Nate Davis: branding, copywriting, & podcasting. Let's tell your story.

First Person: live storytelling, from the margins to the center.

I am the one-person brand, marketing, and web team for this new Bay Area live storytelling nonprofit. Partnering with the founder, I developed this theme line, articulated the brand, helped her refine the ideal customer profile, set up the website, and incorporated SEO.

I've been using words and ideas to sell things for 20 years. Most of it has fallen into the neutral-to-unimportant category.

But this is different; First Person is dedicated to returning live storytelling to the cultural conversation, to inviting people in who haven't felt comfortable at Slam-type events, and for catalyzing social change through the unique power of a shared experience.

It's been energizing and inspiring to workshop the branding and language for First Person with founder Harriett Jernigan, attend the rehearsal event, and set up the website.

Launching First Person with limited time and money also prompted my first foray into AI-assisted design. We had a student that I offered to coach in the principles of logo design, but she got busy, so I started experimenting with MidJourney because we needed a logo for the launch materials (website, poster, flyer, and business cards). After multiple prompts, I got to this, which well represents the core ideas of creativity, self-expression, diversity, and inclusivity.

https://firstpersonstory.org

I just had an email exchange with a podcasting connection, who is shutting down the podcast editing listserv she started a little while back. I asked her what she had learned from the experience, and immediately she fired back, "Stop doing stuff for free!" Because I am always trying to see the bright side of things, that got my wheels turning: what would the value be in publishing, curating, or community-building efforts that didn't lead to measurable sales?

A few marketing-based thoughts:

1. Even in today's age of measurable online advertising, there's still the assumption that certain things are worth doing even when you can't always trace the customer journey from thing X to purchase Y. Every single piece of brand advertising (where something isn't featuring a particular product or service, but is just getting the name out there) would fall into this category.

2. In marketing they also talk about being "top of mind" — one of the first people/brands customers think of in a category. (The assumption being that people only have a finite amount of brain space per category to remember things; in a high-interest category like pop musicians or cars that number is higher; in a low-interest category like toothpaste it's lower.) So starting or moderating a community would help you be top of mind in that category.

3. People who start things or create communities or curate in any form are also perceived as more influential and authoritative, regardless of merit or other contributions. So if you see a vacant community locale, step in!

4. A fourth thought which my friend Steve's photo reminded me of: doing work on spec ("for free") can be a key step to getting you paid work of that same kind in the future. It's proof of concept for the kind of clients that you want to have. Especially early in a creative career, this can be a big signpost in pointing your portfolio in the direction you want it to go.

5. Finally, another note from my old friend who has built a very successful marketing consultancy. IIRC, he said that especially with more expensive services like ours, an important sales/lead generation tool was some sort of community platform, where people can get a sense of what you offer before they buy.

So there you have it — five reasons why working for "free" can bring you value after all.

...

Notes:

• Lovely olive grove photo taken by my professional photographer friend Steve Babjuljak: https://www.babuljak.com/PROJECTS/thumbs
• My friend's marketing firm: https://rightsideup.com/

How I work: a handy listicle

Whether you're talking about a one-page resume, a cover letter, your LinkedIn About section, or a networking phone call, summing up who you are and what unique benefits you bring is always a challenge. (And another challenge? Thinking about human readers and SEO at the same time.

I've written and revised these personal summaries numerous times, and this is the latest version fresh for 2023:

Here’s what I bring to every project and team, from initial branding to final deliverable, high-level strategy to word-level copy:

1. Improving and iterating based on quantitative and qualitative customer feedback.

2. Discerning and refining a brand voice that reflects a company and resonates with customers.

3. Collaborating and editing to amplify teammates’ best ideas and unlock their potential.

4. Incorporating research and customer insights into strategic, differentiated creative solutions.

5. Devoting my endless desire to learn to becoming a product, service, and category expert.

6. Relentlessly mining the language, thinking laterally and deeply for memorable naming and slogan projects.

7. Presenting articulate, customer-centric, business-savvy rationales for creative work.

8. Thoughtfully balancing the needs of human readers with the imperatives of SEO.

9. Warm and genuine relationship-building with partners, stakeholders, and clients.

10. Always framing words and visuals within the holistic customer or user experience.

For my current client, Branagh Development, I’m helping them with all aspects of marketing for J & J Ranch, an upscale custom home development in Orinda. This has included everything from writing an update letter to investors, to learning Squarespace to beef up the website, and more.

Through immersing myself in real estate, home building, and construction, meetings with Branagh teammates, and blending in my own reading on psychology and marketing, we concluded that it’s not about describing the physical objects (quality and features, as so many builders do) — what it’s really about is describing what land and homes can mean to people.

Images are of one of the lots for sale there, construction getting started, and one of the planned custom home designs. See more at www.liveatjjranch.com.

Designing logos is one of my hobbies, so after seeing my coworker sign her email with her first initial and last name (K. Ko), my gears got turning. . . .

Business/productivity startup Smartsheet is embarking on a rebranding project, so they asked me to give some recommendations based on their current website and marketing materials. This was my analysis.