Transcript

Sigrun:
You’re listening to the Sigrun Show, episode number 401. In this episode I talk to Kira Hug about how you can figure out your brand personality.
Sigrun:
Welcome to the Sigrun Show. I’m your host Sigrun, creator of SOMBA, the MBA program for online entrepreneurs. With each episode, I’ll share with you inspiring case studies and interviews to help you achieve your dreams and turn your passion into profits. Thank you for spending time with me today. Building an online business takes time. I share with you proven strategies to help you get there faster. You’ll also learn how to master your mindset, up level your marketing, and succeed with masterminds. Today, I speak with Kira Hug. She’s a conversion copywriter who helps small business owners define their brand and attract their ideal clients, using her signature framework. She is the co-founder of the Copywriter Club and the co-host of the Copywriter Club Podcast. In this episode we talk about how you can figure out your brand personality. Before we dive in, let’s talk about this year’s Sigrun life.
Sigrun:
Every year in October I host a live event in Zurich, Switzerland, where my SOMBA students, momentum members and my mastermind clients meet in person to mastermind, get new ideas, catch up with like-minded people, get inspired by guest speakers and leave feeling ready to take action on their dreams. Now, due to the coronavirus, we’re obviously not doing a live event in Zurich, Switzerland this year, but instead I’m doing the event online and it will take place from October 23rd to 24th. That’s Friday and Saturday. But there’s more, for the first time ever anyone who is not in SOMBA, Momentum or one of my mastermind programs can join us too. To find out how you can join us and be a part of this amazing two day live event with like-minded people and guest speakers that inspire you to think big and take action, go to the show notes at sigrun.com/401 where you will find all the information about Sigrun Live plus all the links to Kira Hug.
Sigrun:
I am so excited to be with Kira Hug and talk about how you can understand your brand personality, and Kira, and I we’ve actually worked together the past. I think that was, was it two years ago?
Kira Hug:
It was two years ago, yeah.
Sigrun:
Yeah. I love the process we went through. You surveyed my clients and non-clients and you interviewed some of them and that all float nicely into the copywriting, both of emails and sales page. And it was such a nice process. So that even though we have not worked together again after that, I’m like, every time I want to do a new project or write a brand new sales pitch and I’m like, yes, let’s use the Kira process.
Kira Hug:
Good, great. Yeah, there’s so much power in constantly surveying your audience and getting on those customer interviews, which we all know as business owners, but we forget to do it in our own businesses. So I think for any new campaign launch, it’s worth revisiting and having those customer interviews, even if you did it a year ago, you just never know, especially with the environment today and the way that everything is shifting constantly, politically, so many new factors affect your audience.
Sigrun:
Yeah, we do this once a year. We survey our audience and figure out what’s going for them, what they’re struggling with. And I feel it evolves in a business. You know, you may know the problems of your clients, or you think that you know them, but what they were saying maybe three years ago is not relevant, especially when something happens like coronavirus or recession, it can completely shift and people can have different priorities. So that was a wonderful process. And we still benefit from today. So thank you again, Kira, that has been very helpful. So before we dive into the topic of this episode, understanding your brand personality. I want to ask you, Kira, have you been a copywriter your whole life, or did you do something before?
Kira Hug:
I have not been a copywriter my whole life. I grew up with the messaging that if you’re a writer, you won’t get paid and you won’t be able to make a living. So I didn’t really pursue that path, but ironically, I pursued the path of fine art, which is so much better for making a living. So I was always the artist. I was always the creative kid in my family. We all had that role and I was the creative one. So I always pursued an artistic path that really crossed over into writing in 2015. That was the first time I could actually own the fact that I was drawn to copywriting. I was drawn to advertising and I could actually pursue that as a profession.
Kira Hug:
It didn’t hit me until someone actually told me, Kira, you’re a copywriter. People are paying you to write copy. Why are you pursuing all these other business ideas? Because I was pursuing all these other businesses and random ideas. And finally it just, my friend had to hit me in the head practically and say, “This is your business, do it.” And then since then I just jumped in fully.
Sigrun:
So you didn’t see yourself, someone else saw that gift in you?
