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STRATEGY AND STORYTELLING INTENSIVE

For meaningful brands on the brink of a breakthrough.

How would your business change if you had

an exquisitely clear set of brand messaging guidelines (let’s call that the laud) 

and

a gorgeous evocation of your brand’s heart (that’s your lore)

so that you and your team were never lost for words again?

Sounds Amazing, Let's do this!
Leaves@2x

words of praise

This is what we should have been talking about all along.

You really got us. It feels like a synthesis of all of these disparate pieces that we've been trying to reign in for the last few months. It all feels very in alignment. It’s amazing seeing this and realising that this is what we should have been talking about all along.

This has surpassed any possible expectations, from the content itself to the application of how to actually use this content and make it meaningful. I can see the pathway forward.

~ Sarah Derrenbacher, Evolveability

You make beautiful things.

You create beautiful experiences. 

You’re in the business of the good life.

And it’s so much more than just a business to you.

Your brand exists to make people feel amazing.

But maybe marketing isn’t feeling so amazing to you right now.

You’re that legendary creature: a victim of your own success. 

Things are moving—fast—and suddenly the sheer amount of marketing you need to do is overwhelming. 

Website, emails, social media, press releases, lookbooks: so many touch points. 

How are you going to bring it all together?

Let's Work Together

After years of DIY grind, your passion project has grown into something much bigger.

You’re ready to outsource ALL THE THINGS but you need to make sure it stays true to your voice, vision, and values, no matter who’s doing the writing.

You know that a consistent and compelling brand messaging strategy is the key to more customers and more sales, but where do you start?

You’re on the edge of an exciting launch, a hot new collection, or a total from-the-ground-up rebrand. 

And you want to be totally clear on what you need your brand to communicate to your dream customers, BEFORE you invest in copywriting, design, advertising and everything else.

Your marketing can feel every bit as good and be every bit as beautiful as every other part of your brand experience.

Your marketing can be full of emotion, empathy, and connection.

 

Your marketing can be smart and strategic and rooted in the real world.

 

Your marketing can be all of those things at the same time.

It has to be, if you want it to really work.

Let's Make it Work

words of praise

Liwu's 'why' was expressed in such an obvious but beautiful way.

For anyone finding it hard to express in words the reason their business exists, Amanda is the best person to engage to make your story sing. 

It is clear she is passionate about helping people express their passion too.

~ Áine Breen, Liwu Jewellery

What would it be like if:

  • You had perfect clarity on exactly why your best customers love you so much? If you could easily turn that into marketing messages which speak directly to all the best customers you haven’t met yet?
  • Every time you sat down to plan a new marketing campaign or write another newsletter, you had total clarity about what you were going to say, how you were going to say it, and why?
  • You could onboard new team members or new partners with a smart, step-by-step document filled with all the strategic insights they need to talk to your customers the way you would?
  • You could brief every creative who comes near your beloved brand with a vivid, technicolour description of your brand’s best self, and detailed instructions on how to share that self with the world?
  • You could create extraordinary, truly personal experiences with your messaging, so that every time you communicate to your customers, you’re deepening your relationship with them? Even (no, especially) when you’re selling them something?

Inside the Laud & Lore Messaging Strategy Package

In the two weeks we’ll spend together, you’ll get:

Laud

Brand Messaging Strategy & Voice Guide: you can use with your team and strategic partners to streamline all your content and copy creation.

  • Your brand promise & USP
  • Key brand messages to address specific customer pain points, obstacles and goals
  • Strategic recommendations for when and where to use each message
  • Brand voice guidelines
  • Brand thesaurus

Lore

Brand Storytelling Guide: your inspiring backstory: the motivators, differentiators, values and visceral details which bring your brand to life.

  • Brand Portrait
  • Ideal Customer Portrait
  • Brand Story
  • Specific sensory cues for your copy
  • Two 90 minute live strategy sessions
  • Two weeks of follow-up email and voxer support
I want this!
Amanda of Laud and Lore

Hello, I’m Amanda.

