If you’re a solopreneur or small business owner, you’ve probably been asked this question more times than you can count:

“How did you get into this line of work?”

It’s a simple question. But most of us answer it the wrong way—off-the-cuff, rambling, or full of irrelevant details. We tell the truth, but not the useful truth. We don’t realize that this moment—when someone’s genuinely curious about your journey—is an incredible opportunity to demonstrate value and connect.

Your origin story isn’t just about you. It’s a strategic tool. Done well, it shows how you’re qualified, how you understand the problem your audience is facing, and why you’re the right person to solve it.

But here’s the catch:
An origin story should never be just a list of milestones. It should answer a deeper question for your audience.

“Why should I trust you with this problem?”

The story becomes powerful when you frame your turning points not just as personal wins, but as moments that built your insight, credibility, and commitment. When someone hears your story, they should think, “That’s exactly who I want to work with.”

So if you’re still telling your story like a resume—or skipping it entirely—it’s time to rethink.

In this week’s podcast, I walk you through how to craft an origin story that attracts clients, builds trust, and makes your marketing feel more natural.

Listen here on your favorite platform.

You’ve probably seen many lists of website mistakes. I’ve got one too. Here are 3 of the most common website marketing mistakes I’ve seen in the past year.

Mistake #1: Your website tells the wrong story.

I used to think the website was supposed to tell my story. Now I realize websites need to respond to the client’s story.

When clients say, “My website isn’t bringing anything good,” the reason usually can be traced to a lack of planning and content strategy. The most effective content strategy begins with your client’s backstory.

True, you’ll get lots of visitors who don’t fit your ideal client profile. When you write to their

Backstory, your ideal clients will resonate. The others will click away (and you probably won’t miss them).

Mistake #2: You haven’t assigned a job to each website page.

• Your Home Page assures visitors they’re in the right place.
• Your About Page shows why you’re the obvious choice for their needs.
• Your Services Page guides prospects through your offers and encourages them to take action.

When I work with clients, a big part of our Diagnostic session involves assigning jobs to these pages.

Mistake #3: Waiting to write copy till you’ve commissioned a design.

The biggest mistake of all is (drum roll, please!) hiring a designer before you’ve created the content for your 4 basic pages – home, about, services, and contact.

You avoid ending up with “a nice-looking hotel in the middle of a desert.” You avoid creating copy that “breaks” design. One designer wrote: “As a designer, not having any boundaries with types of content and content length can be a recipe for disaster.”

These quotes come from a longish blog post with insights from marketers – including some designers. Read it here.

Best of all, I’m introducing a new course – Write Your Website With Stories. This course walks you through the steps to plan and write the Big 3 pages of your website (plus steps to write your Contact page).

One of the challenges of marketing a small service-based business is deciding how to incorporate a holiday season into your content, especially your copywriting. This question highlights yet another way a small business differs from the big brands.

The big red cola brand regularly delivers holiday-themed commercials (e.g.., this tear-jerker for 2020).

Sainsbury’s department store, in the UK, draws on emotion with a story almost every year. A few years ago they showed the Christmas holiday In World War I, the soldiers on opposite sides called a holiday truce to sing carols and play European football.

Big brands also respect the more sober moods of their environment. Budweiser gets creative with remembrances of September 11.

Occasionally these commercials draw some controversy. Sainsbury’s Christmas ad once showed an old man alone in his home. He called his children to tell them he was dying, although he wasn’t. The guilt-ridden offspring dropped everything to fly home and they all celebrated a festive dinner together.

Many viewers applauded the sentiment – kids owing a duty to their parents – while others saw the old man as manipulative.

These ads don’t sell anything. They create a mood their audience will (hopefully) associate with their brand.

Small business owners can’t depend on the mood to create brand associations. Some ignore the holidays and keep everything “business as usual.” We’ve all gotten sales pitches delivered on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

That raises another point. Most small businesses will benefit by including a Call to Action in any content. It’s about asking directly, not hoping for subtle mood shifts.

