📣 Crafting an Authentic Tone of Voice with Nami Clarke

Please welcome back the wonderful Nami Clarke to the Make It Pop Pod!

In this episode Nami and Morgan discuss the significance of developing a unique tone of voice for your small business and how to actually do it.

We also cover 4 actionable steps you can take to identify and refine a unique voice for your small business.

Nami also provides invaluable insights for small business owners looking to enhance their brand image and build meaningful, long-term relationships with their clientele.

More Info?

Head to https://thefearlessdesigner.com.au/ to get in touch.

Or follow along on Insta @the.fearless.designer

Transcript

Morgan Macdonald [00:00:00]:
Hello, and welcome back to the make it pop podcast. I can't wait to bring you today's episode. I interviewed my very first guest when I started this podcast, Naomi Clark. And she's back, and she has some really great tips, and we have some really great conversations around developing a unique and standout tone of voice for your small business. Now, Naomi is a copywriter. She has been a small business owner, and now she's in marketing and still creating copy and email marketing. And she is just such a wealth of knowledge, and I'm very thankful that she's decided to come back and talk to you guys about something that I find people have a little trouble nailing down or spending time creating for their own small businesses. Tone of voice is something that you use across a number of platforms, and I think that if you can spend the time listening to today's episode, you can start at the start and create something that's really unique and perfect to bringing customers to your business.

Morgan Macdonald [00:01:02]:
I'm Nami. Welcome back to the Make it Pop Podcast.

Nami Clarke [00:01:06]:
Hey, Morgi. How are you?

Morgan Macdonald [00:01:08]:
Good, how are you? It's great to see your face.

Nami Clarke [00:01:13]:
Lovely to see yours. I'm trying to think how long it has been since we caught up on

Nami Clarke [00:01:18]:
Your podcast in this way. It feels like it's been a really long time.

Morgan Macdonald [00:01:21]:
It certainly has been. I admitted that the other day on my socials. It's probably been nearly 18 months.

Nami Clarke [00:01:28]:
Wow. There you go.

Nami Clarke [00:01:30]:
Time flies.

Nami Clarke [00:01:31]:
Mine flies.

Nami Clarke [00:01:32]:
And lots has changed for me since I spoke to you last, but lots of good things, and I think I'll.

Nami Clarke [00:01:39]:
Be able to share a lot of.

Nami Clarke [00:01:42]:
Creative experiences that I've had in the.

Nami Clarke [00:01:44]:
Last 18 months with you today.

Morgan Macdonald [00:01:47]:
Awesome.

Morgan Macdonald [00:01:48]:
Well, why don't we start at the start and get you to reintroduce yourself to the audience?

Nami Clarke [00:01:55]:
Okay. Well, I'm Nami Clarke. I have a fairly long history of working with creatives. Up until fairly recently, I ran my own business called the Prom queen, and I worked with small business owners, mostly digital course creators, in helping them with their copywriting, their email content, their website content, so their about page and homepage, and essentially help them generate more leads and close more sales or get more enrolments. So, yes, I have a long love of all things copywriting. I now work for a not for.

Nami Clarke [00:02:43]:
With them, which is content development and copywriting things for website, things for email. And they can be a really amazing tool for all types of businesses. But I know they cause a lot of business owners stress and they can take a lot of time to craft. But, yeah, hopefully I could share some.

Nami Clarke [00:03:05]:
Tips and insights today to help people.

Nami Clarke [00:03:07]:
With that process because it can be a lot of fun.

Nami Clarke [00:03:09]:
I nerd out over this stuff and I love it.

Nami Clarke [00:03:12]:
So hopefully I can get people to.

Nami Clarke [00:03:13]:
Love it a little bit more and not find it a stress and a.

Nami Clarke [00:03:18]:
Choreography and a hair pulling exercise.

Nami Clarke [00:03:21]:
Well, it sure is.

Morgan Macdonald [00:03:22]:
It's kind of another one of those hats that you have to wear, isn't it? And it flows through so many aspects of your marketing as a small business owner. It kind of gets very overwhelming when.

Nami Clarke [00:03:33]:
You're having to put together visuals and.

Morgan Macdonald [00:03:37]:
Copy and make sure it's all cohesive under the brand that you're developing. So I thought I would get you on today to talk about tone of voice as we probably all heard of it, but not really sure how to create a standout tone of voice that's really kind of plugged into your brand. And, yeah, I thought I might just get you to give us the really, really basic rundown of what is tone of voice when it comes to developing copy for your business.

Nami Clarke [00:04:09]:
Well, tone of voice is the, I guess, like in real conversations that I always bring copywriting back to how it might play out in real life. I think when people tackle copywriting, they think of it as that process of putting words down on paper or on the screen. But if you think about how you would, what your tone is like with your clients and how you talk about your business with the general public or the people that you want to attract.

Nami Clarke [00:04:41]:
I think that's a really useful way.