Kira Hug:
I think I saw it, but I didn’t fully believe in it until someone else really spelled it out for me. I think I was also like many entrepreneurs who are distracted by all the shiny objects at the time. So I was pursuing, I was working as a marketing director at a startup. So I had my job and then I was pursuing other creative ideas, like different blog ideas. And then I even started a business in the wedding industry for a while. So I was distracted because there was something creative in all those areas, but it didn’t quite feel right until it was copywriting. And then I was like, “Oh yeah, this is the path I can stick with. This feels right.” And it’s lucrative, there’s money in this. Whereas there wasn’t as much money in what I was doing in the wedding industry at the time.
Sigrun:
Yeah. So someone hits you on your head and tells you, “Kira you are a copywriter.” What did you do next? How did you then pursue that passion or rediscovered passion?
Kira Hug:
Yeah, once I was, thank you, my friend, Alyssa, who hit me in the head. Once I did that, I knew that my transition from being behind the scenes at the startup as the marketing director, where I was always behind the scenes and finally moving into the spotlight in my own business was needed to happen. And so I had a transition plan in place and going from full-time, part-time, to reducing hours and finally being like, “It’s been great, but I’m done.” So I had that in place. I joined a mastermind group. That’s why I’m a huge fan of mastermind groups because it was pivotal for me to be in a room full of copywriters during that scary transition. And I feel like being part of that collective helped me make the jump faster.
Kira Hug:
And then I also was taking any copy job I could take on the side, hustling with copy projects, all copy projects, learning, and also was investing in my branding at the same time. Once I knew this is what I want to do. I started to take extra projects just to pay for that investment. Because as we know, it’s not always cheap. And so I invested in my branding, worked with the best, Sarah Ashman and worked with her over a year and a half to build out my brand. So it all kind of came together really nicely at the same time during that first year.
Sigrun:
I must say it is still unusual to invest so much at the very beginning. And you are, I guess, an exception. How did you know that it would work out? Or what was your … You invested in, obviously it worked out and I’ve seen this beautiful, beautiful website that Sarah did with you. It’s actually an example that I’ve showed to many of my clients about really capturing someone’s unique personality into a website. But how did you know that you were ready?
Kira Hug:
Yeah, that’s such a great question. I had done almost like my own version one of my brand. I had DIY’d it and I do recommend that because again, branding is expensive. It’s a good investment, it’s worth it, but not until you’re ready. So before I invested in Sarah, I created my own brand. I had my husband take the photos. I created the concept, I built my website using WordPress. And so I came up with this kind of quirky brand that I pulled in costumes that I had from my wedding because my wedding had a pirate theme. And so I had all these pirate costumes. And so I just dressed up one day in my backyard, in the woods, and had this photo shoot and the photos were fun. They were ridiculous. They were memorable. They were silly. And I added those to my website at the time when I was just getting started just to see the impact.
Kira Hug:
And then I started pitching podcasts. Back then I challenged myself to pitch 30 podcasts in 30 days. And just from pitching myself and putting myself out there, I realized that that brand was resonating. It was landing me on different podcasts, even though I wasn’t really well-known at the time. And so I knew, something’s working with this. It’s not quite right. Like the pirate concept doesn’t really connect to what I’m doing as a copywriter, but there’s something here that I could build on. And then again, once I knew that this is the business I want to build for the next decade or more that there will be in our lives, like who’s the best person to work with. And so I had my eye out looking for branding and fell in love with some of the websites that I had seen Sarah work on like Nikki Elledge Brown at the time had this beautiful website, Lacy Bogs.
Kira Hug:
And so all of my favorite websites all traced back to Sarah. And so I knew I was in good hands because I’ve done my research. And again, I knew that my brand was working. It just wasn’t as professional. It wasn’t at the level that I wanted it to be, but I always recommend DIY in your brand and testing different concepts, if you can, before throwing down a ton of money. And also being really clear about what your offers are and what you want to do. So you’re not pivoting mid-brand.
Sigrun:
Yeah, yeah. Well, I had the experience. I’ve also worked with Sarah-
Kira Hug:
I know, yeah.
Sigrun:
I went too early. So even if I’ve been in business for several years, we started to work together too early. So this has suddenly become an episode about Sarah. We’ve got to let her know.
Kira Hug:
We love you, Sarah.