What’s the best way to deal with holidays?

As you’d expect, my answer is, “It depends on your archetype.”

Role Models share stories of their own holiday gatherings. Celebrities do too with a different emphasis. Educators and innovators refer to holidays in connection with points they want to make; they rarely go into great detail about how they spent the holidays.

An example of a Halloween themed podcast: Click here.

I’ll be curious to see if my audience finds it too over-the-top for my usual style. So far it’s gotten many downloads. You can let me know what think.

And for ghost-free websites, here are 3 resources:

The Strategic Intensive gives us time to review your content in the context of your business and your story. We review your message and strategy as well as your content. Click here to get more results from your marketing.

The Website Review gives you a detailed video commentary – well beyond a critique. You’ll be clear on the next steps you need to take…or you may realize you’ve nailed it already. Click here to take the first move toward a more prod

Recently I was listening to a marketing expert I admire.  I’ve been following him for years. His emails strike the perfect balance between marketing and informing. 

While some marketing pros never send nurturing emails, his messages do. That makes sense: he’s an Educator Archetype. 

Educators attract clients who want to pick their knowledgeable brains. They talk about themselves only to make a point.

In contrast, for Role Models, their “How I Did This” stories are the point. They’re making the promise, “I’m just like you. If I can do it, you can too.”

This Educator was talking about the types of stories a business owner could use in an article or email post. He suggested that we mine our backgrounds for article ideas. Think of a childhood memory, he suggests. Or remember a time when you were new to your field. What mistakes did you make? 

Another marketer uses a similar approach. She urges her clients to find a personal story – something as simple as a shopping trip or as complex as adopting a new puppy. 

“Start with the story,” she says. “Then find a way to turn that story into a marketing lesson.”

So…will this approach work for you?

1 – Very few strategies come in one-size-fits-all, whether it’s email subject lines or stories to share. If you’re a small service business, the brand is YOU. 

As a guide, you can refer to the framework of the five archetypes, which I explain in this free guide.

Not all marketers benefit from sharing personal stories. Sometimes these stories backfire, especially if they seem to go against your archetype or your ongoing practice.

2 – Apart from your style of marketing, your client relationships change over time. If they’ve followed you for a long time – maybe even years – they’ll be open to learning more about you as a three-dimensional person. They’ll open almost anything you send. It will take a lot to drive them away.

In fact, Abby Barry, the Email Marketing Manager of DemandJump.com, recently wrote that email subject lines aren’t as important as we’re led to believe.

Her company once forgot to change the subject line of their email, so they sent a new email with a subject line their readers had previously seen. Their open rates weren’t substantially affected. I’ve had similar experiences, including the time I sent an email with the subject “Subject line goes here.”

If you think about it, this idea makes sense. When you get a call from a good friend, you pick up the phone. You know you’ll want to answer, no matter what they want to talk about.

Besides, your long-term subscribers are curious.

You’ve been sending them emails for a while. Maybe you dropped a hint about “our dog” or “my recent geographical move.” They want to know more.

We’ve heard about the “know, like, and trust” model. It’s no accident that “know” comes first. Often when we get to know people, we begin by admiring their skills and confidence. Only after they’re credible do we want to know the person.  

When a quarterback guides his team to a Superbowl win (I don’t know the equivalent for European or Asian sports), we want to know how he got there. A lot of people make the mistake of starting with “liking.” We get a lot of personal stories that leave their audiences shrugging, “Who cares?”

3 – Your audience may be suffering “compassion fatigue.” 

Every day it seems I get dozens of emails from people I know or don’t know. Each email begins with a personal story that encourages an empathetic response.

Today’s stories were about dog training, talking to young children, family illness that forced them to cancel a trip…and one email included multiple challenges involving illness, loss of a business, relationship breakup, and serious depression. Each writer was asking for emotion work…and as you know, that’s work.

In my podcast episode #91 I talk about why you might get unexpected responses to your stories. One reason has to do with the context where your story appears.

