With Helen Tremethick, brand voice strategist and business coach, and creator of the Love & Badassery Motorcycle Club. Join us for this absolutely essential conversation on developing and powerfully using our voice in business (and life), and the importance of taking imperfect action, experimenting, and showing up more fully as ourselves wherever we are, including in our work. Helen has chaperoned hundreds of entrepreneurs and business owners into the space of more freedom and greater self expression, by developing their authentic voice.

We dig into Helen’s passion for entrepreneurs, her varied background including her experience in the corporate world, and her strategies for helping her clients develop their brand voice. We also talk about how these same concepts translate into parenting in a way that gives our children permission to develop their voices and fully express themselves, how we recover from mistakes, and how as parents the freedom of releasing the scrutiny of others is a milestone that serves us well in so many ways.

Finally, Helen shares three of the biggest mistakes we entrepreneurs make in regards to copywriting and brand communication, and how we communicate in ways that don’t connect with our audience or the marketplace.

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Biggest takeaways (or quotes) you don’t want to miss:

• “We need more people more comfortable talking about the things that are traditionally uncomfortable.” 

• Come back to who you are and what you stand for. 

• “I came back from corporate because I love the passion of people who want to do better in the world.” 

• “When you are ready to grow out of the template, grow out of the template.”

Check out these highlights:

3:30 Why entrepreneurs try on a number of different hats before we become entrepreneurs. 

4:20 Why you need to look at all of the things you have done to find the common thread. 

7:20 In the beginning you have to wear all of these hats, even if you only want to do one thing. 

7:43 Why you need to learn how to do your business, who you are and what you do. 

14:30 What is Love & Badassery?

16:50 How do we help people at every stage become who they are?

19:30 Be more free, more full. 

23:00 How do you help your kids have a more authentic voice?

27:30 “We are going to screw up as business owners.”

30:20 The question isn’t how to move through the world without making mistakes, but how do we adapt and move forward. 

30:40 Why you need to be aligned with who you are. 

36:19 How are people connecting with their audience in a really genuine way? 

37:00 What are the four steps to captivate your audience?

44:00 Why you should never try to be someone else in your brand. 

45:00 “Look at templates with a critical mind. Just because someone put it out there doesn’t mean it’s right for you.” 

49:20 “Be yourself, practice showing up.” 

How to get in touch with Helen:

On social media:

https://www.facebook.com/helentremethick/

https://twitter.com /helentremethick

https://www.instagram.com/helentremethick/

FREE GIFT FOR LISTENERS:

Build your business with confidence and clarity, grab Love & Badassery here.

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Helen Tremethick is a brand voice strategist & business coach who helps entrepreneurs find the courage, confidence, and clarity they need to grow and scale their businesses. Formerly the CEO of The Communications Distillery, Helen has recently rebranded under her own name. Since 2011, she has worked with hundreds of business owners to clarify their messaging, copy, business models, and self-confidence. If you’re looking for the skills you need to show up in your business and your life, Helen’s the solution for you. Helen lives in an old farmhouse in the middle of the Ontario countryside, which means if you ever hop on a coaching call with her, you might hear roosters.

Find more about Helen here: http://helentremethick.com

Love & Badassery Motorcycle Club: helentremethick.com/club

Imperfect Show Notes

We are happy to offer these imperfect show notes to make this podcast more accessible to those who are hearing impaired or those who prefer reading over listening. While we would love to offer more polished show notes, we are currently offering an automated transcription (which likely includes errors, but hopefully will still deliver great value), below.

GGGB Intro  00:00

Here’s what you get on today’s episode of Guts, Grit and Great Business.

Helen Tremethick  00:05

The work that I do is ultimately around how do you talk about yourself in your business? How do you talk about your business it to your clients in a way that resonates with them. That is the umbrella that we use when talking about brand voice strategy. But the big sneaky, awesome truth is that once you feel freer and talking about your business, then you start feeling free, you’re talking about your opinions, then you start feeling Freer about talking about yourself, and how you show up in the world. Wherever you are, in your business, in your personal life. At that family dinner that’s always really uncomfortable, wherever you are about bigger issues, and that is what we need. We need more people more comfortable about talking about things that are traditionally uncomfortable.

GGGB Intro  01:01

The adventure of entrepreneurship and building a life and business you love, preferably at the same time is not for the faint of heart. That’s why Heather Pearce Campbell is bringing you a dose of guts, grit, and great business stories that will inspire and motivate you to create what you want in your business and life. Welcome to the Guts, Grit and Great Business podcast where endurance is required. Now, here’s your host, The Legal Website Warrior®, Heather Pearce Campbell.