Nami Clarke [00:04:42]:
To think about your tone of voice in your copywriting. Yeah, it's essentially an extension of your brand's personality and how you want your business to be portrayed and how to make people feel as well, like your tone of voice does in a conversational, real life setting.

Nami Clarke [00:05:05]:
So that's the way I try to frame things.

Nami Clarke [00:05:08]:
Yeah, always bringing it back to that real life scenario.

Morgan Macdonald [00:05:11]:
It's a good one. Yeah. So do you think to establish a really well branded business online in particular, that we need a tone of voice, or can we just wing it and have a crack and, you know, see how we go and then come back to it later on?

Nami Clarke [00:05:29]:
Look, I think there's sort of two sides to that, and I would encourage everyone to have a crack because I think it's better to have a crack.

Nami Clarke [00:05:37]:
Than not at all.

Nami Clarke [00:05:39]:
And I think people do really get bogged down in the overthinking of it, which stops them from doing anything at all. But I think if you're looking at tone of voice for your copy. That needs to tie in with the tone of your visuals, the tone of the names of all of your offerings, the tones of your social media posts. That tone of voice needs to be consistent.

Nami Clarke [00:06:05]:
So figuring out who you are as.

Nami Clarke [00:06:08]:
A brand and what your brand looks like and feels like from the get go is really important. And once you've established that, it's going.

Nami Clarke [00:06:14]:
To make all of your visual, visual.

Nami Clarke [00:06:18]:
Assets or copywriting assets or any kind of asset so much easier to create. If you have that sort of blueprint to go back to from the get go.

Nami Clarke [00:06:28]:
So, you know, talking about having a.

Nami Clarke [00:06:31]:
Crack, I'd give that a crack first. Start there. Like the foundations of a house, you've got to get that right because it doesn't matter what your color cushions you put inside. If your house is falling apart, probably worth investing in those things first. So start at the start. Figure out who your brand is, what.

Nami Clarke [00:06:48]:
What that tone and personality is over as a whole.

Morgan Macdonald [00:06:54]:
Yeah, that's a great point. Because even when it comes to the visual brand side of things like your graphics and your canva and all that, it's a journey, it's an evolution. And as you go content out into the world, you may need to tweak it or change it. There's not like a set of rules that you have to follow from go to work.

Nami Clarke [00:07:13]:
Yeah, that's right.

Nami Clarke [00:07:15]:
And that's the really amazing, powerful thing that small business owners have available to them. You know, I know how, I've been a small business owner myself. I know that it can feel really overwhelming. It can feel like a big load to carry. But the advantage of being responsible so much in a small business is that we have the power to adapt and change really quickly. You know, we can, we can rewrite stuff in an afternoon. So, you know, going back to the overthinking process, it's okay. This stuff isn't set in stone.

Nami Clarke [00:07:48]:
If you feel like your brand evolves and your tone of voice needs to evolve, and your imagery and your social posts or your graphics or whatever need to evolve over time, they can. And if you are the person who is the face of your business and you're part of that service, you're going to grow and change as a human. You're going to get more confident in what you're delivering. You might add on new services or.

Nami Clarke [00:08:17]:
Digital products or whatever the case may be, physical products.

Nami Clarke [00:08:22]:
So just as you change, it's likely your business is going to change as well as you get clearer and clearer.

Nami Clarke [00:08:28]:
On who you are and who your.

Nami Clarke [00:08:31]:
Business is over time.

Morgan Macdonald [00:08:34]:
So when it comes to, like, say, for example, someone listening is like, yes, I'm going to take away from this. I'm going to go and develop my own tone of voice. Right now. What are some really, like, do we just get a piece of paper and write some words on it? How would you suggest we actually get started? Just do we pick some words that we love to use or a tone and put it down on a piece of paper so at least it's somewhere to get started? Or what would you recommend?

Nami Clarke [00:09:02]:
Yeah, look, I'd go about it in a couple of ways. It depends on where you are as a business right now and if you have some of those things developed already. If not, I would go back to.

Nami Clarke [00:09:17]:
Your client and what, you know, I.

Nami Clarke [00:09:22]:
Love to look at things as coming from that place of service. How do I want to show up as a business owner? How do I want to feel when.

Nami Clarke [00:09:30]:
I'm delivering my services?

Nami Clarke [00:09:33]:
How do I want my clients to feel? And I get a bit airy fairy in this stuff. I love pen and paper. I love a good whiteboard session. But I start establishing that mood, I guess, for want of a better word, and looking at those things. And then if you take it back.

Nami Clarke [00:09:53]:
To those core sort of feelings and.

Nami Clarke [00:09:57]:
That personality type, from there, you can start to flesh out. When I'm writing.

Nami Clarke [00:10:04]:
What does my tone.

Nami Clarke [00:10:04]:
Of voice need to sound like? What are some of the pain points I need to address? What are some of the outcomes that I need to make clear, and how do I want my client to feel, not just when they're reading this stuff.

Nami Clarke [00:10:15]:
But when they're dealing with me one on one.