I help the overwhelmed founders of overgrown passion projects find the brand clarity they need to grow their businesses and scale without losing their souls.

In the dozen years since I started writing for brands, I’ve seen copywriting go through many phases and fads. These trends tend to fall into one category or the other.

OPTION A:  copy that values creativity and cleverness above all else (aka put on your best swishy Mad Men style)

OPTION B: copy that comes from a very strict, buttoned-up, data-driven approach to conversion strategy (aka optimise your SaaS sign-up rate or GTFO)

In my time, I’ve written plenty of each. 

They’ve each got something you need. But the real magic happens somewhere in between.

 

Strategy without rich, exciting storytelling is generic: flat, lifeless, cut-and-paste “tactics” and “best practices” based on averages that don’t reflect a single living soul. 


Storytelling without strategy is fluffy and forgettable. It serves up a lot of “so what” and “why should I care” from audiences who scroll on by, looking for something they can relate to.

You need both.
I do both.  

HERE’S THE PLAN:

From start to finish, we can craft your beautiful, compelling messaging strategy in just four weeks. Here’s how it happens:

  • Workbook & discovery: This thought-provoking set of worksheets only takes about an hour to complete, and will help me draw out the magic in your brand by getting your own unfiltered thoughts on what you offer, who you serve, and why it matters. While you're doing that,  I'll explore your existing online brand ecosystem and the competitive landscape. This is also the stage to share any previous branding work you've done, including customer research, personas, testimonials and anything else you'd like me to review. 
  • Independent voice of customer research: I’ll explore the voices, hearts and minds of your target audience to uncover and define what they care about the most and how they talk about it. This is where we'll find examples of the specific language that speaks to their hearts and the emotional moments that matter most to them.
  • First 60 to 90 minute strategy call: In this session, we’ll go through your workbook answers and dive deeper in your audience, your products and offers, and the all-important places where they intersect. 
  • On site visit (optional): If your business has a significant in-person element, we'll book a day or more for me to immerse myself in your brand experience from the customer's point of view. This is also an opportunity for me to meet and interview stakeholders and employees to get their perspectives on the brand: there may be insights hiding close to home that hold tremendous value. 

Together, we can create something beautiful.

Let's Start Now

Questions? The answers are right here:

Who is this for?

 

The brand strategy and storytelling intensive is ideal for established B2C and DTC brands that are ready to grow and deepen their relationships with their existing customers and reach new audiences.

Brands of all sizes and at all stages will benefit from a strong brand strategy, but the very best time to work with me is right before you embark on a rebranding process. When you're clear on your positioning, messaging, and brand experience, you'll be able to use that deeper understanding to guide the visual elements of your brand development going forward. You'll have the tools to properly brief designers, photographers, web developers and social media agencies so that they know exactly how to communicate your brand. This will save you so much time and also protect your future investments. The final result: brand assets that all work together to tell a beautiful, engaging story to your ideal customer.

 

How long will this take? 

Depending on your availability for our live strategy sessions and any on-site visits, you can have your brand strategy in your hands and ready to use in as little as 4 weeks.

 

Can we skip the strategy and you just write my copy? 

Thanks for asking, but no. To paraphrase our friend Mr. Shakespeare, copywriting without strategy is “full of sound and fury/signifying nothing”. 

Launching into a big project or campaign without a clear messaging strategy means missed opportunities for connection, audience engagement, and ultimately sales. 

However, once we get clear on your positioning, messaging, and brand voice, I'd be happy to talk with you about your copy. I do take on a limited number of done-for-you copy projects for existing clients and I love to flex those creative & conversion-optimising muscles for brands I know inside and out. 

book a call

words of praise

Over 200% increase in launch sales.

“Since working with Amanda, my average collection launch sales have increased over 200%. Her storytelling and strategic messaging has captured the hearts and imaginations of my audience and made my marketing feel like a conversation between dear friends. 

I even get people responding to my sales emails thanking me for them!”

~ Helen Stewart, Curious Handmade

Enough about me, let’s talk about you! Ready to start telling your story?

Clicking here is the first step