How to Be Interesting and Still Be Professional

Julie Cortés [00:00:00]:
You know, I feel like authenticity is key. So many people can see through you if you’re just playing it safe, and there’s so much to be found when you become a risk taker because that’s how you’re gonna stand out. You know? You’ve gotta be bold. You’ve gotta be 

Jeffro [00:00:26]:
Welcome back to Digital Dominance. You know, the Internet is a big place. There are lots of prospects out there, but lots of competitors too. So how do you stand out? How do you avoid being just another drop in the sea of sameness? This is something that many business owners struggle with. In our effort to be seen as professional, we end up hiding the characteristics that make us unique and interesting, the things that would actually cause us to be noticed. So I’ve asked Julie Cortez, the freelance rock star, to come on the show and give us some pointers on how to stand out as a business. Julie started her business before self employment was cool and popular. She works with ad agencies, design studios, corporations, and small businesses To elevate their brands through promotional copywriting.

Jeffro [00:01:09]:
And she’s created a framework based on over 25 years as a copywriter and 20 as the founder of the freelance exchange Along with several years as a business coach, speaker, and adjunct professor. So without further ado, welcome to the show, Julie.

Julie Cortés [00:01:22]:
Thank you so much. What a great intro.

Jeffro [00:01:26]:
Well, you’ve done a lot and it shows. So one of the big things I want to unpack today, is how to make a business stand out. And I think you’re a great person to answer this. You know? I see businesses all the time that use the same generic, forgettable taglines, and I really do think there’s this perception that being professional means Being boring and predictable to a certain extent. So how do we get away from that?

Julie Cortés [00:01:49]:
You know, I feel like authenticity is key. So many people can see through you if you’re just playing it safe. And there’s so much to be found when you become a risk taker because that’s how you’re gonna stand out. You know? You’ve gotta be bold. You’ve gotta be brave. And, when you are true to yourself, I feel like that really shines through when it comes through in your brand, whether it’s your tagline or your logo or your colors or your theme or whatever you wanna call it, it just you have to be authentic. You have to be your yourself, and that’s that’s gonna be your best way to stand out.

Jeffro [00:02:24]:
What would you say to the people who don’t know how to do that? Right? They’re like, I I what does it mean to be myself? You know? Just tell me what to do for the business. I they’re so used to doing what they’re supposed to do that maybe they don’t even know how to be themselves. Right.

Julie Cortés [00:02:38]:
That’s a great question. And I feel I feel like a lot of people do play it safe, and a lot of people are kind of stuck in their own mindset. Whether it’s from a personal or professional level, it’s, oh gosh, what will people think of me? Right? And I feel like we have to get over that hurdle and get to the point where who cares? Right, you’ve gotta do this not only for yourself to make yourself happy, but also your clients, your prospective clients. You’ve gotta be able to attract them and keep them and let them understand why doing business with you is different and better than anybody else.

Jeffro [00:03:12]:
Yeah. There’s a significant percentage of small businesses that employ only the founder. Right? So I imagine there’s at least Some part of the founder’s identity that gets wrapped up in the business, which is part of the reason it’s hard to be objective about the branding for your own company. And like you said, if either playing it safe. You know? If you’re worried about getting made fun of, you’re not going to be bold with your choices. So how do you help your your clients be bold in spite of these Reservations.

Julie Cortés [00:03:37]:
Right. Well, from a from a coaching standpoint, how I help my my freelance coaching clients is, you know, I just I I try to impart an air of confidence on them, you know. And we go through different confidence, examples or exercises, you know, on things that they could do on a daily basis to start boosting that confidence. And I feel like once you get to that point where you are confident enough to just be like, I don’t care. This is who I am. Right? And and I know this is going to resonate with my audience. That part is very much key as well. You know, then that’s when you’re gonna start attracting the right people.