Nami Clarke [00:10:17]:
And we've got to make sure those things mesh. If you're a really serious person and that's okay, you might not feel comfortable.

Nami Clarke [00:10:27]:
Nor might it be appropriate to have a sales page that, you know, jumping off the walls.

Nami Clarke [00:10:33]:
Things have to be really, really consistent. So you don't want to be somebody that you're not when you're working in a business where you are part of that, that product or the delivery of a physical product. Yeah, but I'd go back to good old pen and paper and looking at, yeah, those feelings.

Nami Clarke [00:10:50]:
Years ago, I purchased a book by Danielle Laporte.

Nami Clarke [00:10:57]:
I think her name is called the Firestarter sessions, and she wrote about how she created a business around how she wanted to feel. Or she talks about goal setting and achieving goals, but setting goals based on the feelings that they deliver her rather than just, I want to achieve x amount of sales. I want to tick items off for the sake of ticking it off. But coming back to those core feelings, I think that can be a really good way to guide your businesses development. Otherwise, you just get stuck in the motion. I'm getting a bit broader and philosophical.

Nami Clarke [00:11:33]:
Here, but running a business is hard work.

Nami Clarke [00:11:35]:
And, yeah, you don't want to just.

Nami Clarke [00:11:37]:
Go through the processes of delivering, delivering.

Nami Clarke [00:11:40]:
Delivering, and creating, creating, creating. You want to stay on target in that way. Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent, but to answer your question, pen and paper feelings and starting from there.

Nami Clarke [00:11:53]:
Yeah, definitely.

Morgan Macdonald [00:11:54]:
And as a. As a graphic designer, you can do a tone of voice planning and a visual tone of voice planning at the same time.

Nami Clarke [00:12:03]:
Yeah.

Morgan Macdonald [00:12:04]:
If you're picking moods or like, a tone of voice, we can definitely do that at the same time by coming up with ideas of how that's going to actually look while we're doing the tone of voice at the same time.

Nami Clarke [00:12:17]:
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I remember when I set up prom queen back in 2016, in the earliest.

Nami Clarke [00:12:24]:
Days, I sort of actually visualized that.

Nami Clarke [00:12:28]:
Business as an avatar or a person in their own right. And when I was working in that space of the prom queen, I felt really empowered. And that was one of my goals, to make my clients feel really empowered. You know, I was working with people who just didn't know where to start when it came to their sales copy, who felt really bogged down by an icky about the sales process and asking for that sale. And I wanted them to feel amazing. And as a result, you know, the copy that I wrote was really quite edgy.

Nami Clarke [00:13:01]:
I took on that Persona, but it.

Nami Clarke [00:13:04]:
Was part of me as well. And as a result, I attracted some.

Nami Clarke [00:13:11]:
Just amazing clients that were beautiful humans, and they just wanted to, you know.

Nami Clarke [00:13:17]:
Have those fantastic outcomes for their business as well.

Nami Clarke [00:13:20]:
But, yeah, it helped me create the.

Nami Clarke [00:13:24]:
Name for the business, the colors for the business, the fonts, the copywriting, my social media posts, the images that I, you know, even the ones that I snapped on my phone, what I would wear to a photo shoot, all of those things were underpinned by my brand.

Nami Clarke [00:13:42]:
Tone, my brand personality, that brand as a whole. Yeah, yeah, that's great.

Morgan Macdonald [00:13:48]:
Thanks for sharing that. Because, you know, I. It's. I'm taking out of this that I need to do more work on my tone of voice. Like, I think I know it, but I don't think I can articulate it really, really well. So when we finish, I'm going to go get my piece of paper and do another, like, refresh on how I'm going to approach this going forward.

Nami Clarke [00:14:08]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Nami Clarke [00:14:09]:
I actually worked with a guy early on, and he helped me develop some stuff on my website, and his process of asking for information about my business was really, really interesting, and that was really helpful in me being able to.

Nami Clarke [00:14:28]:
See my business as a person.

Nami Clarke [00:14:31]:
And she definitely rode a motorbike. She wore leathers, red lippie all the way. And so when you start to visualize.

Nami Clarke [00:14:43]:
That, you get a sense of how that Persona might speak or what she'd.

Nami Clarke [00:14:51]:
Be like to hang out with.

Nami Clarke [00:14:52]:
And is it a feminine she or.

Nami Clarke [00:14:55]:
Is it a masculine he or they?

Nami Clarke [00:14:59]:
Yeah.

Nami Clarke [00:15:00]:
What does that person feel like? But I loved going through that process.

Nami Clarke [00:15:02]:
Of mood and appearance and, yeah, it.

Nami Clarke [00:15:06]:
Was almost like putting together a Pinterest mood board to create my brand from the get go. And it became memorable and easy to recognize as a result for people.

Morgan Macdonald [00:15:16]:
She had fun.

Nami Clarke [00:15:18]:
Well, she was called the prom queen.

Morgan Macdonald [00:15:20]:
Oh, she was the prom queen.

Nami Clarke [00:15:21]:
Yeah.

