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The Nemesis: Tell Your Marketing Story Better with a Character (or three)

Time Thief: the #1 Marketing Villain

Wanted Dead or Alive: Time Thief, the #1 Marketing Villain of Solopreneurs Everywhere

One of the things I have my branding clients do over the course of our time together is find ways to personify the problems of their own customers.

Why? Because it helps them tell better stories about how they fix those problems.

I’ve done this for my own business, and was able to identify almost a dozen evil characters that stop my clients — and sometimes me! — from getting our marketing done.

I wrote about one of those villains a few months ago (remember the evil robots?) and the post got a great reception because I was able to show (not tell) my audience how something as innocent as automating your marketing can “kill” your efforts.

Recently, my survey helped identify the top nemesis for most of you: The Time Thief.

She apparently keeps at least 40% of you from getting your work done. (And is most likely to blame for your connections to those evil robots, too.)

Others are using personification (or, in one case, animalification) of problems really well in their marketing campaigns. Here are just three examples you might enjoy:

Caution: this one has language NSFW:

One thing you probably noticed is that these examples also help us laugh at our problems. And humor goes a long way toward making a story (or a marketing message) stand out in your prospect’s mind.

What about you and your clients? Who’s the big nemesis you help them conquer? Share a description or two in a link below.

And if you’ve got an image of that creep, share that, too. (I may be the Word Chef, but I love a great picture.)

About Tea (the Chef) Silvestre

As a marketing coach and consultant, Tea excels at helping her clients find and share their Secret Sauce with the world. She's also the founder of the ground breaking new reality web series, "Prosperity's Kitchen" and the author of "Attract and Feed a Hungry Crowd." Connect and chat with her on Twitter: @TeaSilvestre.

  • Ki

    Great Article Tea – yes time thief is what I am working on..

  • http://twitter.com/content_muse Anthony Pensabene

    saw this tweeted by @turndog_million .. I’m glad I clicked on the link and came across your post.  Great idea in ‘personifying’ topics.  It makes them more tangible and perhaps an easier topic of blog conversation.  Additionally, it makes content more interesting and allows for more creativity.  Nicely done and thanks for the creative reminder.