Each message, read in isolation, would be effective. But they’re not seen in isolation. They’re seen in the context of “one among many.” Seen all at once, they can be overwhelming!

Don’t get me wrong: this approach can be extremely effective. Many business owners gain a huge following by introducing each email with a personal story.

But here’s a tip: next time you open an email that begins with a story, try to figure out what archetype the business owner has chosen…or if they even have a clear archetype. Learn about archetypes with this free download.

Next, try an experiment.

Next time you write an email, article, or blog post, ask yourself, “What does my market want to hear about? What will give them an ‘aha’ moment? Do I want to explain my service or show why I’m qualified to offer it?”

Then choose a story to support your purpose.

You might even decide to use your story to encourage sales. That’s a special type of story – a selling story. I’ve put together a step-by-step recipe to replace “Story Telling” with “Story Selling.” Click here to learn more.

Just today I received an email from Lorrie Morgan, who taught me most of what I know about copywriting. She wrote about her top 3 pet peeves in an entertaining, insightful message.

That got my wheels spinning. Instead of “pet peeves,” I think of them as crazy-making, credibility-destroying marketing strategies.

1 – People who open their emails with an intimate embarrassing anecdote involving underwear (or loss thereof), deep-dive medical symptoms, or humiliating anecdotes from their childhood (which should be repressed, regardless of what their analyst says).

You probably don’t do this! But maybe consider giving yourself some space before sharing a personal anecdote. More than once, I’ve written myself out of my content after a day or so of chill time. There’s a reason we use the term “cringeworthy.”

2 – Emails that promise “3 easy ways to solve this difficult, expensive, business-killing problem.”

You open the email. You learn all about the difficult, expensive, business-killing problem.

You want a solution? Ah…now you have to take the next step. You either buy a product…or you set up a phone call with a coach who presumably will guide you to a solution.

I believe emails should deliver value to you when you open them…an aha moment, actionable advice, and/or access to something rare or time-sensitive.

As a corollary…those emails with the subject line “free gift.” Turns out it’s a free gift only if you buy the big high-end product they didn’t warn you about.

Creating curiosity can be a powerful marketing tactic. Finding just the right amount you can “tease” might require some testing.

I created a video on this some time ago. It’s still valid information but be warned: I’ve learned more about sound quality since then. If you think you’re hearing a “meow” in the background, you’re not imagining things.

You can get away with this if you’ve got solid guru status and a loyal, responsive tribe who will follow you to the ends of the earth, no matter what. But do you want to?

3 – Defensive responses to your critics.

It’s one thing to rant against stupid practices in your industry. You deliver value by encouraging your audience to question those practices. You support those who have already begun to wonder why “everybody” promotes something so silly.

But a direct attack on you or your business? That goes with the territory. Getting defensive puts you in a one-down position.

“I got the question, ‘If you’re so successful, why are you still going to these meetings?'”
“At a live event someone came up to me to say I need to dress up more. I’d just connected with two people who became four-figure clients.”
“I’d just given a talk and sold $10K in an hour. A total stranger chose to advise me: “You should consider joining Toastmasters. You had too many ums and uhs.””

Hey, you don’t have to explain to us! We’re your loyal, loving audience.

On the other hand, I enjoyed this story, because the speaker shared a bigger lesson: turn snark into strategy. She’s not responding. She’s empowering herself with a “listen and learn” approach:

“I had just gotten off a stage, where I’d won a generous award in recognition of my success. Someone came up to me and said, ‘Your problem is, you are too corporate. You need to loosen up.’

“At first I was furious. After all, I’d just been validated with this award. But then I started to think. Yes, I am corporate. I can embrace this identity. My business now focuses on helping solopreneurs who want to do business with big companies…and they learn from my corporate style.”

See the difference?

Speaking of networking, Episode #81 of the Strategic Storytelling podcast introduces networking tips, including ways to manage the dreaded Coffee Date. That’s when someone says, “Let’s go get coffee and talk about our businesses.”

“Do you have anything specific? Have you been to my website?” I ask.