Nami Clarke [00:15:22]:
But she would have rocked up to the prom in, like, an awesome frock.

Nami Clarke [00:15:26]:
But boots. Love it.

Morgan Macdonald [00:15:30]:
Such a good tip, though. That is such a good tip because you can nearly step into it. Like, if you're opening up.

Nami Clarke [00:15:35]:
Yeah.

Morgan Macdonald [00:15:36]:
Your photos or your videos, and then you turn the screen around, you have to record yourself, you can kind of step into that. That vibe, that feeling, that emotion.

Nami Clarke [00:15:46]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Nami Clarke [00:15:47]:
And it was certainly, you know, I don't want to suggest that people need.

Nami Clarke [00:15:51]:
To be something that they're not when their businesses are such a big part.

Nami Clarke [00:15:58]:
Of them or an extension of them. But, yeah, just explore those fringes and see where you really want to take it. And don't be afraid to do that because there is so much, as a small business owner, you'd know how much competition is out there. And also, I think it's hard work. So have some fun with it and that having fun, giving yourself permission to have fun.

Nami Clarke [00:16:24]:
Like you said earlier, we get to.

Nami Clarke [00:16:26]:
Make up the rules here. And I think so long as we're being inclusive and thoughtful and kind, fun with it, and that is. Makes it easy to get out of bed on the hard days and go, right.

Morgan Macdonald [00:16:37]:
I can.

Nami Clarke [00:16:37]:
I can do this.

Nami Clarke [00:16:38]:
I can run this thing. Yeah.

Morgan Macdonald [00:16:40]:
And there's no right or wrong answer to this, like, no, just what you feel confident and clear and consistent to be able to show up as. So, yes. If your brand is all about giving, you know, more in depth information and being considerate and thoughtful, like, you don't need to put on the red lippie and do that. You just do it way.

Nami Clarke [00:17:03]:
Yeah. All.

Morgan Macdonald [00:17:04]:
Is it resonating with your ideal customer?

Nami Clarke [00:17:07]:
You're on the right track. Yeah, yeah.

Nami Clarke [00:17:10]:
And not every business needs to have that Persona of, you know, I'm going to kick ass and take names. You know, it might be you're offering something that needs to support and nurture people in a really gentle way or you might need to, I guess be a little bit more.

Nami Clarke [00:17:33]:
What'S the word?

Nami Clarke [00:17:34]:
Not professional, but just, you know, a.

Nami Clarke [00:17:36]:
Little bit more black and white and.

Nami Clarke [00:17:39]:
You know, tone things right down.

Nami Clarke [00:17:41]:
That is okay too.

Nami Clarke [00:17:43]:
All of those things are completely okay to do. Thought of something just a moment ago.

Nami Clarke [00:17:49]:
You said, and it's going to come back to me. I'll wait, I'll wait for my brain.

Morgan Macdonald [00:17:57]:
Going on from what makes a standout brand and tone of voice, I kind of like what you were saying. You notice the don't give a shit stand out, bright, bold, sassy, in your face tone of voice because quite in your face on socials, especially if there's kind of no fucks given and all that.

Nami Clarke [00:18:19]:
Yeah.

Nami Clarke [00:18:20]:
What are some ways that you could.

Morgan Macdonald [00:18:24]:
Give us to suggest that we can create our own tone of voice that stands out, but it doesn't have to be as blatant as slapping us in the face every time.

Nami Clarke [00:18:34]:
Yeah, yeah.

Nami Clarke [00:18:36]:
Look, one of the things, and sorry.

Nami Clarke [00:18:38]:
I remember that thing that I was.

Nami Clarke [00:18:40]:
Going to say before when, and this is something I found really helpful in my early years as well. I tended not to look at examples of other people's businesses in my industry because I didn't want to feel like I had to compare myself to that person's business or conform or go, oh, so this is what is expected right now. I didn't want to taint that.

Nami Clarke [00:19:04]:
Yeah, I didn't want that to taint my view.

Nami Clarke [00:19:05]:
I looked out well and truly outside of my business for examples of business.

Nami Clarke [00:19:12]:
Owners or services or product businesses that.

Nami Clarke [00:19:15]:
Were doing things differently and went, I like that. I think that could fit, you know, and gathered inspiration in that way.

Nami Clarke [00:19:22]:
So that would be one of the.

Nami Clarke [00:19:23]:
Things that I'd start with in terms of socials, because socials can feel like a lot of pressure. I think one of the things that is important to keep in mind.

Nami Clarke [00:19:34]:
I really didn't enjoy posting on social media.

Nami Clarke [00:19:38]:
That was the, I just wanted to write, I wanted to chat with clients. I wanted to problem solve. And posting on socials did feel like a chore for me. I'll be completely honest. I think it's important to share that as well because I felt like it was, if I was a good business owner, then I'd be posting all the time. But I think with showing up on socials, I think setting some boundaries around that and sort of almost coming back to declaring, well, this is what I'm going to use social media for. I'm going to show up once a week and I'm going to share an.