Julie Cortés [00:04:12]:
And at the end of the day, you’ve got to realize that you are not for everybody and not everybody is right for you, and that’s totally okay. Totally okay. Just like if you were to go to, let’s say, an art fair. Right, and you’re walking around to the different tents or booths or whatever they got going on there, you’re not gonna stop into every single booth. You’re only gonna go into the booths or to the tents, that have the art pieces that resonate with you, that that attract you, and it’s the same concept when it comes to your brand. Right? Again, you are not for everybody and everybody’s not right for you, and and I feel like if if you are able to come out of your shell, if you are able to be authentic and present your pro your authentic voice and your authentic image, you know, through your branding, then I think you’re going to attract the right people for you.

Jeffro [00:04:59]:
Yeah. And I think you really have to believe in the value that you’re bringing. Otherwise, you know, whatever imposter syndrome you have, that Can spread from the founder into the business. And, you know, running a business can be a great mirror if you let it, and it it Makes you notice these things when you’re working on it. Right? And so it’s great that you coach your clients on that because when you feel stuck, it’s often because you have more personal development work to do. And while we could spend a lot of time on that, I do wanna move into some tactical strategies for making a business stand out. So what advice do you have for an owner who knows they need to improve their brand, but they don’t know where to start?

Julie Cortés [00:05:37]:
Right. Well, I feel like it’s super important to, of course, know your strengths and weaknesses. If you are not a professional designer, developer, writer, what have you, please, for the love of all things purple, go find somebody who is their specialty, because you can really make or break your brand, your reputation by having, you know, an image that is horrible or writing that is horrible. That that is a huge difference. So, again, know your strengths and weaknesses, surround yourself with smart and talented people, outsource, you know, the things that you’re not necessarily good at or trade out, you know, if you’re in that kind of position, you know, to get those things done so you can create a professional image and a professional brand. And then at the same point in time, there’s something to be said, too, for having that outside perspective. Right? Sometimes we get we get ahead of ourselves or we or we get in our own way. I guess it’s more of where I’m going with this is we get in our own way.

Julie Cortés [00:06:33]:
And and again, imposter syndrome or, gosh, what will people think in the whole shebang. Get that outside perspective. Hey, Julie. We know you’re a freelance rock star. You need to know it. Oh, hey. That’s pretty cool. I like that name, you know, kind of thing.

Julie Cortés [00:06:47]:
And it’s just you can build off of those things and and how other people perceive you and you can develop that own persona and integrate that into your brand.

Jeffro [00:06:56]:
Right. Perception is a huge part of marketing and branding. Right? It doesn’t matter what you think And what you know if that doesn’t come through to the other side because what you might think, you know, I spent hours and hours on this website. I’m I’m really proud of the work I put into it. But then the person looks at it like, this is, I don’t know if this person’s gonna run away with my money. You know? Just because it’s, Like you said, if you’re not a designer, you need someone else to look at it. You’re not gonna notice how good or bad it is just because that’s not your wheelhouse, and that’s okay. But You just have to be honest with yourself and, you know, have somebody else look at it sometimes.

Jeffro [00:07:33]:
Do you have Any, particular formulas or frameworks that you use when it comes to writing taglines or homepage copy, vision statements, any of that stuff?

Julie Cortés [00:07:42]:
Well, sure. You know, we can go through a whole branding exercise, and sit down and really get into the nitty gritty of somebody’s business. And these are some of those introspective exercises that that a lot of businesses either don’t do because they don’t think they have to or they don’t they’re not even familiar, you know, with with these exercises. But they’re really important, you know, and you can sit down and you can sure. You can have your tagline and you can have your mission statement, your vision statement, all of those things. But you really have to think even more so about your brand pillars and about your values. You know, even going so far to do exercises not only introspective of yourself, but even looking at your target audience, right, your target customer, and doing those exercises as well. There’s it’s a real deep dive if you wanna get into the branding specifics of of the copy side of things.

Julie Cortés [00:08:33]:
But, yes, there there’s a whole bunch of things that you could do there.

Jeffro [00:08:36]:
Because I I mean, I often hear about StoryBrand and these various frameworks, right that people use that kind of helps extract these values out of them and present a better message even if they are still stuck, you know, with impostor syndrome or anything else. So I’m sure you have ways of drawing that out too.