“No,” they said. “I just figured we’d start with our coffee…”

I guess that’s Pet Peeve #4. Listen on Apple, Spotify, Google, or your favorite platform.

What’s your pet peeve? Add a comment or send me a message at https://cathygoodwin.com/contact/

I’ve been writing my whole life. Most of the time writing comes easily to me. But writing to build an online business is a whole different ball game. Demands get more intense every year. As more people write content, the challenge becomes write more, be persuasive and (most important) have something to say.

So how what do prolific writers do? Three suggestions to start (and reply if you’ve got additional tips):

1 – They keep a log of stories.

Don’t restrict your attention to business stories; a story from your personal life, a movie, or a podcast might turn out to serve your marketing purpose some day.

Pay special attention to stories that arrive in your email inbox. Which of those stories seem to be effective? How are they using those stories: what’s their purpose? Do their stories fit the purpose? What about their brand and story archetype?

2 – They write every day (well, almost).

Stephen King says he writes on his birthday and Christmas, but you can make your own rules and days off. I find if I’ve had a particularly productive day, the next one has to be more easygoing.

Think of each piece you write as something you’ll use at least three times: a blog post, podcast episode, video script and maybe even a part of a book chapter.

Most writers agree, writing doesn’t necessarily get easier as you write more. But you do develop a habit and an ear for “what’s working.”

3 -They’re willing to miss a few shots.
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Star basketball players take a lot of shots…and miss a lot, too. Often you’ll get frustrated with your rough drafts. Many writers (including me) spend more time revising than doing the original writing.

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When you write a lot, you’ll come up with some pieces that fall flat…but you’ll also come up with far more content that works perfectly to serve your purpose. You won’t get all wrapped up in a particular piece or fall in love with a metaphor (always a dangerous idea).

And you’ll develop a thicker skin.

Somebody doesn’t like this one article? No problem. You’ve got a dozen more in your back pocket.

Three resources to help your writing become more productive:
​
Dennis Becker’s guide to being more productive as a writer has been around awhile, and it’s still one of the best. Click here to learn more. ​

Cindy Bidar’s content creation blueprint gives detailed guidance in her usual down-to-earth, step-by-step fashion. Click here. ​
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My course to help you write better blog posts more easily, using storytelling (with Sue Dunlevie). Click here and take 50% off with the code BLOGJAN. You’ll be asked to create a password when you sign up and pay.

As you know, I earn a payment or commission when you buy after clicking through on my links. I try to recommend helpful resources you might not find easily.

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Not easy. You still have to steer and stay on track. But definitely easier.

Challenge #1 – The Hook.

One of the hardest parts of copywriting is finding the hook. That’s the part of your copy that grabs the reader’s attention. It’s what makes your offer irresistible.

For instance, suppose you’re targeting an audience of salaried workers who are seeking financial solutions. They can’t do much about their income (because they’re not considering options outside corporate life, but that’s another topic). But they want to stretch their budgets to enjoy some luxuries and add quality of life.

How about, “How to live a $100K lifestyle on a $20K salary.”

Now there’s a hook… if you can make good on the promise, of course.

Challenge #2 -The Opening Paragraph

For me, one of the most difficult parts of copywriting is the opening paragraph. You’ve got to start with the hook, but then you have to move your audience to a deeper level.

One solution I discovered recently is to use the opening chapters of high-quality fiction as swipe files — i.e., words you can use as models for ideas and rhythm. Of course, a fiction writer can make up a story beginning, ‘I hadn’t enjoyed a real vacation in five years.” But if you write first person, you have to be accurate and also consistent with your brand.

Challenge #3 – Finding the benefits. 

Another copywriting challenge is to keep remembering that we’re selling solutions, not features. Even seasoned copywriters forget sometimes; the benefits can seem so obvious. It takes an outside pair of eyes and/or a reminder to keep drilling down and adding, “so that…”

It’s even more important to realize that products can be named for the solutions they provide. A dog food was called “Best Friends for Life” because that’s what it promised: nutrition to let your dog live a longer, more active life.