Nami Clarke [00:20:12]:
Awesome tip or I'm going to show.

Nami Clarke [00:20:14]:
Up twice a week, I'm going to share a tip and a behind the scenes. I think having sort of some routines set around socials can be really, really helpful as well. You could do three posts a week, you don't do four posts a week, but I'd go back to social should be an extension of your brand and a tool to get people to your website. You know, I see lots of people going from their website to their socials. I always think use it as shareable content that you can get out there into the world. And it's a great tool for people having that one on one conversation with you. It's social. So open up that invitation.

Nami Clarke [00:20:52]:
Ask for the comments, ask for the questions. And I would use the tool in that way. And I would also approach socials as you can have it as curated as. And I know I'm getting into kind of murky territory here because of what you do. Have it as curated as you like, or have a. Have a library of stock images that you can have as the pretty stuff.

Nami Clarke [00:21:17]:
And you might have a daggy video behind that. But if you think about socials as being that extension of a conversation with you, show up how you would answer the phone with a client, if you're.

Nami Clarke [00:21:34]:
Having a coffee with a client, what would you wear to that and how would you engage with them in that setting? I think if we present this completely disconnected kind of here is what I.

Nami Clarke [00:21:45]:
Am on social media, but here's how.

Nami Clarke [00:21:47]:
I answer the phone or reply to.

Nami Clarke [00:21:48]:
Emails or have a Zoom meeting and it's totally different.

Nami Clarke [00:21:54]:
You're going to confuse people from the.

Nami Clarke [00:21:55]:
Get go and more likely than not.

Nami Clarke [00:21:58]:
Have them going, oh, I don't know.

Nami Clarke [00:22:00]:
If they're who I thought they were and what they cracked up to me.

Nami Clarke [00:22:04]:
To be, so I'm out. So look at that consistency.

Nami Clarke [00:22:06]:
And it goes back to have, you.

Nami Clarke [00:22:11]:
Know, making sure your business doesn't feel like hard work and you're not creating this kind of.

Nami Clarke [00:22:17]:
That it doesn't feel false for you. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Morgan Macdonald [00:22:21]:
I think one thing to keep in mind as well, and I have to check myself on this is when you follow people that are specialists in their field, like copywriters and designers. Their tone of voice, particularly copywriters, are going to be amazing because that's their job. That's what they do a lot of time working on that because that's how they book their customers. The same as usually designers have nice looking feed or something that draws you in visually, because that's what we do for our business.

Nami Clarke [00:22:54]:
Yes.

Morgan Macdonald [00:22:54]:
So don't compare apples and oranges.

Nami Clarke [00:22:57]:
That's right. Absolutely. Take a breath and stick to your.

Morgan Macdonald [00:23:03]:
What you believe in and your authenticity and what your point of difference is. And just as you said, make sure it's unified across all platforms, particularly your website. Because what I find is pick all of their eggs in the Instagram basket or Facebook basket, and then the website is the ugly sister that just, you know.

Nami Clarke [00:23:23]:
Yeah.

Morgan Macdonald [00:23:24]:
Has been AI copywise or something.

Nami Clarke [00:23:26]:
That just doesn't, it doesn't link up. Yeah, that's. That's right.

Nami Clarke [00:23:31]:
Yep.

Nami Clarke [00:23:32]:
And I think it's refreshing.

Nami Clarke [00:23:35]:
I think we're living in a world which is becoming more and more obsessed.

Nami Clarke [00:23:39]:
With that appearance on social media.

Nami Clarke [00:23:42]:
And it's so refreshing when you see real feeds.

Nami Clarke [00:23:47]:
And I remember when I started, I.

Nami Clarke [00:23:50]:
Used to do my hair and I do my makeup, and it would take me five goes to get a take. Right. For some, you know, whatever tip I was giving. And then I got to the point where I was just like, this is not, I can't. It's already feeling like hard work for me. This is not sustainable. And I got to the point where if I fumbled, it didn't matter. I just kept going.

Nami Clarke [00:24:12]:
But as a result, I relaxed as well. So it became easier and easier and easier. But don't be afraid. There are some amazing business owners out.

Nami Clarke [00:24:20]:
There who show up as they are. You know, the kids are running around in the background.

Nami Clarke [00:24:29]:
The house is a mess. I think that's okay, too. I think you can show that you're dedicated to your clients in all sorts.

Nami Clarke [00:24:37]:
Of ways, but having a perfect house.

Nami Clarke [00:24:40]:
And the perfect filter and the perfect hair and the perfect makeup isn't necessarily.

Nami Clarke [00:24:46]:
Going to support that, so. Yeah, yeah.

Morgan Macdonald [00:24:50]:
And also, you know, there's a heck of a lot of content creators that are on social media at the moment. As content creators, their aim is to go viral. As business owners, our goal isn't to go viral. So the tone of voice that you create needs to be sustainable.

Nami Clarke [00:25:06]:
It's long term.