Sigrun:
Yeah, we love you. And I had to put a pause on the project because I suddenly found myself in a transition with new programs and clear vision. So I will definitely recommend don’t start it too early. But I also want to mention you do invested in a mastermind, which I also would say is for people that are further in business. So it felt like you were jumping through some hoops or maybe you skipped some steps in your business.
Kira Hug:
I was ready.
Sigrun:
You were ready?
Kira Hug:
I was, I think part of it too, while I was working at this startup and working in marketing, I had been watching the online marketing space. You know, I was, since 2009, when I heard of Danielle LaPorte for the first time, I was like, “Oh, what is this world that I’ve missed?” I was clued into the B-School world. You know, I probably was watching you at the time and just watching what was happening in there, building connections. And so I was kind of in that space before I really took the jump. And then once I was like, “Things are clicking, I know what I’m doing. I’ve saved money from this job. I’m going to move fast. I don’t want to wait.”
Kira Hug:
And I think there are these great steps we can take today in mastermind groups, and business accelerators with working with top professionals to just move a little bit faster once we know what we’re doing. But yeah, I agree. I mean, if you need to know what your offers are and kind of the direction you want to go before working with a branding consultant, and even now I’m thinking about a rebrand, but it’s like a three-year plan because there’s a lot I need to figure out before I work with someone again.
Sigrun:
Yeah. And then you grew your business quite fast. Within a couple of years you were working some of the top online marketeers in the United States. How did that all happen?
Kira Hug:
Yeah, I feel like this is definitely an episode about branding. Now I do feel like James Wedmore was such a great influence early on for me. And he just randomly stumbled upon my website and connected with the brand and the message. So again, it’s like if I hadn’t made that investment and focused on my messaging, would that have landed for someone like him who’s so clear about what he values? And so making a connection with him early on was so powerful because James was generous enough to work with me and then bring me into his mastermind groups where I was able to meet you and many others who were just at such a high level in your business and operating at such a different level.
Kira Hug:
So, connections like that, that came from landing on a website to me always show me the power of messaging and images and branding in our businesses, especially when people are like, “Oh yeah, that doesn’t really matter.” But it does. And it did for me, it did for me. So, and then once I was kind of in the room, the right rooms, making those connections was so much easier. So part of it was just getting into that right room and putting myself out there before I felt ready. I was putting my … Like I mentioned earlier, I was pitching myself to podcast before I was ready. I mean, I shouldn’t have been pitching, but I did it. I did it anyway.
Sigrun:
You did it anyway. And it worked out and you kind of grew with the challenges. So I think your example shows investing in yourself is important, but also feeling that feeling of being ready and then still challenging yourself and doing things that you don’t feel completely ready for, but still going ahead and do them.
Kira Hug:
Yes, definitely. And I do think the power of being in any type of smaller group, like a mastermind, especially with your colleagues, for me it was with a bunch of copywriters. That’s how you build your confidence fast. So that was a huge confidence builder when I was with other copywriters and I could see what they were doing and compare myself, which is good and bad, but I was like, this person can do it. I can do it. So a lot of my attitude then and now is just, if I see someone doing it, I’m like, “If they can do it, I can do it.” So it’s fun to kind of be around people who do challenge you in that way.
Sigrun:
So, we’ve already talked a lot about branding, so this fits our topic perfectly. Understanding your branding personality. So you’ve been a copywriter. How does that kind of shift over to our topic? Why is this your topic now?
Kira Hug:
Yeah, right. Yeah. Well, part of writing copy is that you need to start with something. You need to understand your messaging. You need to understand your voice and your tone and your audience, and then what’s happening to your audience. And so there’s so many key components that you need to understand and have a really firm grasp on before you can write your copy. And I feel like that’s where most of us get tripped up. And that’s why we end up staring at a blank page or like, I don’t know what to write. And so there are lots of copy formulas out there. I don’t really want to talk about those today. I want to talk about what happens before you sit down to write so that you can understand the core components, the most critical ones to write a really compelling message, whether it’s an email or a Facebook post or a sales page.
Sigrun:
So what is the formula?