Heather Pearce Campbell  01:33

Hello and welcome. I am Heather Pearce Campbell, The Legal Website Warrior®. I’m an attorney and legal coach based here in Seattle, Washington. Welcome to another episode of guts, grit and great business. Today I’m so excited to be sharing my friend Helen with you. Helen is a sought after brand voice strategist and business coach whose approach to communications is rooted in clarity, simplicity and relationship with the audience. She helps scaling entrepreneurs and small businesses move their businesses into the next fear of their work with just the right amount of love and badassery. Since 2010, Helen’s work has influenced and helped hundreds of business owners find their voice and garner more traction in the online marketplace. She is also the creator of a content development methodology that she has been teaching to entrepreneurs, innovation centers and the corporate sector since early 2014. Helen is the CEO of the communications distillery, a boutique branding studio located in an old farmhouse in the middle of the Ontario countryside. Which means if you ever hop on a coaching call with her, you may hear roosters. So I love that for people listening Helen and I recently met it’s been like a few weeks or maybe a month since we first spoke. But that’s true. Yeah, through a mastermind group. And I just so enjoyed connecting with you the first time, Helen like me as a mom to a little person, we were joking about our little people needing to play Minecraft together, right? A mile away the time during COVID with Minecraft, which is happening a lot at our house.

Helen Tremethick  03:15

Lots of screen time, lots of relaxing of the ordinary rules,

Heather Pearce Campbell  03:20

Right, all of it. So welcome, Helen. I’m so happy to have you.

Helen Tremethick  03:25

Thank you, Heather. I’m happy to be here.

Heather Pearce Campbell  03:27

Awesome. So talk to us a little bit about how you got started in this world. How did you figure out that brand voice and copywriting is your thing.

Helen Tremethick  03:40

Yeah, thanks. You know, I think a lot of us as entrepreneurs, we try on a number of different hats before we become business owners. Entrepreneurship is very rarely a linear path of who you know, there are those exceptions who have our serial entrepreneurs, they, you know, started with lemonade stands and magazines when they were four or five. But the rest of us the rest of us have done a pile of different things. And for a very long time, I too, was in that position and felt flighty like I had no focus, do you think is a very common feeling for again, for a lot of entrepreneurs. However, this is something that I talk about with my clients, once you start looking at all of the things that you’ve done, even if they were different titles or different occupations, the vast majority of the time there is a common thread. Me that common thread was always communications. Right out of high school, I studied radio and television broadcasting. I very quickly left that because I wasn’t comfortable with all the ego in the room, which is, as a matter of fact, a lot of people wanted to be the next personality and as you know the introvert that I am, I really couldn’t handle it and so I went into international Development and anthropology instead, which is ultimately the study of people. So the combination of those two together, international development and Radio Broadcasting is really about, you know, who is this person? Where do they come from? What do they want? And how do you communicate that not all of my occupations, all of my jobs, had this common thread that ran through it, I was always updating the operations manuals, I was always doing the team building exercises, I was the person at the microphone, doing the press conferences. And so…

Heather Pearce Campbell  05:35

Which I love as an introvert. 

Helen Tremethick  05:39

Like I was the one doing the press conferences. I’m an introvert who really likes to communicate. And that is something that is nerve wracking for the introvert self. But important, because it really feeds this desire in me to help people figure out how to communicate themselves more authentically, more purely to their right people. Because when we do that, that’s when that real alignment occurs, where your right audience knows who you are, and how you can help them very, very quickly. And ultimately, that’s just great for the sales conversation. So that was about 10 years ago, with the communications distillery started. And I started out copywriting writing other people’s websites, and very quickly moved into a teaching and coaching sphere, where I love talking to people about how they can do it for themselves, how they can really become empowered in talking to people, about their businesses.

Heather Pearce Campbell  06:42

I love that it’s I think it’s a hard thing for a lot of people to do, right? I think that you know, whether it’s around having to figure out your own marketing, or your own copywriting or technology and how it supports your business. Most people go into business for themselves, because they want to do a thing, right, they have a certain thing that they love to do, or a way that they think that they can serve others, but not necessarily because they want to learn all the parts of running a business. That’s it that may end up having to do anyways, if they’re really committed to that path.

Helen Tremethick  07:20

In the beginning, you have to wear all of the hats. And so even though you want to do this one thing, you still also have to do all of the other things, at least until you can outsource it, not everybody gets there. So so we need to be calm, quickstarts and learn a lot of different things. And one of those major, major things is talking about your business, like you say whether that’s on your website, whether it’s on social media, whether it’s shaking hands with somebody in a non COVID world, shaking hands with somebody at a conference, we still need to talk about who you are and what you do. Hi, I’m so and so I do this. That’s really, really foundational for any business owner.

Heather Pearce Campbell  08:03

Yeah, well, it sounds like we can get to this because I know I wanted to talk with you about it. Anyways, the the project that you recently did, but you know, I think so much of copywriting and how we show up, whether it’s in conversation with people, whether it’s through our websites, whatever, is really about how how do we be ourselves in all the moments and all the places right so that people either have a clear, yes, or a clear no type of response to us?

Helen Tremethick  08:32

Yes, exactly. We want our prospective clients to self qualify, we want them to know very clearly whether it’s a yes. Or whether it’s a no. And if it’s a no, that’s a really good thing. It’s good that they know right off the bat, that no, you’re not the right person for them. No, that’s not the right service for them. And they can hit the back button and nobody wastes their time. yeses are clear yeses, they get on a consult with you. And they say, Oh, my goodness, you are exactly the person I thought you were. Where do I sign?

Heather Pearce Campbell  09:04

Right? Right. So your interest in people and communication? Did that start young? Where did that start for you in your life?

