Business owners, especially those with small businesses that offer professional services, often get advised to, "Make your mess your message." 

This is awful advice for marketing.

In this packed-tight-with-information episode, I show how sharing your mess can actually harm your business.

You will learn:

1 - Where “Your mess is your message” really comes from (and how TV anchor Robin Roberts used that expression)

2 - How my early message was seriously misunderstood: they read my story as a “mess.” It wasn’t.

3 - How another story was misunderstood: a woman who turned down a scholarship to Juilliard and whose career is just about gone.

4 - The importance of audience reaction to your story: when you put your story out there, they will judge you.

5 - Why the advice to “be vulnerable” can lead to unexpected reactions (and sharing your mess can turn away your ideal clients)

6 - Why anticipating your mess can become a self-fulfilling prophecy

7 - How sharing your mess can lead to an energy drain among your followers (and why I decided NOT to share my cat story)

8 - How sharing your mess can make you seem less likeable 

9 - When it’s time to share your messy life (with a good example from Angela Duckworth)

10 - How a marketing coach (Connie Ragen Green) turned a mess into a triumph (read her book about her cross-country trip)

11 - How to recognize examples of good stories, with examples. 

12 -What lessons I've learned from stories where people absolutely did not connect (and what really works)

References: 

 The Road Trip, by Connie Ragen Green  

My ebook on Amazon - Grow Your Business One Story At A Time.  Free with Kindle Unlimited.

My consultation, the Strategic Intensive, which will help you identify a good story.

How to tell a story that sells: a DIY home study course.