Morgan Macdonald [00:25:08]:
It's more relationships driven with customers that are actually crying. It's not about building a following of 10 million followers. I don't need 10 million followers personally, for my goals is having a very small plugged in group of community members that want to do business with me and, like, what I do, I don't want to go viral. It actually scares the shit out of me.

Nami Clarke [00:25:32]:
Yeah. How many clients can you handle at once? What's your business, what's your business set up for? And I, whenever I wrote email content as part of a sales sequence or when I was writing posts, I had a particular person in mind who.

Nami Clarke [00:25:51]:
I've never shared who it is, but.

Nami Clarke [00:25:53]:
I have a relationship with this person in real life. And by having that conversation with them.

Nami Clarke [00:25:58]:
I was able to.

Nami Clarke [00:26:00]:
The words just came to me. The banter back and forth felt right in my brain as I was putting things down. Um, but similarly, like you just said, my business could only cope with a couple of clients a month.

Nami Clarke [00:26:16]:
That's all I needed.

Nami Clarke [00:26:17]:
So I wasn't, you know, needing to kind of bring the masses in. And I wanted to. Every, whenever I engaged with potential clients, I did, I wanted to make them feel like they were the only person.

Nami Clarke [00:26:30]:
In the room or on their phone.

Nami Clarke [00:26:32]:
Or in the, you know, in the inbox that I was talking to. And that's one of the key points of difference as well. I think that it's really easy for small business owners to harness.

Nami Clarke [00:26:42]:
Stop chatting to the masses, just chat.

Nami Clarke [00:26:47]:
To the one person and a. That's so much easier when it comes to speaking to your camera or putting down a social media caption or an email, but it converts so much better when you're talking one on one? Much, much.

Nami Clarke [00:27:04]:
Yeah.

Nami Clarke [00:27:04]:
And much easier to write as well.

Nami Clarke [00:27:06]:
Totally. So I know you're in a new.

Morgan Macdonald [00:27:10]:
Role now and not so much running your own business.

Nami Clarke [00:27:13]:
Yeah.

Morgan Macdonald [00:27:13]:
But I'm sure you use social media every now and then just for being social media. What are some brands that you follow that you just love their tone of voice or that you just kind of like, high five of them every time you see something?

Nami Clarke [00:27:28]:
So there's a brand at the moment.

Nami Clarke [00:27:30]:
Who I'm, who I discovered recently, which.

Nami Clarke [00:27:34]:
Is the tubes shoe brand. They're an Adelaide based business.

Nami Clarke [00:27:38]:
They do sandals.

Nami Clarke [00:27:39]:
Last night I rocked up to yoga in my sandals with the frilly bits on them because I got the accessories as well, and some sparkly socks. It was totally daggy.

Nami Clarke [00:27:49]:
But I love these shoes.

Nami Clarke [00:27:51]:
And what I love about this business is that you get to see, well, there are a few things you get to see behind the scenes of the business. So you get to the sisters who run the company. They show up on social so they don't hide behind a brand. They can say we because there are the two of them. But I think that's one of the, can be one of the downfalls with small business owners when they try to.

Nami Clarke [00:28:16]:
Present bigger than they actually are again.

Nami Clarke [00:28:19]:
That feels like hard work. It feels like keeping up a facade. I love that it's just the two of them. And I understand that have a team behind them as well, but it feels real. They feel relatable and as a result, they're people that I feel like I want to support them.

Nami Clarke [00:28:37]:
I love their colors.

Nami Clarke [00:28:39]:
I love, you know, the website is fun. What I also really like about them is that their content is different in that they don't plug sales. So when they had, you know, the cyber Monday sales and all of those things in November, they didn't offer them at all. And they said, this is why we're about sustainable fashion. We never have sales. So if you want to buy from us, here are some really important reasons, but we're never going to push you to buy another pair of shoes if you don't need them right now because that's not good for the planet. So already for me, they're going, well, okay, so my values align with yours. You feel real, you feel relatable, because.

Nami Clarke [00:29:18]:
I can see you and you're demonstrating.

Nami Clarke [00:29:21]:
Your core values as part of your business. And that's really important for informing your tone as well and attracting the right types of clients. And they're really clever in that way.

Nami Clarke [00:29:33]:
Because I know that my friends share.

Nami Clarke [00:29:38]:
Similar values to me. So I'll be recommending this shoe company based on, well, I have this value. This stuff is important to me, the environment's important to me. So I'm going to recommend this shoe.

Nami Clarke [00:29:49]:
Company to my friend over here because I know their values are similar to mine.

Nami Clarke [00:29:54]:
So it's just, it's clever without trying hard.

Nami Clarke [00:29:58]:
And it's, I never get the sense from them that I'm being greenwashed or they're greenwashing things.

Nami Clarke [00:30:05]:
They're getting that green tick. They're emailing me and saying, we don't.

Nami Clarke [00:30:09]:
Have a sale on today, but do.

Nami Clarke [00:30:12]:
You really need a pair of shoes from us right now anyway? And you can bet the minute I.