Helen Tremethick  09:12

Oh, good question. I have. I was always a writer, I always remember writing books from my little sister. Good with so in the beginning, I wanted to be, you know, an artist, it didn’t really understand what the art world was, or really how difficult it is to make your way as an artist. But I that’s what I wanted to do. And so I started writing stories. And that writing stories turned into writing poetry, and I always kept a journal. So in one way, in that way, I’ve always had a desire to communicate through the written word. Yeah. And yeah, and so I remember remember, even in High School where I, you would join clubs and decide that actually they weren’t. They weren’t effective in the way that they were talking about themselves. So, so So I feel like that’s again one of those through lines. That’s kind of always sort of been

Heather Pearce Campbell  10:18

Yes, yes. Oh, that’s fun. Well, it’s funny you talk about, you know, journaling young, like, as you’re talking about your story reminds me, there was a time I was infatuated with my dad’s typewriter. And I remember sitting down and like typing, like, I’d pretend that I was typing like newspaper columns, you know, like, I’d make the columns on the page and rightful stories anyways, it’s pretty funny, I found those at some point. But I got gifted. My grandmother gave me a journal, when I turned eight. It was a big journal, like, you know, eight and a half by 11. Size, lots of pages. And so I actually began journaling, pretty consistently, probably not a daily basis, but close to as an eight year old. And now, yeah, that lasted basically all the way through my growing up experience. And so I somewhere I have got a box of like, 25, or 30 journals from my youth.

Helen Tremethick  11:14

That’s wonderful. You know, there’s an event that happens in Toronto over the years to Toronto, Canada, and it is people go up on stage, it’s a bit of an open mic where people go on stage, and they read passages from their journals from their journals have. It is the most heartwarming, hilarious thing to go back to those times when, you know, we say, you know, so and so was so mean, they said green shirt anymore. It’s like these brilliant little time capsules that show, you know who we were at that time and what we thought was important or interesting or noteworthy yet is really interesting. I remember laughing my head off one time because I picked up a journal, I went through a phase where, and I was always a pretty truthful kid. Like I wasn’t a kid that really tested out lies, I think maybe I told two lies my entire growing up experience. Right? One of them I was five and I tested it out on my mom because I wrapped up in the curtains and she could tell later somebody had been in the curtains, right? Which is a really funny thing to say out loud because we were poor and lived in Idaho and like I can’t even really believe we had curtains and but she apparently cared about them. So we so she asked, you know, who was wrapping up in the curtains? And I’m, you know, I’m a five year old and I just didn’t answer like, not it and later like that, that experience I it was I had so much guilt, I had to confess. But anyways, translating back to my journals, there was this phase where, even like, I understood that my perspective might have been different from the truth. Like I understood the limits of my own perspective. And I, I was in this weird writing phase where I didn’t want to be writing down like my, like, my journals, were gonna have some massive historical significance. I didn’t want to be writing down things that were like, you know, that like, I’m putting them down as the absolute truth. And so every sentence for like, two years of my life had the words, I think it’s interesting how we curb ourselves even in our private spaces as well, that that, you know, you’re not alone by any means to be a young person, or even a grown up. curbing themselves. Yeah, even in our even our own minds, even in our our private thoughts, even in our journals.

Helen Tremethick  13:50

Yeah. Isn’t that fascinating. So, I mean, I love your and even the first time I visited your website, I’m like, Oh, I’m such a fan. There’s all this color. Like if you’re listening, just go visit Helen online at communicationdistillery.com. And I will put links up Helen for your places, and, you know, wherever you’d like to connect in the show notes, so people also can visit that legalwebsitewarrior.com/podcast, but your site is so colorful and fun, and the language you use is fun and engaging. Talk to me, I’m really curious about this recent project of yours and how it went. And it was, my understanding is that it was all around like how to help people be more of who they are.

Helen Tremethick  14:34

Yeah, thank you. It’s called Love & Badassery, which I’ll speak to in just a second. But Love & Badassery was a month long community project where I brought 30 other entrepreneurs 31, including myself, to share their stories about how they grew their businesses, while at the same time becoming more authentically themselves. And I don’t mean authentic TM, I mean, really, truly genuine Yes, who they are and showcasing that to their audiences, because we needed more proof of people who weren’t just following the rules, following the templates, inserting the right words in the right places. So many of us feel like square pegs. And these are round holes that were expensive to fit into. So I brought together a quite a wide range of entrepreneurs, who could speak to becoming more of who they are, while they scaled while they grew. And some of these people were solopreneurs, some of these people have been in business for ages. Some of these people have teams, some of them are, you know, have are just starting, but they are, the one thing they had in common is that they were unabashedly, who they are. And so it was a great conversation over a month of really uplifting people, of giving them permission to take imperfect action, giving them permission, permission to get out anyway, giving them permission to experiment and play with how they show up in their businesses, giving ourselves the opportunity to be less private, about those thoughts and less curbed and silence.

