April 10, 2025 • 36 mins
What if marketing could feel more like self-discovery than strategy? In this episode of Redefining Us, Stephanie Konter-O’Hara sits down with Joanne Homestead, founder of Desk Plant Creatives, to explore how soulful storytelling can transform email marketing into a powerful tool for connection and authenticity. Joanne shares her journey from educator to email copywriter and how a memoir class unexpectedly led her to discover the impact of personal stories in business.
We talk about the importance of aligning with your values, navigating vulnerability, and embracing the “zero draft” mindset to overcome perfectionism and overthinking. Whether you're a purpose-driven entrepreneur or a creative professional, this conversation will help you reframe marketing as a relationship-building practice rooted in your unique voice and lived experience.
Connect with Joanne:
https://deskplantcreatives.com/
https://www.instagram.com/desk.plant.creatives/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannehomesteadcopywriter/
https://linktr.ee/deskplantcreatives
https://www.facebook.com/deskplantcreatives
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFUrIBT0zKKUr4Hq4g5-XfQ
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Would you like to chat more about this episode's topic? I would love to continue our conversation over on Instagram! @wellmindedcounseling
I wrote a book! Becoming Mommy: Aligning with yourself and finding your voice during pregnancy and motherhood, available at all major retailers - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DZT9P3RB?ref=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_KFT90ZBDS48FDGG6DH5X&ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_KFT90ZBDS48FDGG6DH5X&social_share=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_KFT90ZBDS48FDGG6DH5X&bestFormat=true
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Welcome to Redefining Us, where we explore
sexuality, identity, motherhood,and mental health to help women
thrive authentically.
Let's break free from roles thatlimit us and create a life where
you can truly be yourself.
Welcome back to Redefining Us.
I'm your host, StephanieContrahera, and I'm a licensed
(00:20):
professional counselor.
And today we have with us JoanneHolmsted.
She's a founder of DeskplantCreatives, is a email
copywriter, copy coach, andobsessed storyteller.
She empowers soulfulentrepreneurs and coaches in
wellness, well-being, andmindset to elevate their
stories, to connect, compel, andsell with audacious authenticity
(00:42):
email style.
SPEAKER_00 (00:43):
Welcome.
How are you?
Thank you.
Thank you for having me on,Stephanie.
I feel I'm doing pretty goodtoday, trying to keep warm.
SPEAKER_01 (00:52):
Well, that's good.
Well, we're just going to diveright in.
So what brought you to a placewhere you felt compassionate
about supporting women inbusiness and trying to coach and
mentor them for email marketing?
SPEAKER_00 (01:05):
Yeah, that is a great question because no
eight-year-old girl is saying,I'm going to be an email Well,
maybe nowadays.
Who knows?
Yeah, that's true.
It's true.
Definitely not when I was a kidbecause email was not even a
(01:26):
thing at that point.
Yeah, so it has been a windingjourney.
I was a teacher for 15 years.
And then when I started mybusiness, I did not even, I
didn't know anything about emailmarketing, marketing business.
I come from the education worldand especially copywriting.
(01:46):
I did not know what a copywriterwas when I started my business.
That was now four years ago, butI have learned so much from
that.
But I would have to say like,okay, if we were to talk about
like, and this is something I'mpassionate talking about too, is
your origin story and how didyou get to where you are right
now?
And there are so many differententry points, you know, for your
(02:11):
origin story.
because it really is like, it'sa journey.
And so right now what's speakingto me right now in my origin
story in terms of like, how, youknow, how do I get, where does
this all stem from?
Like the email marketing andstorytelling.
I have tracked it back to thismoment when I was in graduate
(02:34):
school and I took a memoircourse.
And this is one of my I think Igot to choose two electives in
my whole graduate course.
The rest was on becoming aliteracy specialist in schools
as a K-6 teacher.
And so I was very practical.
(02:55):
I wanted to take electivecourses that filled in my skill
set.
I was going to take one in likea linguistically different
language.
students around literacy.
But my friend who's in thegraduate school in my same
cohort said, let's take thismemoir course.