Nami Clarke [00:30:15]:
Dooney a pair in green or orange.

Nami Clarke [00:30:18]:
That'Ll be going back to them.

Nami Clarke [00:30:20]:
Yeah.

Nami Clarke [00:30:20]:
So Twoobs, I think they are well.

Nami Clarke [00:30:22]:
Worth a visit for lots of reasons. I love that.

Morgan Macdonald [00:30:26]:
That's, yeah. And that's the thing, like what they're doing isn't something secret. They're being authentic, they're being real, they're sticking to their business values and they're sticking to it.

Nami Clarke [00:30:38]:
Yeah, that's consistently, that's the other key, consistency.

Morgan Macdonald [00:30:44]:
Because when you see their little, you know, their little story icon come up, you click on it. You click on it first.

Nami Clarke [00:30:52]:
That's the key.

Morgan Macdonald [00:30:53]:
That's the consistency. If you're only posting once a month, unfortunately in small business, it's not enough.

Nami Clarke [00:31:01]:
No, no, not to keep reinforcing a tone of voice.

Nami Clarke [00:31:06]:
Yeah, absolutely.

Nami Clarke [00:31:07]:
I think in the noise that is out there, not just within your industry, but all sorts of industries who are.

Nami Clarke [00:31:14]:
Competing for your customers attention in whatever.

Nami Clarke [00:31:18]:
Way, shape or form. And add, add to that, you know.

Nami Clarke [00:31:21]:
The kids needing your attention and your.

Nami Clarke [00:31:24]:
Partner needing your attention, and your backyard that's overgrown with weeds needing your attention. Like, there's so many things that need, want our attention. So showing up once a month is not enough. And I know business owners can start.

Nami Clarke [00:31:37]:
To worry that they're being annoying or.

Nami Clarke [00:31:40]:
They'Re pestering, but I think, you know.

Nami Clarke [00:31:44]:
You look at how the algorithms work.

Nami Clarke [00:31:47]:
With socials, it's fairly likely that the post you shared recently was only seen by a tiny segment of your audience. So don't be afraid to show up weekly or multiple times in a week because you're not going to be bombarding people. You'll be engaging the people who really want to hear from you. And you'll also be catching the people.

Nami Clarke [00:32:09]:
Who you want to speak to but.

Nami Clarke [00:32:12]:
Might be missing out on your content. And the same goes for email as well. I would recommend always showing up weekly in someone's inbox, which can feel like a lot, but if they're too busy.

Nami Clarke [00:32:23]:
They won't open it.

Nami Clarke [00:32:25]:
If they're not your ideal customer, they'll unsubscribe and you can thank them that.

Nami Clarke [00:32:31]:
You don't want to carry a whole.

Nami Clarke [00:32:34]:
Heap of subscribers that don't want to hear from you. But, yeah, showing up and staying top of mind is really, really important. If you're emailing once a month, it's likely that you'll be forgotten or become less relevant.

Nami Clarke [00:32:48]:
And then people won't open your emails.

Nami Clarke [00:32:51]:
As a result of that. They'll forget who you are.

Nami Clarke [00:32:54]:
Yeah, that's a whole other area that.

Morgan Macdonald [00:32:57]:
I love talking about.

Nami Clarke [00:32:58]:
But, you know, it's one of the things that people go, oh, I had a heap of unsubscribes because I sent an email and I only email them twice a year. That's why you're getting unsubscribes because people just forget who you are. It's as simple as that.

Nami Clarke [00:33:16]:
So don't be afraid to show up.

Nami Clarke [00:33:18]:
Way more than you think.

Nami Clarke [00:33:19]:
I would even say twice, three times.

Nami Clarke [00:33:22]:
Four times as many times as you think you should show up. And this is I'm talking about the conversations I've had with small business owners. I know they're always reluctant, so I agree.

Morgan Macdonald [00:33:33]:
I 100% agree. And just to add, if you are losing followers on Instagram in particular, do not worry. Send those little jerks off into the universe, not your people. You do not need them in your space.

Nami Clarke [00:33:49]:
Even.

Morgan Macdonald [00:33:50]:
You can even go through your own followers and get out the ones that you don't know who they are or that are some weird spam account like the following isn't the key metric there, it's the quality of the following.

Nami Clarke [00:34:03]:
Correct?

Nami Clarke [00:34:04]:
Correct.

Nami Clarke [00:34:05]:
So in my business at prom queen.

Nami Clarke [00:34:10]:
Working with my clients privately, and now with the not for profit I work with, one of the things that I've always done and do regularly is clean the subscriber list I actively go to identify the subscribers who haven't opened content in the last, say, three to six.

Nami Clarke [00:34:31]:
Months and reach out to them and.

Nami Clarke [00:34:33]:
Say, do you still want to hear from me or do you still want.

Nami Clarke [00:34:36]:
To hear from us?

Nami Clarke [00:34:38]:
If I don't get a reply back from you in say, a week, I'm going to take you off this list. Just letting you know. And there is a step by step process in that. And it's more than one email, but.