Kira Hug:
Yes, okay. So this is what I call my brand living room framework. And there are a couple of steps we can walk through. This is definitely great for anyone who’s a visual, who loves visualizations. And again, this is something that you could do. You could kind of just take a moment to journal through this and scribble down some notes of what comes, is really clear to you as I talk through this. And the whole idea behind the living room is that everyone has a living room. And so every brand has a figurative living room and whether or not you’re actually intentionally decorating it and creating that space, it’s still there. And so it let’s be really intentional about what that is filling that living room. And especially when we’re thinking about your brand living room and what represents you and your brand.
Kira Hug:
So step one is to really step into this space, step into this brand living room. If you are more into decorating, you can think about your own living room, if you are not, that’s okay. Just start from scratch as you through this. So I want to start with you as your brand and the face of your brand. How are you showing up when you’re in your brand living room and kind of have your business face on? What is your movement through that space? What’s the energy? Is it high energy? Are you really loud? Are you more mellow? Specifically, what are you wearing? So I love this for you because Sigrun, because you’re so well-known for your signature color and those fine details that you’ve nailed this. Your living room, we’re all clear about what would be in your living room. But if you’re not as clear about that, you don’t have a signature color, you can think about some of the textures, the styles, what would you actually wear?
Kira Hug:
Would it be a costume like I wear costumes, or would it be a Chanel three piece suit? Or just like sweat pants, because you’re more into keeping it real and casual. So details like that could be really helpful to capture, to understand images in your brand and even some details of copy that could come out into your copy eventually too. And maybe you even have some of your favorite animal next to you, like for you a Puffin. A Puffin could be in your living room perched next to you, hanging out. And again, those details, they’re important, because a Puffin could pop into your email copy or sales copy later too. And I also want to know when we’re focused on you in this living room space, what are you giving a toast to? If you were to give a toast, what are you saying in that toast?
Kira Hug:
What do you care about most? What are some hot topics that you care about today? Some of those details match your values. And so that will show up in your messaging. What do you actually care the most about that you want to share? And then again, just what do you sound like? Are you whispering? Are you singing? Are you loud and angry? Are you happy or just kind of joyful? And those emotions and moods can change. So this is a good exercise to do every time you sit down to write, because you may feel really angry right now, but maybe a month from now your whole demeanor has changed. But those details of, I’m whispering, it’s more intimate will affect your tone and how you write. So that’s something that’s really helpful for you to capture. And then if you work with a copywriter, for the copywriter to capture too, because the tone will really impact the way your message is sent across.
Sigrun:
So this living room idea, would you do this regularly? Every time you are writing very important copy, or is this something you can do like and be done with?
Kira Hug:
You can do it and be done with it if you just want to have, here’s our brand personality for 2020, and this is what it looks like for 2020, in general. I would probably keep it to a year, but like advanced level is, for every campaign, you revisit this. And maybe even if your brand overall is joyful, maybe in June you were really upset because of COVID and world events, and you were really angry. Especially because things shifts so fast now I would recommend that you do it for every huge campaign that you’re working on, or at least revisit it. It will change.
Sigrun:
And this is like journaling. So it’s can be scribbles of words. It doesn’t have to be a full sentence or a story, or how do you people, should they envision this looking like once it’s been written down?
Kira Hug:
Yeah. So if you are a visual person, you could just capture it through. I mean, you could go on Pinterest and capture it, or you could do a collage or just capture some images on a visual platform. But if not, just scribble it in a journal, take notes and capture specifics that again you could use, or you could hand over to a copywriter that you’re working with and work through that exercise with them to. There are more steps if you wanted to go deeper [crosstalk 00:21:39]-
Sigrun:
Yeah absolutely. We want more steps.
Kira Hug:
Okay, cool. So the next step now. Now that we focused on you and we have a better idea of your brand, let’s focus on your guests in the room and who is actually in this living room with you? Your guests are your audience. And so what we want to figure out here is, what is their level of awareness?
Kira Hug:
And that basically means like, how well do they know you? How well do they know your offers and how well do they know the pain that they’re feeling? And so this is trying to determine your proximity to all of the guests in the room. So if you know your levels of awareness, we always start with most aware, and these are your huge ambassadors. They love you. They know you, they buy all your products, right? We’d love to have those customers, too bad they’re not all that way, but they’re not. So anyone most aware, those are the guests who are maybe right next to you, or maybe they’re in the living room talking to other guests about how amazing you are.