That's not going to support mein my career goals as a teacher.
(03:18):
But I decided to go with itbecause I'm a nurturer.
I like relationships.
I value our friendship.
And I was like, okay, you know,why not?
Let's do this memoir course.
And so in that course, we wrotesome of our stories from our
experiences in our past.
And I remember that first littlemini memoir that I wrote, like
(03:41):
something happened, somethingclicked in me.
There was a light that lit up.
I was so surprised by whathappened, like the inner
transformation that happened tome when I wrote that and what
came out when I shared it.
and realized that mini memoirthat I wrote about was something
(04:02):
that was really important in mypast that I hadn't even, I
didn't really think much about,but it just, it just came out.
And so this was really the seedto what I'm doing now.
This is what I like to think ofit as.
It's like marketing to me isnot, it's not marketing.
It's building relationships andIt's educating, it's informing,
(04:23):
it's inspiring people to takeaction.
That's the copywriting piece.
And it's all throughstorytelling.
This is why I'm an obsessedstoryteller.
This is why I want to help otherwomen entrepreneurs and coaches
to elevate their stories, totell their stories, because when
you tell your stories...
And you can speak your voice.
(04:44):
It's really like self-discovery,like what I gained from that
memoir course.
It was really something insideof me that needed to come out,
that needed to be shared.
That's how I think of marketingcontent.
It really is just you're tellingyour stories and you are sharing
what you're learning aboutyourself in the moment and
through your whole journey aswell.
(05:05):
Again, there's a lot ofdifferent country points for
that.
And so that's really my seedfrom there was this memoir
course that just surprisinglybrought out this new light in
me.
And that's why I love doing whatI do now, because I love seeing
that light turn on for myclients as well.
And seeing them step into theirauthentic voice and not worry so
(05:30):
much about what do people wantto hear?
What do I say?
I always sound professional.
I don't want to, you know, Idon't want to offend anyone.
All the things come out and it'sreally being able to look at
that and say, okay, what is itin your heart you want to speak
out?
And okay, now how do we go aboutdoing that without all the panic
(05:51):
buttons going off at the sametime?
SPEAKER_01 (05:54):
Yeah, I imagine you help people really tap into
maybe some vulnerability forthemselves too along the way
because most storytelling I feellike is really only captivating
when there's some vulnerabilitytied into that.
SPEAKER_00 (06:09):
Yes, there definitely is a piece of the
vulnerability and there's apiece of I'm showing up as
myself and that can be very,very scary and that is okay.
Like I have been there.
UNKNOWN (06:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (06:23):
A lot of it has been there.
You're not alone in that.
And it is understanding how toshare your vulnerability in a
way that is comfortable to you,that it's not like you like, oh,
I have to be vulnerable becausethat's what they say I have to
do in my marketing, you know,and then sharing things that
you're not very comfortablesharing.
(06:44):
I don't like to come in thatway.
It's like, no, what do you feelcomfortable sharing?
And what is it like?
What does it really mean even tobe vulnerable?
vulnerable when it comes towriting your stories and writing
your marketing content.
That's just really a way toeducate, inform, and inspire
action is what I like to say.
(07:05):
It's like building the emotionalconnections there in a way that
feels good.
It's not manipulative.
It's not creating shame in them.
It's just really helping them tosee more clearly what's going
on, what's their challenge, andthis is how I can help.
SPEAKER_01 (07:25):
Yeah, I imagine there's a lot of purpose-driven
businesses that you work with.
So I imagine they may already besomewhat tapped into what their
values are, what they want toconvey to their audience.
But I'm curious, are thereexercises that you go through to
help people maybe understand Tapinto those values or tap into
(07:47):
those pieces of authenticitythat maybe has been set to the
side because they have all ofthe rules of marketing blocking
them from seeing that that'sactually what is going to help
promote them the way that feelsaligned with them.
I
SPEAKER_00 (08:05):
love how you bring up values because that's the big
piece about authenticity.
When I first started mybusiness, this is how I thought
of authenticity.
Like, be yourself.
Show up as yourself, you know,easy, right?
