Danielle LaPorte | Jul 29, 2009

I’ve worked with a few dozen Fire Starter clients in the past few weeks on career optimizing, transitioning, start ups, reinventions, product ideas, social media strategies and balancing it all without burning it out. (And I adore each and everyone of you. I’m thinking about you all right this minute and smiling hugely, because it takes kahunas to show up in the world and sell your soul with integrity, and to turn love into fat cash and ideas into fulfillment. Keep on moving).

I’ve been hammering on the same concepts with lots of folks. I am known to hammer. I’m clear that I am not a coach – I’m an adviser, so I can get away with being passionately opinionated.

MY 8 EMPHATIC SUGGESTIONS FOR ROCKING YOUR BUSINESS:

1. ONE STOP WEB SPACE: SIMPLIFY AND LEVERAGE. Stop thinking of your site and your blog as separate things. Just stop it right this instant. There needs to be a paradigm shift whereby entrepreneurs create ONE on-line space for themselves that includes the “brochure ware” that is the critical function of sites, and regularly updated, juicy, and informative content, aka, a blog. Having a site with a “BLOG” button that pushes users out to a totally different space (usually not even reflecting the aesthetic brand of your primary website) is like having one clothing store that just sells pants, and sending your customer down the street to your “other” store to buy a shirt. Keep your customers under one umbrella so that they can explore and utilize your universe. Create a seamless one-stop portal of all that you do so you are capturing the various interests of your visitors in one fell swoop: to read inspiring stuff, to buy a product, to hire you as a speaker or for a service you provide. The more they know, the better. If you architect it with logic and simplicity, you can accomplish a lot in one space. Having a separate blog usually screams “after thought.” Repeat: If you have more than one on-line space that is essentially talking about what you do or sell – collapse it all into one. This also helps with search engine optimization and ranking. And erase the word “blog” from your consciousness. Think in terms of regular, engaging content that you can deliver.

2. GIVE UP IMMEDIATELY. Stop doing what’s not working. It will feel amazing. It will free up energy to leverage the stuff that has the truest, greatest potential.

3. THERE IS POWER IN BEING SOLO If there is no “we” to your company – if YOU are it, then just say so. People are hiring you. You don’t hear me saying “We at White Hot Truth…” Of course, if you need copy writers, or web designers, finance people, I’ve got a crew I’m always referring to, but, me is me, not we.

4. TALK TO ME: WRITE IN FIRST PERSON. People are hiring you, paying attention to you, coming to see you. So they want to here from…YOU. This is the stale old 80′s approach: “Danielle is a former think tank executive and communication strategist, who now works with entrepreneurs to develop their careers.” This is the magnetic/heart approach: “I ran a DC-based think tank for futurists, helped put a few authors on the map, and now work with entrepreneurs to rock their careers.” Who would you rather hire? Besides, anyone you want to work with is smart enough to know that the third person copy is probably written by…You.

5. TURN THE MUSIC OFF. If you have music that automatically starts playing when people log on to your site – turn it off. It’s annoying. People are working in shared spaces, have their own music playing on i-Pods and radios, and don’t need the interruption. If you simply must have music, at least give users an obvious icon to click it off or adjust the volume.

6. WORK WITH A WRITER FOR A BIT, EVEN IF YOU’RE A GOOD WRITER YOURSELF. Working with a talented copy writer can create quantum leaps for you. They will “interview” you and tease out angles, bio points, and creative notions that you may not have seen yourself. The right writer is an essential creative partner when you’re packaging yourself and/or designing your services. In the past two weeks, I have recommend the following ladies at least four times: Grace Kerina, Lindsey Lewis, Emma Alvarez Gibson.

7. BUILD IN WORD PRESS. I’m religious about WordPress and refer to designers who are masters of it: Paul at twothirty, and Sarah at S.JoyStudios, and Kate at ThreeSquare Design. (it bears mentioning: I don’t get/accept kickbacks for any service referrals, ever).

8. BLOW YOUR HORN Look, I’m tellin’ you: you are amazing. I don’t care who you are, you’ve got something to give. You are likely an expert in something, a gifted contributor to some form of life or avenue of industry, you’ve probably been around the block a few times and as a result, have much to give. And if you’re a newbie starting out, you sure as hell have passion to burn. So sell it, baby, sell it. Stand in your place of knowing and contribution and give it. The world needs you.