Heather Pearce Campbell  16:26

Well, I mean, I like I’m listening to you, and even this, this recent project, and it’s like, oh, my gosh, the, you know, the older, mean, older, meaning that when I look back at points in my life, like that period, where I was journaling and saying, I think to everything, rather than saying something as the Absolute Truth, or, you know, my full perspective, like, Oh, everybody needs this. I mean, you know, children need, like, how do we help people at every stage become more of who they are? Right? It just, I love it. It’s so brilliant.

Helen Tremethick  16:59

That’s so true. You’ve touched on a really good point there, Heather, that, that this work, the work that I do is ultimately around how do you talk about yourself in your business? How do you talk about your business it to your clients in a way that resonates with them, that is the umbrella that we we use when talking about brand voice strategy. The big sneaky, awesome truth is that once you feel freer and talking about your business, then you start feeling freer and talking about your opinions, then you start feeling Freer about talking about yourself, and how you show up in the world, wherever you are, in your business, in your personal life, at that family dinner, that’s always really uncomfortable, wherever you are about bigger issues. And that is what we need. We need more people more comfortable about talking about things that are traditionally uncomfortable.

Heather Pearce Campbell  17:59

Yes. And well, I so agree. And it’s interesting, because I’ve had this conversation like with sisters with good friends, you know, I think sometimes we get there in life, because we just have really hard experiences or challenging times that change our basically change our filter, change our perspective around what should be held back or not said or, you know, filtered through a lens where we might normally say it this way, because of who’s listening versus how we really want to say it. And, you know, I like I reflect back on really probably the last, I don’t know, 10 or so years of my life and some of the events that have happened in that timeframe. And, like, there are days where, and I apologize for it coming out this way if it’s really cliche or overused, but I’ve told my sister repeatedly, like, I’m out of EFS to give, I’m just gonna say what I want to say. And the irony is that it can be really challenging to get to that place. But once you’re there, it’s like, Wait, why did it take me so long?

Helen Tremethick  19:05

Yeah, you’re right. You’re absolutely right. I think a lot of us are in very similar positions. And, you know, a friend of mine when I turned 40 This is a few years ago now said welcome the 40s or the decade of giving no apps and of course, she said the full word because she doesn’t have any. Right. And I love this idea of being able to chaperone people into a space of more freeness Yeah, fullness, more truthfulness, more gentleness. Yes. And that doesn’t mean airing your dirty laundry.

Heather Pearce Campbell  19:42

No, no, but the the fullness part and the truthfulness is what’s resonating with me right now as you describe that. That’s the feeling of it. Uh huh, exactly. Yeah. I love that. So, talk to us about how that project went and what like at the end Looking back, right? Because it’s wrapped up.

Helen Tremethick  20:02

It has wrapped up, it was a month long project, and it wrapped up at the end of May 2020. And it was wonderful we had, we had hundreds of people in the Facebook group, we had more than double that on email us. We had people who are writing every single day we had sons of engagement, the contributors were in the Facebook group as well. And it was really such a supportive and open space. And since that time, we’ve had people who have rebranded their businesses because their businesses hadn’t felt aligned with who they are, for a long time. And they were nervous, we’ve had people launching their websites, for exactly the same reason they wanted to do it for a long time. But they, they were afraid. And they stepped forward and pushed it forward. We’ve had people creating services, when they weren’t sure how they were going to make money, and taking on new clients. And these, this is the ripple effect of being able to come back to that space of of who you are. And then taking that courageous step to talk about it.

Heather Pearce Campbell  21:12

Oh, boy, I love that so much. And partly when I’m thinking about it, I mean, one is how tremendously beneficial, it has been to, you know, the folks that participated in that with you, as well as the clients and people in the marketplace that all get to benefit now from the way that those folks are probably showing up differently. But also in my head, I’m like, Oh, you just must be a fabulous mom. Because being in tune with how to have an authentic voice, I feel like is such a critical bridge for us to be able to help our little people cross.

Helen Tremethick  21:49

Thank you. It’s something I think about a lot as, yeah, my my daughter is wonderful, she is alive and vibrant and smart. And she thinks outside the box, and she really, really good at articulating what she needs, and why she should get her way. I love that. 

Heather Pearce Campbell  22:13

We appreciate those strong little voices!

Helen Tremethick  22:16

It’s gonna be a great adult. And so thank you. I appreciate that.

Heather Pearce Campbell  22:22

Yes. Well, I’m curious with your insights in this area. I mean, for other folks that are parents that are listening, what what are some of the ways that you view that whether it’s like tips you could share, especially and thinking about that concept and applying it to little people? Like what I don’t know if there’s anything that’s real obvious to you about what you do, because I suspect it’s so ingrained in who you are. 

Helen Tremethick  22:48

Well, I feel the need to disclaim that I am not a parenting.

Heather Pearce Campbell  22:51

Right. I know. And I ask any and every question that comes to my mind, I’m just thinking, like, they’re probably a lot of parents that are like, Hmm, this rings a bell for me, how do I help my little person have a more authentic voice?