There's a huge piece of it now.
I believe when we show upauthentically, it really is
(08:25):
about aligning with our values.
It really is a big piece of it.
And as I work with a lot ofclients who are personal brands,
they are the face of theirbusiness.
And talking about their brandvalues are really their
personal, their personal values.
And that is something that Ilike to work out with my
(08:49):
clients, especially when itcomes to talking about their
voice and their stories and theway they want to market
themselves.
It really comes down to what areyour values?
I'd like to have it in all ofthe email sequence blueprints I
(09:09):
have for my clients.
I have there on the top of eachemail type is, Just list your
values right here.
Because when you have yourvalues there, then when you
write, you can go back and lookand say, oh, does this align
with my values?
Like, for example, like mine arecreativity, personal growth,
(09:33):
integrity, and authenticity.
And so when I write somethingand I go back and look, I'm
really looking for those values.
Like, oh, oh, here is where...
I am talking about creativityand, oh, this is where I talk
about authenticity.
So it's just a way for you to,again, like, as you said, be
able to align with your valuesand align with what your story
(09:56):
is and how that connects back toyour business.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (10:00):
Yeah.
As someone that's been inbusiness for, I don't know,
maybe going on seven years now,I should probably actually keep
track of The years go by.
The time has warped.
But congratulations.
I feel like COVID made the timefeel different.
Like I've lived 10
SPEAKER_00 (10:17):
lives.
Oh, gosh.
I know.
Seven years is really equivalentto about like 77 lifetimes.
SPEAKER_01 (10:26):
Especially as a business owner, but that's a
whole other story that we couldprobably have a little separate
podcast about.
But I wanted to speak to thevalues that I had as a business
owner, perhaps in like 2017 whenI started this, to the values
that I have now.
Yes, they're similar, butthere's also, I think, sometimes
(10:48):
these unique shifts in the waythat they show up or the way
that they hold value to me.
And so I'm just kind of thinkingabout this meeting that I went
to recently.
They're like, what are yourvalues as a business owner?
And then what are your values asa person?
And how are those potentiallyjust, they're the same, but
(11:11):
different.
They show up in different ways.
I'll give you an example.
The exercise was like, there'smy values are connection and
independence.
Those are my top two values thatI recently rediscovered.
But those things showdifferently in business than
they might in my personal life.
(11:32):
So I'm curious in the work thatyou do, is there a way that you
try to encourage people to honorthat the values might look
different in different spaces,whether that's in the execution
of an email compared to theexecution in their business or
the execution that that valuemight show up in their personal
life.
Because I think sometimes therecan be, I don't want to use the
(11:54):
word confusion, but maybe justlike values feel so big
sometimes.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (12:01):
Yeah.
It can feel really big.
Like I'm curious to know foryou, what is the difference for
you in terms of your businessand your personal in terms of
what you said about connectionand independence.
SPEAKER_01 (12:14):
Yeah.
So I'll speak about independencebecause I feel like that has the
biggest difference as far aslike what that means to me.
So for independence, that wouldlook like I get to decide
exactly the way that things aregoing to look like.
I'm quote unquote in charge ofmy life.
(12:36):
I I get to do things solo.
I get to spend time by myselffor self-reflection.
I get to just like, I don'tknow, exude a sense of I can do
anything that I want to do on myown.
But because of the business thatI run and the fact that there's
a team involved, theindependence looks a little
(13:00):
different because I'm not justmaking decisions for myself.
I'm making decisions for myteam.
And I'm making decisions basedon not just what is good for me,
but what is good for everybodyelse.
And then in extension, theclients that we serve.
What decisions am I making thatare going to serve the clients
(13:24):
and protect the values ofwanting to have equitable and
affordable and et cetera, etcetera, et cetera, like
services, right?
that doesn't look like somethingthat's all about me.
You're embarrassed.
Right.
And so sometimes, yeah, I guessI wonder if you had someone that
was in a conundrum like that,like what sort of exercises or
(13:47):
tools or things that help youguide people to work that out?
SPEAKER_00 (13:53):
Yeah, that is such a great question.