Julie Cortés [00:08:53]:
Yeah. Absolutely. You know? And, oftentimes, it’s helpful to do this in tandem with, you know, my graphic design counterpart, you know, who I may be working with on a particular project. You know, sometimes, you know, we can just come up with some of the best ideas, bouncing ideas, together going back and forth and and really getting into the nitty gritty because there may be some things that from a visual perspective that I’m not thinking of because I’m not a graphic designer, but, gosh, that can sure trigger, like, some adjectives, you know, that I could certainly use. So, yeah, there there’s plenty of things that you can do to to develop a brand voice. Like I said, go through the brand pillars, do a positioning statement, do a manifesto, figure out your brand personality. Like, yep, there’s a lot.

Jeffro [00:09:38]:
Well and I like that you’re working with the graphic designer because otherwise, if you do it in In sequence. Right? Try to do one thing at a time. It’s kinda siloed off, and you don’t get a as good or as cohesive as of a final result. So, like, when we’re doing websites at Fro Bro, we actually start with the messaging first. So we go through a survey of asking about their target customer and their What makes their business different and unique, and so we we really get in the head of that target customer and write all the copy first before we Even start building a design around that because otherwise, you end up shoehorning things in and you don’t leave enough space to properly convey the messaging or you do distracting graphics because it looks Cool. But it doesn’t really support what your message is. Right. So I like that.

Julie Cortés [00:10:22]:
Well and I think too. You know, there are some, creatives out there who can get a little more creative, in this realm. You know, those who are like, oh, if you were an animal, you know, who would you be or what would you be? Or if you were at sandwich, would you be? And, you know, I think there’s a time and a place for those things. Like, if your client is really struggling, to to hone in on who they are and what they stand for. But, otherwise, there you know, there’s other ways we could go about that, you know, just doing these simple exercises.

Jeffro [00:10:50]:
Right. Can you share an example of a client that you helped go from something boring to something awesome and interesting?

Julie Cortés [00:10:56]:
Well, sure. That I mean, that happens all the time. That’s my job. Right? Just pick

Jeffro [00:11:00]:
1, though. I just wanna hear 1.

Julie Cortés [00:11:02]:
Just 1. So, sure. So I work with a local design shop regularly doing some branding exercises with them and their clients. And, you know, we have people come in from all sorts of different industries. So it gets really entertaining. And, you know, I think the the one that’s top of mind for me was something in the medical space. Right? And when you think medical marketing, you’re probably thinking it’s not very exciting. Right? But we we did.

Julie Cortés [00:11:33]:
We we added some personality to it. And, of you can’t go too far because of the industry, but we were able to add quite a bit of, of personality there. And, man, they were so happy, you know? And, and even the the visual brand that came out of it as well, the visual identity. When you’re driving down the highway and you see their sign on their on the building, it’s it pops. And and it’s just something we’re all very, very proud of. And and, again, I feel like, you know, oftentimes, when people think of a brand, they only focus on the logo. But as you and I have discussed today, you know, there’s so much more that goes into it and you’ve gotta be cognizant of all of the different parts that play into that, you know, and not just the tagline, but but the internal, the research, the stuff that you have to do, you know, in order to get to the place where you have a killer logo and a killer tagline and going forward.

Jeffro [00:12:28]:
Right. And and you’re a good example too of a personal brand. Like, there’s a lot of little things that Contribute to that and so that a person understands who you are and what you stand for immediately. Right? And you and you even used the phrase for the love of all things purple. Right? That’s That’s part of your brand. Like, that stands out. You use purple as a color accent, but you’ve got your own style in the way of doing things. Obviously, you can still be professional like we talked about.

Jeffro [00:12:52]:
It doesn’t detract from that at all. In fact, it enhances that. Right? Because you people are more interested. People hire people they like, and it makes you more likable When you are authentic like you talked about.

Julie Cortés [00:13:03]:
Yeah. I, I have this conversation. I teach at the local art institute, freelancing business class, and and I have this conversation with them because art students are very eccentric, you know, which, of course, I walk in looking like I do. I know we’re on a podcast. So, you know, I’ve got fun colored hair and piercings and ink and whatnot. And and I, of course, I’m like, oh, these are my people, right, walking in there. But, you know, you see all kinds, and it’s fine when they’re in school, but once they get out into the professional world, it’s a completely different story. And and so I try and use this this phrase of, you know, yes, you can still be eccentric, and, yes, you can still be authentic, you know, and true to yourself, but there’s a difference between classy and trashy.