Helen Tremethick  23:03

We have always talked to her about how she feels even when right from the get go, as she was the, you know, the only year old two year old to be sitting down talking about why she had that temper tantrum, what was really going on underneath. And so we really encouraged that style of communication. But even now, as she’s becoming more independent, we were allowing that independence, we’re allowing her to express her emotions fully and freely. We’re allowing allowing her to get angry, which is something that I think for many of us growing up in the 70s 80s, maybe 90s didn’t have the opportunity to express fully our outrage Express fully how upset we were expressed fully our disappointment. And so that that’s part of what curbs us that’s part we’re not allowed to express ourselves in that way. And so we’ve, we’ve really fully allowed her to do that. No, of course, that’s that within the framework of right not talking about it. Yes, you’re allowed to call names. You’re not allowed to break famous. Exactly. But you’re allowed to be mad. You’re allowed to be mad at me, you’re allowed to be mad at the world, you’re allowed to be mad. And so I think that gives her permission to know that full range of emotions and because she can articulate them because she she’s aware of them, then it means that you know, I think that will help her out. Yeah, later. 

Heather Pearce Campbell  24:41

No, I agree. I agree. Not disconnecting our little people from their experience and from their emotions around and experiences can be a hard thing not to do, you know, I mean, more so when we feel like we have other eyeballs on us, right, trying to meet expectations. of society or other people. So I think one of the experiences of Mom where I’m just like, and I’m not a swear. So that’s why I say, you know, I’m out of F to give, but is parenting a child and my son who is seven actually just turned eight, right? He’s had special needs and took us a while to figure out what was going on there. But he’s very bright, very precocious, super socially engaging, like, most people would not know, actually, that he has special needs. And so what it means is that He is the recipient of a lot of expectations. Yeah. Right. And, and his behavior, he’s behaviorally challenged. And so often times, you know, he would earn labels that he just frankly, doesn’t deserve. But, you know, at a young age, and I mean, this is a story I maybe shouldn’t even say on a podcast, but I’m going to tell it anyways, like Parent to Parent. So if he heard a swear word, even as a two year old, he could take that into his vocabulary, understand it and understand, like, the appropriate usage of it, you know, and then use it appropriately the next time he was super frustrated, or whatever. And so, right, so as a two year old, it’s funny because I am not a swear, but if I do, like, I broke this huge glass bowl, like big bowl full of pasta and sauce, on our tile floor, right, and I was like, damn it, it’s shattered into like, 1000 little pieces of glass, since I’m standing in the kitchen, and he heard that one dammit, pop out of my mouth. So within a very short period of time, like, you know, the next day, maybe, somewhere, it was a funny period, because within about two weeks of that happening, my husband, unfortunately, and he does not swear a lot. But he burned himself really badly. He did drop the F bomb. So we had a two year old that ran around forever for like two years when he was frustrated, saying, fuck Damn it every time he was mad. And he just jammed them together. And that was his go to phrase when he was frustrated, which happened often I will tell you, so I heard more F bombs in the two years between him being two and four than I’ve ever heard in the rest of my life combined.

Helen Tremethick  27:21

It’s tricky, right? Because, well, we’re all sponges, especially children. And we cannot expect ourselves to be perfect. Right? As grownups as parents, you know, we are going to screw up as business owners can I just say that too. We are going to screw up, we’re gonna screw up as parents, we’re going to screw up as business owners, we’re gonna screw up as partners. And, and we’re going to have moments where we’re like, oh, I just dropped the F bomb in front of my child. And now, I know that we’re going to be at the grocery store. And they’re going to want something I’m going to say no. And they’re going to be dropping the F bomb just as another family is walking by, or giant. Yeah. And, and so. So we know those moments, we can feel those moments were like, oh, yeah, that was one right there. I thought of that. And, and we got it, we also have to kind of like, let that go. We have to let that go in the expectations for ourselves and also of each other, each other parents, other business owners.

Heather Pearce Campbell  28:27

That’s right. Yeah, that’s right. And I think that that lesson around empathy, and expanding our own filters and perspectives, you know, for me, because we we really don’t swear as a household. And so for our little two year old to be running around doing F dammit all the time. Like, I just It gave me the giggles after I just had to accept it. Because so often, like, I mean, in his early preschool days, and he got kicked out of several preschools. But he was just, you know, from the perspective of the teacher, just so much to handle, there was so much going on with this little person that just made him like he had a way of taking over the classroom as far as like, how big his personality was, and all the things that he wanted and his frustrations and all of it, but that the F dammit and you know, certain things like that, that it just felt like I remember feeling so much scrutiny thinking like these people all think we must swear like sailors at our house. Don’t and like you said going out in public or having other experiences where we’re just like, that’s where I had to impart. Develop some thick skin where it’s like, you know what, I don’t care what you think of me. I don’t care about your judgment. Because if you if you saw how things really went, it would be different and I just, I don’t have any more emotional capacity to really care too much about it. Yeah. And yeah, I feel it feels kind of like a callous thing to say that because it’s not like I don’t care. I care very deeply about people. But I I have totally learned how to release what somebody thinks about me.

Helen Tremethick  30:04

Right. That’s a self forgiveness piece, right? You know that you’re going to make mistakes along the way, you know that things are going to happen that are out of your control. And so the question isn’t as like, as parents, as partners, as people in the world, as business owners, it’s not about, you know, how do I move through the world? Without making mistakes? How do I move through the world without things happens? It’s how do I recover? How do I adapt? When I do screw up?