I love this.
Yeah, I think that I haven'tlike come across that for
clients in terms of their value.
Well, yes, there is.
There's like a differencebetween how their values show up
in their business versus theirpersonal life.
(14:16):
Definitely.
And where is the like, is therea line in terms of how do you
draw that line?
Is there a line there?
How do we balance the two?
And it always comes down to formy clients is what do you feel
comfortable with in terms oflike when you're sharing your
stories?
And this goes into your valuesto like sharing your values in
(14:40):
terms of personal lifeexperience and then business
experience, like theprofessional experience.
Yeah.
Because a lot of the stories maystem from the personal life
side, because you are learning alot through that.
And that does come into yourbusiness.
And therefore, there is a blend.
(15:00):
It's not like black and white.
Oh, yeah.
This is personal.
This is professional.
And so it really just comes downto what do you feel comfortable
sharing?
The thing that you've kind ofset some boundaries around,
like, okay, for example, like Iwork with a lot of clients who
are moms.
Do they want to...
tell stories about their kids intheir business marketing content
(15:25):
that's something that they theycan decide where's the boundary
for that so it really is aboutlike just sending boundaries
around what is it I feelcomfortable sharing in my
personal life that is alsorelated to my business because
it is really an integration andwhat do I feel like it's off
limits I don't I want to talkabout it.
(15:46):
And just finding also thedifferent levels, too.
Like maybe you do talk aboutyour kids, but you're not naming
anything specific.
And it's not really specificallya story about them.
It's just more about you'retrying to teach a concept.
SPEAKER_01 (16:03):
Yeah.
And that sounds like the valuesmaybe inform the type of stories
that are shared.
Yeah.
Or maybe hold them accountableto, am I shining a light on the
value in the way that I'msharing or in what story I am
sharing?
SPEAKER_00 (16:18):
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Is it reflected in the story?
That was a great way to put it.
Are my values reflected in mystory?
And then how do my values informwhat stories I tell?
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (16:36):
I think values...
to me feel like they can becomplicated, but maybe there's a
way to really simplify them.
Cause as someone who's tends tobe very analytical, like this is
the type of stuff that couldlike paralyze me from like
writing because I'm like, how doI even get my thoughts onto the
paper in a way that feels likeI'm sharing something, but I'm
(16:59):
not sharing too much and I'msharing what I want to share and
We'll still have interesting anddynamic things to share with
people.
SPEAKER_00 (17:07):
Yeah.
I see.
I see the gears turning.
Yes, the overthinking isdefinitely something that you
are not alone in.
Many of us as entrepreneurs andbusiness owners, we can get into
that hamster wheel of spinningand just like in paralysis.
I like to joke that myhusband...
(17:29):
loves getting these printedt-shirts online from Threadless.
And he was looking at aparticular t-shirt.
He was doing some onlineshopping.
I kind of like look over hisshoulder and he's like, I don't
know if I should get thist-shirt for myself or not.
And I look at the t-shirt andthe t-shirt says like, hold on,
(17:50):
let me overthink this.
UNKNOWN (17:52):
And
SPEAKER_00 (17:53):
I just started laughing so hard because I said,
you have to get that shirtbecause you're overthinking it.
It was just so great.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (18:06):
That is a funny anecdote because I feel like
it's like the true level ofoverthinking.
I imagine it's like a commonhurdle.
Even as I was sharing about myhurdle with independence, I was
thinking like, am I overthinkingthis?
I feel like I'm complicating itand I probably am.
And so that if I was sittingdown to write an email and share
(18:26):
a story, if I'm alreadyovercomplicating talking about
my values, I imagine I mightovercomplicate what story I feel
like is good to share in anemail marketing campaign.
SPEAKER_00 (18:38):
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
It's all.
Yeah.
It's like a catch-22.
It's like, oh, if you'reoverthinking the overthinking,
then you're stuck in the loop.
You're not alone in that.
And a lot of my clients findthemselves in that paralysis.
And that's where it's like theoverthinking.
And that's where it comes downto.
(18:58):
There's the strategy.