Julie Cortés [00:13:44]:
Right? And you wanna class things up so you can be respected as a professional while still remaining true to yourself. So excellent point with the purple.

Jeffro [00:13:55]:
I loved it. So if a person comes to you and says, you know, Julie, I need help with my tagline, and the tagline is We stand for quality. Where do you start with that person?

Julie Cortés [00:14:04]:
Oh my god. Wait. Before or after I roll my eyes.

Jeffro [00:14:09]:
It happens all the time.

Julie Cortés [00:14:11]:
It does happen all the time. You know, I really like to dive into this whole USP exercise. And and for listeners who may not know what that is, it’s essentially figuring out your unique selling proposition or your unique selling point. Essentially, it’s fancy marketing speak for what makes you different. Right? What makes you different? What makes you better? Why should clients buy from you as opposed to somebody else? And I love getting into that exercise because so often, people will come with a generic tagline or with a generic positioning statement. And, okay, well, well, you know, what makes you special? Oh, we have the best customer service around. I’m like, okay. Well, Joe Blow down the street can say the exact same thing.

Julie Cortés [00:14:52]:
Tell me something tell me something, you know, that, nobody else can claim and that makes you different. And so we we do this deeper dive. Okay. Do they have, you know, customer service answering the phones 247. Do they have this? Do they have that? And we really figure out what truly makes them unique and different, and then that’s where we start building upon the brand because that’s gonna be your differentiator as long as something positive, of course. You know, that’s gonna be your differentiator, your USP.

Jeffro [00:15:22]:
Right. Because something like quality, that should be a given. Right? If that’s all you’re saying, this is what we do. Like like you mentioned, everybody Does that. So

Julie Cortés [00:15:31]:
Exactly. No. Dare to be different.

Jeffro [00:15:33]:
Dive a little deeper. Mhmm. Now I have another question. So you’ve used the term promotional copywriting to describe how you help clients. Is there a difference in your mind between promotional copywriting and, say, direct response copywriting?

Julie Cortés [00:15:47]:
Well, I think it it depends on your medium. So yes and no. It’s funny. Normally, I get the question is is this copywriting or is this, like, content writing? You know? Because there is a difference there too. To me, and this is my own personal opinion, like, promotional copywriting is working in the advertising and marketing space, giving it a little bit of flavor, giving it personality, you know. But, of course, at the end of the day, with both kinds of writing, you’re still looking to make the sale. Right? My personal my personal viewpoint of getting into advertising in general and getting into being an advertising promotional copywriter really was you know, I I grew up looking around. Of course, I loved the Super Bowl commercials.

Julie Cortés [00:16:32]:
Shows. Like, I was the kid who would record the Super Bowl not for football, but to watch the commercials to fast forward to watch the commercials. And, and then I started looking around. I’m like, gosh, we as consumers are being inundated with sales messages left and right. Right? For people’s widgets and their companies and whatever, you know. And I’m like, if this is going to be a thing, you know, this is the societal norm. Don’t we at least owe it to people to make those messages entertaining? Right, so pulling back from my Super Bowl, you know, commercial days, that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to make sure things were entertaining because we can’t avoid the whole promotional aspect.

Julie Cortés [00:17:12]:
It’s gonna happen. You know, we’re surrounded by advertising and sales messages day in and day out, so let’s make it entertaining. And, that was my whole reason for getting into the business. And, and that’s why I personally specifically focus on more of the promotional side of things, particularly when it comes to, you know, super conceptual work, and then, of course, getting into the entertaining kind of, aspect of it and being more conversational as opposed to salesy with people.

Jeffro [00:17:40]:
Right. Well, it’s more fun for everyone too. Right? It’s more fun for you as a business to put out entertaining content and for the consumer to sit there and enjoy it as they Watch it. And it works better. Right? They’re gonna actually watch the whole ad. You know, on YouTube, you get an ad, you can skip it after 5 seconds. But if if your ad’s entertaining, they’re gonna watch the whole thing.