Kira Hug:
The next category, where more people fit into it. And more of your audience fits into it, is product aware. These audience members and prospects know your product, but they haven’t bought it yet. These are the people that you’re probably trying to convert right now who know about you, know about your offers, but just haven’t purchased. So they may be familiar with what your competitors are offering too, and they’re just not sure if you’re the best solution for them. So it’s good to picture those guests in the room who are asking questions. They aren’t ready to invest or buy with you, but what questions are they asking you? And does most of your audience fit into that category of product aware? It’s really important to know where your audience fits into this.
Kira Hug:
The next bucket here is solution aware. So a lot of times our audiences fit into solution aware, where they know that there are solutions out there, but they may not know about your solution. So they understand that they have a problem, there’s solutions, they just need to know more about this, your solution. So this could be where they’re hanging out in the living room with you. And they heard that somebody could help them, but they don’t know you yet. And so-
Sigrun:
So they know for instance that they need to launch?
Kira Hug:
Yes.
Sigrun:
Yeah. But they don’t know that for instance, I teach it.
Kira Hug:
Yes, exactly. So yeah, they know that they need a solution, but they don’t know that you can offer that solution and it’s your party and you can best help them. The next bucket here is problem aware. And this is where, a lot of times when we’re writing copy, we start with problem aware because most audiences know they have a problem. And so at problem aware they’re aware they have a problem. Someone told them, “Hey, show up at this party in so-and-so’s living room and they will solve your problem.” So this audience member, this guest that’s showing up to your living room and they’re like, “I’ve got problems who can solve my problems?” And so it’s important to know if your audience fits into that category, because the way that you talk to them, if they don’t know who you are, they don’t know what you offer. They know they have a problem. The way that you will talk to them will be very different.
Kira Hug:
And then the final bucket here in the levels of awareness is unaware. So they have no idea they have a problem. They don’t know who you are. I kind of like to picture this as when we’re thinking about the living room, they are not even in your living room yet they’re outside of your living room and they’re just walking by dealing with all the problems in their head.
Kira Hug:
And so to flag them down and get them into your living room, you would need to go outside and like wave to them and shout out about their problem to get their attention. Otherwise, they’re just going to pass you by until someone else shouts at them. So, as we’re thinking about those five different categories of levels of awareness, before you write any copy, it’s important to know where the majority of your audience fits into that spectrum, because that will affect the way that you talk to them. Just the same way if you had a guest show up who doesn’t know who you are, even though they’re in your living room. The way you introduce yourself and talk to them will be very different then how you talk to one of your best friends.
Sigrun:
Absolutely. We’re just doing a copy for one of my programs. And this was the key discussion. What are they aware of, and how can we write the copy? Because as you say, if I assume that some people are aware and others not, the copy starts to sound like mixed messages. So I got to pick my battles. I got to pick one.
Kira Hug:
Right. And it’s hard, especially if it is split. So if it is split and you have, maybe it’s like … What is it split between for you?
Sigrun:
Yeah. So for instance, we have a program on launching. There are people that know they need to launch, so that’s easy to address it, you know? This is the program you need. And then there are people that maybe are coming from offline, going online, they haven’t heard of the word launch yet, but they would still be our correct audience because they have an audience and they would be at the right level for the program. But we’re like, “Which one do we pick?”
Kira Hug:
Oh, this one.
Sigrun:
Yeah. So we’re probably going with those who know they need to launch and we’ll do extra content marketing for those who are not aware that they need to launch.
Kira Hug:
Yeah. So you definitely have problem aware people who are feeling the pain of business transition and losing customers, I need to go online, but they may not know that they need to launch. Yeah, that makes sense. And you could do, pre-launch you could tackle all that content for the pain aware audience so that they know by the time you opened the car and that you’re launching that, “Oh, I need to launch, that’s going to solve all the pain that I’m feeling right now.”
Sigrun:
Exactly. So that’s kind of our strategy to do it through content marketing. And then, but actually on the sales page or the landing page, you have to be aware that you need to launch.
Kira Hug:
Right, right.
Sigrun:
Yeah. So they’re not messing, messing with their heads.
Kira Hug:
But even having that discussion with your team, I mean, that’s something that’s so important for any of us before we’re working on a huge campaign especially, or even just one single email to at least think through those buckets. So it’s, we know where we’re starting and where we need to end up. Okay, we could go deeper into this. Do you want to go deeper?