Okay.
We have a plan.
It's a line.
We're going somewhere.
And then there's also the, thisis going to be messy.
Like the first draft.
is going to be messy.
And you're just going to writewhat comes out.
Because we have a plan, we havea strategy, you have some
resources to choose from.
(19:20):
So you choose something, andthen when you sit down to write,
you're not thinking about, okay,how is this reflecting my
values?
Are my values informing this?
How do I hook someone in?
Is this a story that is okay totell?
All of that Just like throw itout the window.
(19:40):
And all you do is you justwrite.
You just write what's coming toyou in the moment.
And there is a structure and aframework that I use for that to
then make it so that it's notjust random.
We're just not making randomstories and random content.
It really is going in adirection.
But really, when you're writingthat draft, you have the
(20:01):
resources, you have thestructure and framework.
And within that safe space, youcan just...
dump it out, write it out.
And then after that, that's whenyou can start really tweaking
and you can really start seeing,okay, what's what in here?
Oh, I'm seeing some values inhere.
(20:22):
Okay.
I like that.
And that's just helping you forthe next time you write like,
oh, I liked that.
It's a process.
It's a journey.
You're learning along the way.
And so once you dump it out andand you have it written, you
just have it all written out.
It's messy.
You're thinking in your headlike, oh, this is just way too
long.
Or like, oh, this is like, whereis this going?
(20:44):
Like that is okay and verynormal.
And that's actually good to havethose thoughts because it just
means that you're just writingfrom your heart and you're just
dumping it out.
And that way from there, you cansay, okay, let's look at the
length thing.
And what I like to say aboutlength is it's okay if it's
(21:06):
long, as long as it'scompelling.
So you don't have to worryabout, oh, I have to stay within
this, you know, maximum ofwhatever, 500 words or whatever
that is for your emails.
SPEAKER_01 (21:21):
Yeah, it sounds almost like anything.
It's really important to justrecognize that it's like a zero
draft.
It's not like draft one, drafttwo, final draft.
It is the first go around.
Just getting words on the paperis truly like a zero draft.
SPEAKER_00 (21:37):
Yeah,
SPEAKER_01 (21:38):
yeah.
Needing it to be a certain way.
SPEAKER_00 (21:41):
Right.
It doesn't need to.
Yeah, it doesn't need to beanything.
And a lot of my clients, some ofmy clients will get they get
stuck because they're thinking,what?
What does my audience want tohear?
It gets stuck with, they're onthis side.
My audience is way over here.
It's almost like I'm standing ona stage.
(22:01):
What do they want me to say?
Which can cause paralysis too.
And instead of thinking of itthat way, thinking of like,
well, what do you have to sharewith them?
And you're creating that bridge.
You're creating the bridge tothem through that way.
Yeah.
UNKNOWN (22:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (22:14):
Yeah.
I mean, since this podcast iscalled Redefining Us, I just
want to make a link to this ideathat you're kind of helping
people redefine how to marketthemselves.
So think about marketing andthink about the journey of
telling their story and sheddingall the like shoulds or must
haves or perfectionism or allthese layered things.
(22:38):
complicated thoughts they mighthave around what it looks like
to put themselves out there infront of their audience.
SPEAKER_00 (22:45):
Yeah, it really, I like to describe it as a
journey.
It really is a journey intoyourself.
And I've seen that for myclients where I'm teaching them
and coaching them to do, I'mteaching them the fish, to be
able to write emails that reallyspeak their heart, that get
open, that get People inspiredto take action, to get clicks
(23:08):
and to book calls with them.
And also for my clients who I dothe done for you for them, even
that is a journey for them aswell because...
They're learning along the wayas well.
When we really dig into what'scoming up for you right now,
what is it you want to share?
(23:29):
How does this connect back toyour offers that you have?
And it really is a redefining ofa home.
It's almost, I like to say it'slike going into the kiln, going
into the fire and coming out.
Yeah.
UNKNOWN (23:46):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (23:46):
transformed in a new way.
And I feel so honored to be ableto be a part of that journey
with my clients.
