste is actually chemically crafted. In a lab. By engineers and scientists.

The same holds true for marketing messages in a lot of people’s stuff:

“Make more mo.ney with ease …

Last week, we were talking about hooks in your writing.

There may have been a mention of hookers in that post, as well.

This week, continuing our inspired and totally impromptu series on “copywriting techniques that keep readers reading,” we’re talking about the hook’s kissing cousin: the “pull question.”

Pull questions are a fabulous little sneaky way of pulling your readers into the “body” of your copy. (I’m putting vocab words in quotes, for those of you at home who are making a list of words that you need to know to be a better and more …

When Stella was in teacher school, getting her masters’ degree at the University of Washington to sculpt high school minds, she learned a valuable lesson.

Attention must be won.

And the way to do that, at least at the opening of class, is with a “hook.”

As in, hook ‘em and cook ‘em.

Hook, line, and sinker.

Think I get through this blog post without mentioning hookers?

Anyway…

As a classroom teacher, the idea was to plan most every lesson with an opening sequence that engaged your students in the topic at hand. It could be as …

Couple moments of note:

Instead of staying in a hotel, we used airbnb.com, a free online service that hooks you up with folks renting out their back shacks, vacation properties, and apartments around the world. For $90 a night, we stayed in an adorable residential neighborhood within walking distance of everything (including the Alamo Draft House, with a yard and full kitchen. Awesome!

We got to …