Sigrun:
Yeah.
Kira Hug:
So the next level is about nailing your setting. And this is really to provide context and relevancy. So yes, messaging is important. Understanding all those details of your brand personality and style and colors is important. But what’s really important, especially today, is to understand what is happening outside of your living room that is now affecting what’s happening inside your living room. So this could be anything from understanding what decade you’re in, what year you’re in. Because you can write copy from, we can time travel with copywriting, which is pretty cool.
Kira Hug:
So you could write your email from the 70s, if you wanted to, or you could stick with today and write it from today. But you could be very intentional about where you are in the time spectrum with the copy that you write. And if it is from today, what are the current events? What are your guests thinking about as they walk into your living room that they can’t just shut off? What is it, those thoughts? What are those stresses? What is that excitement? And this is where surveying is so helpful and why we should survey often.
Kira Hug:
Because what they’re thinking about today is very different then what they were thinking about six months ago. So having that deep understanding before you write your copy and understanding how bad and intense is that too. And then others, like more minor details in this setting could be just, thinking through what’s on TV, what’s happening in their iPhone when a guest is showing up, what’s the news that they’re getting in their iPhone right now. What’s everyone talking about. So details like that, because as we know, you just need to really speak human to your audience, so that they get that you get what they’re dealing with right now. It’s not just the pain, it’s just the context and the environment.
Sigrun:
Absolutely. I think it’s been super important than probably more people are aware of this year, because those who could quickly pivot their messaging didn’t necessarily have to change their programs or products, but they had to pivot their messaging and speak to people like, “I understand you’re in panic and I know we’re heading into a recession,” and talk about why your program is still relevant today.
Kira Hug:
Yes, exactly. Exactly. I just worked on a sales page and we definitely touched on it. It wasn’t heavy, but it was, there was no way we could ignore what’s happening. So there are a couple of lines of copy where we reference. You can do this even yes. Even this year, even during a recession. And then the great thing is you can always just cut that out if you’re launching a year from now and it’s not relevant, just cut it out.
Sigrun:
Yeah. And I think you have to understand that did just something happened and I have to talk more about it, or is it six months ago where people are more used to the situation and then they’re a bit tired of you constantly repeating the same message.
Kira Hug:
Stop talking about it. That is so true. So I think if you’re looking at almost like the spectrum of stress, one through 10 on that scale, how stressed out and how relevant is it today for your audience? Is it at a 10? Because if it’s like a nine or 10, you probably still really need to address it. But if it’s maybe a seven or six, because people are slightly numb to it, which isn’t really a great thing. But if we’re numb to it, then you may not want to mention it or go into as much detail. So that’s really important today. And then the next step is your advantage. And this is kind of more like next level if you want to think about you teaching in your living room. So all of a sudden everyone has finished their drink, and hors d’oeuvres and they’re sitting down on your sofa, what are you teaching at the front of that room?
Kira Hug:
When are people leaning in and listening to you? When do you lose their attention? And so what are you doing that’s different? That’s your unique mechanism and what you do differently is what will set you apart and give you your advantage in the space. So understanding what that would look like, especially if you’re not necessarily someone who’s teaching or speaking right now. Often you want to work through that exercise, or even start pitching podcasts. To have those conversations with podcast hosts, to see where they’re interested and to see where they’re not interested. I’ve done that just to test my content, to see like what a podcast host is like. Yeah, let’s skip over that, but let’s talk about this. So there are ways for you to test that or just to make a couple guesses too early on, if you haven’t been able to test it yet, but that’s really your advantage.
Kira Hug:
And I would say the last step here that I recently added. Again, this is kind of like taking this to the next level, is about standing out in your marketplace. And so this is really about levels of market sophistication. And that means, how well is your audience paying attention to you? How crowded is your market space? How many of your competitors are saying the same things that you’re saying? And it’s really important to know that and to do an assessment in your own marketing, because if you’re saying, making the same claims that everyone else is making, you will be ignored. So understanding what you know, it’s great to ignore our competitors at times, but there’s also a point where you need to pay attention to what’s happening. So this is, to get back to the living room. I would invite all my competitors into my living room, a figurative living room, and I would audit what they’re saying. I would look at all their websites to see what their current messaging is, what their offers are, what their unique mechanism is, how they’re delivering what they’re delivering.