And even the clients who likewriting and who like
storytelling, you know, whenthey come to work with me, we
find like, oh, I see that you'reactually hiding behind your
stories.
Okay.
Yeah.
(24:10):
They're using storytelling in avery particular way of teaching
and informing, but not as muchof the storytelling where
they're bringing in theirpersonal stories.
SPEAKER_01 (24:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (24:23):
And I have found with one of my clients who we
realized like, oh, you're usingthe storytelling, but you're
hiding behind your storytelling.
When she started tellingstories, more personal
connection stories, she startedto get more engagement because
people, I mean, 100%.
When you're just more authenticand you're putting yourself out
(24:44):
there, but in a way that's, youknow, that's still comfortable
to you, you just have to diginto your thoughts.
Like, why is that happening forher?
We dug into it and realized whatwas really behind it.
And then she was able to releaseit and write more connection
emails.
When you start being moreauthentic like that, people
resonate with it and they startengaging more.
(25:07):
They start clicking more.
It's fascinating.
As you know, human behavior isso fascinating.
Yeah, for sure.
I'm
SPEAKER_01 (25:14):
not sure if this is something that you hold to be
true in the way that you helppeople market themselves, but I
have heard from, there's athousand gurus out there, so I'm
not even sure who I learned thisfrom, but This idea that your
marketing needs to beeducational slash informational,
(25:34):
connective, like driven, soyou're connecting to the
audience, but then alsoentertaining.
And I personally, in my businessas a therapist, I'm like, how do
I entertain the audience?
Like, that seems like a big askfor a therapist because our job
(25:55):
isn't really...
again, entertainment-focused.
So I don't know if there's threethings that you really focus on
when you encourage people towrite from a certain place or to
be thinking about whatinformation to include.
Yeah, I would kind of love tohear your thoughts on that.
SPEAKER_00 (26:11):
Yeah, I mean, because I work with clients who
are in wellness, well-being, andmindset, yeah, entertainment is
not...
Sometimes the word entertainingand entertainment can...
It can lead you to think like, Ineed to be got my top hat on and
I'm tap dancing and look, youknow.
(26:33):
I like to also think ofentertainment or entertaining as
compelling.
That's really what you're doing.
It's not like you have to tapdance.
It's really about are youwriting in a compelling way?
It's attracting people and it'slike they're leaning in, like
(26:54):
they want...
They read your first line.
They want to read the secondline and the third line and the
fourth line.
And they are suddenly at the endof your email and they were just
compelled the whole way.
And even if, you know, peopledon't have time and they're
scanning, that's okay too.
(27:15):
You can create it in a way thatfor scanners, it's also
compelling as well.
And so that's kind of how I liketo think of the piece of...
Is it compelling?
And yes, I do, you know, gothrough with my clients on the
different types of email contentthat they can be creating.
One you had mentioned is thevalue email, is the educational,
(27:44):
thank you.
I was going to say edutainment,
SPEAKER_01 (27:47):
which
SPEAKER_00 (27:48):
is what you're talking about, the education
with the entertainment content.
Is it educational?
What's the value you'rebringing?
And also like value doesn't haveto necessarily be like you're
teaching a tip or something.
It can be inspirational as well.
That's also what I like to calllike a value email.
And then there's the connectionemails.
Are you connecting with them?
(28:10):
That's really bringing out thebehind the scenes.
What's going on?
What are you working on?
And then the third type is thepromotional emails.
SPEAKER_01 (28:18):
Oh.
SPEAKER_00 (28:20):
And the promotional.
And when you have the threetypes, like generally what I see
is either they're really leaninginto the value.
They're giving so much value.
And what they're saying is thatno one is clicking to book a
call with me.
And that's where, oh, we needmore of the connection and the
(28:42):
promotional emails.
Yeah.
Or if they're doing a lot ofpromotional emails.
Yeah.
They may also not be getting alot of clicks because they need
to be able to show the value.
Their community is not seeingthe value.
If they can see the value, thenwhen you promote, it's a much
easier yes.