Heather Pearce Campbell  30:33

Yes, it will. Exactly. And I think releasing ourselves from the weight of what other people think and I don’t know is I just, you know, I personally wish we could all get there or have gotten there sooner. Right, because it is a much more free place to be.

Helen Tremethick  30:53

Absolutely it is. You know, I talk a lot about alignment and discernment. This, coming back to who you are, what you stand for, what your values are, this is through and through business, parenting personally, this will coming back to who you are speaking out in a genuine, authentic way. And discerning, discerning what’s important, what’s important to say, what’s important to take on? What’s important to recognize, and, and that that element that you were talking about not giving any apps like that’s part of that discernment piece, that if you can, if you’re aligned, discernment comes much more easily. I don’t need to take on the scrutiny of that character. I have all the reasons in the world because, or I don’t have any, because I’m aligned with who I am. And that I know that I am a good person and a good parent and a good business owner. And that’s right. Yeah, it comes back to alignment and then discernment.

Heather Pearce Campbell  31:52

Yeah, no, I love it. And so I know, I remember from our conversation before, if I’m correct, like your journey, you’ve done a lot of work, including with bigger companies or corporations. And at the end of the day, at least what I recall you saying is that your heart is really for smaller entrepreneurs.

Helen Tremethick  32:10

Yeah, yeah, I really love working with people who are passionate about what they do, who still have their fingers and all the pots who are have big ideas that need to be distilled down to something that’s really more pure and concentrates, that I love mucking around in the deep end of newer businesses. And by newer, I mean, anything really, from from brand new all the way up to like that 10 years piece, because a lot of people who are still at the helm of their business are regularly adapting regularly changing. So a lot of the work they do is in rebrands, and pivots as for businesses who have been around for a while, but But yeah, you’re right, I came back from corporate because I love the passion of people who want to do better in the world, they want to make the world a bit better and fresh. That’s just a good energy to be around.

Heather Pearce Campbell  33:15

It is well, I was wondering what it was about the entrepreneurial path that you love so much. And the passion, I mean, I think, as you said, has to be a huge part of it. And it’s also fun I find in this, you know, smaller businesses entrepreneurial landscape. People can pivot quickly, right, they can make modifications to their business, they can change and upskill things in a hurry, if they’ve got the right guidance.

Helen Tremethick  33:41

Absolutely. Absolutely. And once you coming back to that alignment piece, once you know who you are, what you stand for how you serve, what you sell, becomes kind of an extra, of course, we all need to put groceries on our table, I’m counting the importance of selling your services, but the exact what of it can change quite easily. If you’re aligned with who you are and your value set and so on. Like if you come back to that genuine, authentic piece, it becomes much more easy to be agile.

Heather Pearce Campbell  34:17

Yes, yes. Well, and I think that’s a really fun part of that landscape as well. Absolutely. So I know you have got you said, I mean, in your bio, you talk about being the creator of a content development methodology. Do you want to talk to us a little bit about what that is? And if it’s totally secret sauce, and we can’t go there, that’s fine. I like about it.

Helen Tremethick  34:42

I’d love to talk about it. i Yeah, it’s it’s not secret sauce at all. I you know, when I started this business, I said I started copywriting I actually started out editing and found very quickly that I don’t give any apps about how many colons you put in a row. If you’re making a really important point. put a bunch of colons in a row that wait, just make sure you do the same amount every time. So I was far more interested in consistency and voice. And then I was about semi colons. So or colons as the case may be so, so very quickly moved into copywriting. And it wasn’t long thereafter that I realized that there was kind of a way that people were communicating online that worked well. And a way that was more rote and robotic. Yes. And we’re, we’re still fairly new to communicating on the internet and fast realm of how long we’ve been communicating with each other, the internet is just a.on, the map. And so so we’re still becoming used to what’s real, and what’s not what’s authentic, and what’s made up. And, and when we see that all the time and all of our news feeds that it becomes very difficult to send out that that genuine article. Yeah. And so I noticed this pattern, really, of those people who were connecting with their audiences in a really genuine way. And the way that they were doing so was in this. So we’ve named it Captivate because that people talk a lot about conversion. But talk about how how many people are converting online, how many people are converting to your program, right talk a lot about conversion, but they don’t talk about is what happens before that before. And that is that people feel and sprawled, they’re interested, they know you, they know that they want what you you have, they’re ready to hit that button. And that is when they become a conversion. But before that, that piece, they need to be captivated by you, they need to decide, yes, you’re the one for them. And that can take a while. Or it can take a very short period of time, depending upon if it’s depending upon the consumer, depending on that client process. Ultimately, Captivate has four steps. The first is that you have your brand. Who are you? What do you stand for? Before you start any conversation with anybody you need to know what you want to talk about? That’s your brand. Who are you? What do you stand for? Also, what what do you sell? But taking that that services piece out for a moment? Because again, like that, people are captivated by you, people judge you, not because of what you sell, but because of who you are. They most people ready to buy already know they need the thing. They’re choosing you to provide that thing? Yeah. So brand brand, is that first piece of who are you? resonance? Is the second piece. Who are they? Who are the people you’re speaking to? Who are those clients? And most importantly, what language are they using to communicate with each other? Are they people who use that effort? Or are they people who don’t at all, not ever not even shorten? These are really important things to know. Are they people that will use that industry acronym? Or are they people who have no idea what the acronym means, but just needs that thing to fix the other thing? Right? Right. So and those two together brand and resonance, that’s what creates your brand voice. And I love that space, because you can take that anywhere. But the third and fourth piece to that is strategy. Where do you put all of those beautiful words so that people can read them and engage with them in a way that works for our human brains? Yep. And the fourth piece is clarity. Is it too long? Is it too short? Is your spelling right? Are your T’s crossed and your eyes are dotted? Do you have the right amount of colons in a row every single time?