Kira Hug:
And it’s not to copy. It’s not to replicate it. It’s just to know what you’re doing and if it’s the same, or if you need to pivot your messaging or focus on your unique mechanism and how you do what you do. Or if none of that’s working, you focus on identification and sharing more of your personality and your values and your messaging so that your audience feels a connection to you and sees what they want in their life, in what you’re putting out there. Even if it’s not the whole picture, they see it like a facet of it in what you’re putting out there.
Sigrun:
I love this last piece that you mentioned. Because I don’t remember exactly when we did this, but one of my team members, even without asking her, she went ahead and analyzed all the people that we perceive as competitors. Again, I don’t believe in competition, but I guess I wear red all the time. Nobody else is wearing red, you know whatever.
Kira Hug:
You own red.
Sigrun:
I own it-
Kira Hug:
No one else can wear red at this time.
Sigrun:
No, you can’t. You can’t. I own it. No, but anyone, even people who are not selling the same programs as me, but are like kind of in my sphere of influence and people are looking to, it’s more about where people spend their money. People have a choice, and someone could invest in a mindset course versus a business program. So I look at that as a potential competitor for the cash versus teaching exactly the same thing.
Sigrun:
And so we have this actual sheet and she figured out the messaging of each person. And we were kind of going through a brand exercise and we still are. It’s ongoing. I keep on pausing and starting and pausing and starting it. And it was to make sure that when we say something, also that it’s unique. You know, so even if I feel unique, where I come from, I come from Iceland, I wear red. It’s like I speak German fluently in English and Icelandic, a little bit Danish. Like, there’s not this combination out there, I know that. But still like you said, the danger is that you might be using the same message and then it just gets bland and people don’t pay notice.
Kira Hug:
Right. You could be making the same promises or the same claims that someone else’s, even though you have your own unique brand personality. So that might not penetrate through as well if you aren’t aware of that. And I agree, I’m all about collaboration with other copywriters too. And I don’t like to pay attention to what they’re doing because it just doesn’t help me. But during any type of audit before a campaign, I have to do it, or at least work with a team member to do it, otherwise just going into it blind. So it’s important to do it strategically and not feel overwhelmed by it too.
Sigrun:
So do you do this exercise with your clients or are you assuming that they do it upfront before they work with you?
Kira Hug:
Yeah. So I’ll work through this exercise with clients and it’s something that I’m doing more and more of moving forward, because it’s so helpful. At first I was just kind of doing it and didn’t have a set process for it. And then I just figured out the actual step-by-step process so I can teach it, share it and do it more intentionally rather than just kind of stumbling upon it. But this is how I come up with details. You know, copywriting is all about specific details. And so doing this allows me to pick up little details about a client and their brand that I can integrate into a subject line. Or I can use as like a sign off, instead of saying, thanks or best, signed Kira, I can come up with really clever one liners to wrap up an email, and for sales emails too. So those details as a copywriter are critical to have.
Sigrun:
I would say they’re gold. They’re like golden nuggets that make you stand out and makes people notice you.
Kira Hug:
Yes. And the great thing is you could work through this on your own if you are not working with a copywriter, just to get some of those details for you and the strategy behind it as you’re writing your own copy.
Sigrun:
Yeah. Fabulous. Thank you for sharing it with our audience, Kira. So what is the best way to find out more about you for those who are interested to figure out more?
Kira Hug:
So you can find me at kirahug.com. That’s where my copywriting site is. And then you can also listen to my podcast at thecopywriterclub.com, which is where all the copywriters hang out.
Sigrun:
Yeah. Thank you so much for joining us all Kira. I hope we see us next in Iceland at the Selfmade Summit.
Kira Hug:
Thank you for having me. And if the event’s happening, I will be there, it’s on my list.
Sigrun:
Our two day live event called Sigrun Life is virtual this year and you are invited to join us. Go to the show notes at sigrun.com/401, where you will find all the information about this year’s Sigrun Life events, plus all the links to Kira Hug. Thank you for listening to the Sigrun Show. Did you enjoy this episode? Let me know that you listened by tagging me in your Instastore, Instagram post using my handle Sigruncom and the hashtag Sigrunshow. See you in the next episode.