Julie Cortés [00:17:57]:
Great.

Jeffro [00:17:58]:
Ryan Reynolds is a great example of this. Right? I I go out of my way to watch his commercials because they’re entertaining. I just know it’s funny. So

Julie Cortés [00:18:05]:
Yeah. No. It’s a great way to to grab attention. It’s a great way to keep attention, you know. And, again, like, don’t don’t let them know that you’re selling to them. You know? Just have a conversation and and be Dominance. And and, yes, entertain them at the same time, and I think you’ll have better luck in the long run.

Jeffro [00:18:21]:
So what’s your most important piece of advice for small business owners who are looking to Take their brand to the next level.

Julie Cortés [00:18:27]:
I I think this goes back to something that we we hit on at the very beginning, and that was to be authentic. I think people want to work with and refer those whom they know, like, and trust, and one of the best ways you can, get that image out there is by being authentic and being true to yourself. And if you can’t get there, then look outside and, outsource some of your your marketing tasks, you know, such as the writing or the design or whatnot to people who can help help you visualize that or at least tell you, okay. Here’s what we see, right, to give you that little boost of confidence to go forward. But, yeah, being authentic, I think, is number 1.

Jeffro [00:19:05]:
Yeah. And I love I wanna reiterate. Don’t do this in An echo chamber. Right? Get some other people around you to help figure this out and put it together in a polished professional way that’s gonna resonate with your target audience.

Julie Cortés [00:19:17]:
Yes.

Jeffro [00:19:17]:
So what are what are some common mistakes that business owners make when they’re working on their brand as they’re going through this process?

Julie Cortés [00:19:23]:
You know, I see, in particular, since I work with a lot of solopreneurs, I see a lot of people trying to bootstrap it and do it themselves, and, and I understand it. Stand it. You know? I I was in those shoes too when I first got started, and it’s one of those hard lessons to learn that you’ve got to spend money to make money. And and, again, if you’re not a professional designer, if you’re not a professional photographer or illustrator or writer, whatever the case may be, like, hire somebody who is who’s good at their you know, we’re seeing people today going and and doing their own ads and you can tell. They’re so bad. I just visited a website of a colleague yesterday, and she had put it together herself. And I mean, kudos. I mean, you gotta start somewhere.

Julie Cortés [00:20:07]:
Absolutely. But it but it was horrible. And this person had been in business for themselves for at least 5 years. I’m like, okay. It’s time. It’s time to find somebody who can help you with this and then actually invest in yourself and invest, in your business, in your marketing to ensure that you are projecting the image of, you know, the, the business owner that you want to be so in order for you to attract the the ideal, target audience that you wanna work with.

Jeffro [00:20:34]:
Right. And your mentality and approach to business has to grow and shift as your business grows and shift. So in the early days, yes, you do have to do everything yourself and figure it out and make it work. But like you said, as you move forward, like, okay, maybe this is time To treat this a little differently, bring somebody else in.

Julie Cortés [00:20:50]:
Exactly. Time to buckle up.

Jeffro [00:20:52]:
Yes. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us. I think that anyone who listens to this episode will walk away with the wheels turning on with some ideas for how to improve their brand. And for everybody listening, if you need help with your copywriting, Emotional copywriting or otherwise or someone to coach you through improving your brand. Get in touch with Julie. Her website’s in the show notes. And if you’re a freelancer, Julie has lots of resources designed just for you as well. She is the freedom that’s rock star after all.

Jeffro [00:21:19]:
Julie, do you have any closing thoughts before we end our time today?

Julie Cortés [00:21:22]:
No. Really, I think that’s it. Yeah. If anybody has any questions, you can feel free to reach out to me. You can find me at juliecortez.com. That’s Cortez with s at the end, or find me on social media at freelance rock star.

Jeffro [00:21:34]:
Awesome. Well, thanks again for being here, Julie, and thanks to all of you for listening. Keep dominating, and I’ll see you in the next episode.