Heather Pearce Campbell  39:06

Oh my gosh, that’s funny. So recently, I did an appeal an affiliate mailing for a friend. And I got the giggles, right, because I had all of the swipe copying. And I promise the only punctuation this person used is ellipses. So literally, you know, it was like eg Gmail would be the equivalent of like two pages have a run on sentence kind of you know, but like, the way that he language things it literally was like just this continuing and I could see it like I know him well. I’m a super fan of his and I could not hit send on that. I had to back out a bunch of the like, and so I’m laughing but you know, to his credit, he used them consistently and in the same way. 

Helen Tremethick  39:55

So, that clarity piece is really key like if everything is in bold enough thing is in bold, so you can’t use ellipses all over the place. 

Heather Pearce Campbell  40:07

It doesn’t mean that I was like, oh, no, I feel like I’m, you know, taking away his voice with removing all these ellipses, but I tend to write quickly. And I also am, maybe it’s just the attorney in me, right, I tend to edit for mistakes. And so that was a really hard thing for me to just hit send on. I was like, Oh, I think I’m gonna have to update this a little bit and just make it more. 

Helen Tremethick  40:29

Yeah, I mean, the other part of that is as, as a person who is a proponent of another service providers, programs, it’s a really good idea for you to put your own Heather spin on it, because then the people who are reading it will know that you’re the person behind it, that you really do back this this up. So a great plan, if there’s any entrepreneurs who are listening to this, who do write, swipe, copy, a great idea for that swipe copy, is to create fill in the blank spaces. Yeah, so that those entrepreneurs who are supporting you can put in their own feedback, put in their own words, put the F bomb or not, and according to their audience, so that their audience can really feel that it’s not just another copy and paste. So so as I don’t know what your friend would say about this in terms of affiliates, but your conversion rate will be much higher. If you’re sending it to your audience written as you voice Yeah. In your voice.

Heather Pearce Campbell  41:36

Yeah, no, agreed. Well, yes, I I’m sure that as an editor, right, you’ve got lots of experience editing, I’m sure that you developed a lot of preferences in that stage.

Helen Tremethick  41:50

I do. I have a lot of opinions.

Heather Pearce Campbell  41:57

It’s It’s funny, like, I think it becomes really clear, when we see things we don’t like, right? It’s like, oh, I don’t ever want to do that, or that. And I’m not even talking about this reason, ellipses thing, but it is funny to be in the process of editing or reviewing something, and then recognize your own strong preference preferences about it. 

Helen Tremethick  42:15

Absolutely, absolutely. And knowing those preferences, whether they’re for or against is so powerful, if you can write those down, if you can say, you know, I hate ellipses. And I’m not saying that you do, whether it’s just just for the sake of the argument, you’re like, I actually really don’t like that. I don’t like it, when people put three exclamation marks in a row, you only need one, or, you know, or, I prefer when people put two colons in a row, when they’re making a really important point, anything, any of those really sound, strong opinions, write those down, keep them in the same spot. And then you can create a bit of a style guide, or a bit of a roadmap for your own brand voice so that you create that consistency. And everyone knows that that’s you, you know, there are people who speak online and all caps, and they just always speak in all caps. And again, if everything is in bold, nothing is in bold. And so these people, this is part of their brand, the way that they show up in the world is in this this bold, all caps kind of way. And that becomes part of their own style guide.

Heather Pearce Campbell  43:29

Yeah. Yeah, so I love it, I think there’s a lot of value in just paying attention to preferences and helping us recognize like, oh, this could serve me in really developing clarity and my voice or the way that I would write or show up. So, a couple of questions for you before we wrap up, but one, I assume, you know, all the ways that people get this wrong given us like one or two of the main ones that for people listening could be like, Hmm, do I need to rethink this thing?

Helen Tremethick  44:03

Trying to be somebody else, that is the biggest one that is the biggest one this that we start with I am a such and such who does this thing for these people and that is a really good square to start at that is your start place and you need to have something to talk about your business. So I do not pass judgment on anybody who is using the IMS such and such who does this thing. Template Mm hmm. But there becomes a point when that is stale and not you and not fully representative and that is the time to grow. So what happens is people then look at other people, other people who are more successful, you know, I use air quotes. They’re the that are more successful in their marketplace, these these aspirational competitors, and they talk about themselves as if they were They mimic the voice. So. So I would say that’s kind of two points when you’re ready to grow out of the template grow out of the template, but do so in a way that is uniquely you, and not somebody else’s, because it will feel like somebody else. And also, I would say, thirdly, look at templates with a critical mind. Just because somebody has put out a free template does not mean that it is the template for you. So go through it, see, does this is this representative, really of your brand? Is this going to resonate really, with your audience? If so, by all means there’s time and space for templates. But remember to put yourself in there, and not just rely on somebody else’s templates in order to convey who you are?