Nami Clarke [00:34:51]:
You can start to see then with.

Nami Clarke [00:34:54]:
Your subscribers who are active and engaged.

Nami Clarke [00:34:59]:
Why they're not converting.

Nami Clarke [00:35:00]:
Rather than looking at all of these numbers that are carrying a heap of subscribers that are never going to open an email from you anyway, it's really hard to tell where your business is falling down if you've got all of.

Nami Clarke [00:35:12]:
That dead weight on your list.

Nami Clarke [00:35:16]:
But yeah, don't be afraid to lose subscribers. And just quickly on the showing up more on socials and on email and it can feel overwhelming but repurposed content, that is the best way to hit a ton of channels with one piece of content. So if you've got a blog post.

Nami Clarke [00:35:36]:
Well, there's an email topic.

Nami Clarke [00:35:38]:
There's pull that blog post apart into five or ten different social media posts that you can jot about over the month or the year or quarter or whatever it may be. Look at how you can repurpose content so you're not reinventing the wheel people's about pages on their website. There are five posts within that. Did you know this about me?

Nami Clarke [00:36:00]:
Did you know that about me? So there's ways that we can do.

Nami Clarke [00:36:04]:
Things faster and more efficiently without it feeling like, oh, my goodness, that is such a big task ahead of me. Repurpose, repurpose, repurpose.

Nami Clarke [00:36:12]:
Yeah. So to sum up, getting to the.

Morgan Macdonald [00:36:16]:
Key takeaways from this podcast would be that tone of voice is very important when it comes to developing a brand. What are the key takeaways that you can give us that we've gone through just to be the last kind of.

Nami Clarke [00:36:32]:
Sign off for people to walk away.

Morgan Macdonald [00:36:36]:
Knowing, okay, I feel good.

Nami Clarke [00:36:38]:
Yeah.

Nami Clarke [00:36:38]:
So a few big things. Get your foundations right.

Nami Clarke [00:36:43]:
Figure out how your business, how you.

Nami Clarke [00:36:46]:
Want to make your business.

Nami Clarke [00:36:50]:
Look and.

Nami Clarke [00:36:50]:
Feel to others, or how you want your clients to feel when working with.

Nami Clarke [00:36:54]:
You, and how you want to feel.

Nami Clarke [00:36:56]:
While you're working within your business. But get those foundations right so you.

Nami Clarke [00:36:59]:
Can inform all of your different assets.

Nami Clarke [00:37:03]:
Your communication assets with your clients. I go back to don't be someone who you're not. If you're a core part of delivering a product or a service in your business, be yourself. Be the person who you know. Depends how far you want to go. But the person that your partner gets to see on a Wednesday night when you're watching some crappy tv and you're wearing your daggy sandals and your sparkly socks to yoga, just be. Be yourself. And then it doesn't feel like it's hard work.

Nami Clarke [00:37:34]:
Show up more than you think you.

Nami Clarke [00:37:37]:
Need to and shake off any worry or concern that you're annoying someone you know. Let it be a joy that you're communicating about your business with the world. And don't let a couple you know, even if there's one person out there who is annoyed that they're getting information from you too frequently, that's fine. They might be busy. Then mine might be elsewhere. They can unsubscribe. And the fourth thing is repurpose, repurpose. Repurpose your content.

Nami Clarke [00:38:07]:
That makes the job so much easier when it comes to creating, particularly copywriting content. So that'd be my four key things.

Nami Clarke [00:38:16]:
Thank you so much.

Morgan Macdonald [00:38:17]:
That is amazing. And I've got some work to do. I'm sure we've all got some work to do, but it's even just discussing what we have, it's inspired me to keep owning who I am and out consistent content, particularly words that just resonate with me and the work that I've done in understanding who my customer is. I know who that person is. I just need to talk to them more.

Nami Clarke [00:38:40]:
Yeah, yeah, that's right. And, yeah, talk to that person.

Nami Clarke [00:38:47]:
Who.

Nami Clarke [00:38:47]:
You want your next client to be as well.

Nami Clarke [00:38:49]:
Who are they?

Nami Clarke [00:38:50]:
And you just attract more of your. More of your people, more of the right people, then your business becomes a joy.

Nami Clarke [00:38:58]:
And that's how business, you know, and.

Nami Clarke [00:39:04]:
A small part of it should be. There should be joy in it. And I do. I take my hat off to everyone running their own business because it's only.

Nami Clarke [00:39:15]:
One aspect of their lives.

Nami Clarke [00:39:18]:
It's a massive responsibility. And I think, um, we need to cheer those people on and give them permission to find that joy and fun in their business and throw out the rules every now and again. Give yourself permission to just have a little bit of fun and craziness in there.

Morgan Macdonald [00:39:37]:
Thank you so much, Naomi. I really appreciate you joining me again. Pleasure.

Nami Clarke [00:39:41]:
You're very welcome.

Nami Clarke [00:39:43]:
See you soon. Bye.