Heather Pearce Campbell  45:55

Well, I love that. And I can see in the marketplace how even people move from template to template. And right, so they grow out what they outgrow one, and then they think, oh, there’s other things seems interesting, I’ll try that. And I think that it can keep them stuck in the same space. I mean, even if it’s, you know, some movements stuck with really not having developed, you know, what they want to say in the way that they want to say it.

Helen Tremethick  46:23

Mm hmm. And that’s why that strategy piece comes third. Because once you have all of those good words, you can put them into any old template and still sound like yourself, when you’re trying to shove your ideas into a template, when you’re trying to fill in the blanks instead of of allowing the template to be just another tool in your toolbox. That’s where, where things go awry.

Heather Pearce Campbell  46:49

Yeah, I love that. Well, and I know that the link that for people listening, the link that you wanted to share with our audience is loveandbadassery.com, which they can also find in the show notes, is that access to the archives of the experiment that you just did talk about what that is.

Helen Tremethick  47:07

It is, yeah, that’s, that’s exactly right, totally bang on. That link is access to the archives from the project, the project was so good, there was so much wisdom that was shared by really incredible entrepreneurs who have been around for a good amount of time, so they know what they’re talking about. And these ideas, this wisdom, I couldn’t just fold it and not keep sharing it. So anybody who goes to loveandbadassery.com, and you can put in your your name and your email address there. And then you get the secret link to the archives. And you can go through them at your own pace, to experience the videos, the audio tracks, the written pieces by all 31 of these entrepreneurs, that includes myself, but also some other real incredible names in the industries of entrepreneurship. That is Yeah. And then that will also keep people updated on anything else that’s going on launches of new programs, like building out your own brand voice and how to do that. And there’s a link to the Facebook group, Love & Badassery, which is a free group, you don’t have to join my list in order to be in the Love & Badassery Facebook group. But it is there and you get the link when you when you sign up for that loveandbadassery.com.

Heather Pearce Campbell  48:28

Oh, awesome. Well, I love it just sounds like such a rich resource. I mean, I want to go jump in and check it out. I mean, all as one, it just sounds amazing. Because I was on your list. And so I got some of the daily emails which I was able to read, but not all of them, right. So as I hear you speak, I’m like, Oh, it would be so phenomenal to go dig in and see all of the posts altogether. So definitely, if you’re listening, listening, check that out. And again, you can find contact information for Helen, her website, this free gift as well. And in the show notes, legalwebsitewarrior.com/podcast. Helen, what final thoughts? Do you have to leave with us today?

Helen Tremethick  49:11

All Thanks, Heather. It’s been really great being here. Final thoughts, I would say, you know, be yourself. And the way that you will get there is by practicing by practicing showing up by hitting publish before it’s perfect by launching the thing before you know for certain by by saying yes to the opportunities to showcase your brilliance to the world, because we need you. We need your voice. And we need to be able to hear it in order for that to happen. So yes, yeah,

Heather Pearce Campbell  49:45

I know that. That’s right, but show the EFF up. Oh, it’s so fun. Well, I just really enjoy you Helen, I am a fan of your work. Even though I have not yet experienced it firsthand. I can tell that you Love what you do and that you’re very good at it. Thank you. Where do you like to connect? So for people that are like, hi, I want more of Helen. I mean, obviously they can check out those links. Do you have a favorite place to connect online?

Helen Tremethick  50:10

Yeah, I am. If I am not on Instagram, I’m in the Facebook group. So the Facebook group is love letter, you can search it, no problem. But otherwise, you can find me on Instagram @helenthremethick and I show up there as I am with my cats and my kid and it’s it’s a very real and not that curated. So yeah.

Heather Pearce Campbell  50:39

I love it. I love it. We were just talking about you know, the reality of weather and being indoors for COVID and saying how you know, you’re sweating like crazy over there. And, and you were gracious enough to turn off the fan for this interview, which Oh my gosh. I’m in Seattle freezing still. So there’s that.

Helen Tremethick  50:59

Well, Ontario sends a heatwave in your general direction.

Heather Pearce Campbell  51:03

Perfect. I will happily receive it. So great to have you Helen. I look forward to connecting again soon. Thank you.

GGGB Outro  51:15

Thank you for joining us today on the Guts, Grit and Great Business podcast. We hope that we’ve added a little fuel to your tank, some coffee to your cup and pep in your step to keep you moving forward in your own great adventures. For key takeaways links to any resources mentioned in today’s show and more. See the show notes which can be found at legalwebsitewarrior.com/podcast. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and if you enjoy today’s conversation, please give us some stars and a review on Apple podcast, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast so others will find us to keep up the great work you are doing in the world and we’ll see you next week.