Like, yes, I see the value and Iabsolutely want to work with
(29:06):
you.
So yeah, it is a balance and Ihave a ratio of...
Okay, let's see if I can do thisright.
Like value is four times,connection is...
three times and promotion is twotimes.
So if you had a grid of, okay,numbers is not my, of I think
(29:29):
like nine or 12 on a grid, youwould end up with like six of
those emails are value for ourconnection and to our
promotional.
I think it's like a nine grid.
SPEAKER_01 (29:45):
Okay.
All right.
Yeah.
I think it's important to, Likeknow that having strategy around
what you're putting out there isreally important.
I'm sure everyone has seen, orat least people who are in
business have probably seen allof the billions of, you have to
do it a certain way in order forit to work.
Videos on Instagram that arelike, you can't just post every
(30:05):
day.
You have to post with a purpose.
Or you can't just email peopleand expect them to click on your
stuff because you emailed them.
You have to give a reason toreach back out to you.
SPEAKER_00 (30:15):
Yeah, that is a big piece.
And I think that's where, so Ifinally came up with my
framework for what I do.
It's a seven part framework andit is STORIES as an acronym.
And the first S in STORIES isstrategize and align.
It's really setting the vision.
It's really setting your NorthStar so that there is a
(30:38):
strategy.
It's not like random throwingspaghetti on the wall, which...
It's also okay when you're justgetting into it and you're
learning and you want to try it.
I'm not against that.
Like, just take that.
Don't, don't overthink it.
Just stay patient and do it andsee what, you know, what you get
is you get data, you getinformation.
And then from there you can thenpivot and say, okay.
(31:01):
I'd like to put some strategy onthis.
So it's not so random.
So yeah, it is definitely likethe strategy and the aligning
piece is important, but alsohaving flexibility in that.
A lot of the times I say to myclients, like, this is what I'm
teaching you and you can gobreak the rules.
Like go break the rules.
(31:21):
It's okay.
Just because I...
I'm saying this is bestpractice.
This is what we do.
If you want to try somethingnew, go try it because that's
really what it's about as abusiness owner is trying
something out, tweak and seewhat happens, what works.
For sure.
SPEAKER_01 (31:39):
Well, I want to thank you for coming on and I'd
love for you to share with ourlisteners where can they find
you?
How can they connect with you sothey can learn more and schedule
a call?
SPEAKER_00 (31:50):
Yeah.
So I am most active on LinkedInright now.
And so if you'd like to connectwith me there, you can find me
by my name, Joanne Homestead.
I'm the only Joanne Homestead onLinkedIn and on Google.
So it's pretty easy to find me.
You can also search JoanneHomestead copywriter on LinkedIn
(32:10):
too.
to really make sure it's me.
But I'm pretty sure I'm the onlyone there.
I'm also on Instagram in themessages, not actively posting
anything.
But if you want to find methere, it's deskplantcreatives
with a dot in between each ofthe words.
And then, of course, you cancome join me in my email
(32:32):
community, Flourish.
That's where I am so passionateto show up and share Give
copywriting tips, emailsequences, email strategy tips,
and stories of all flavors.
It really is just showing youall the different ways that you
(32:54):
can use stories in buildingrelationships with your
community and attracting thepeople you want to bring in.
So if you'd like to join methere, you can go to my website
and grab my free emailstorytelling guide from there.
And then I can also share withyou the link for the free gift.
And from that, you can join myemail community.
SPEAKER_01 (33:16):
Awesome.
You know, all that informationwill also be linked on the show
notes and on our website.
So if you feel like you didn'tget a chance to write all that
down, don't worry.
It'll be posted there as well ason our Instagram.
So thank you so much for joiningus today.
And thank you for the listeners.
And I hope you all tooksomething from us.
SPEAKER_00 (33:35):
Yeah.
Thank you so much for having meon, Stephanie.
SPEAKER_01 (33:38):
Thank you for tuning in to Redefining Us once again
and share with other people soother people can continue to
listen to Redefining Us and wecan get into more listeners
ears.
If you follow us or subscribe orleave a comment or review,
that'd be greatly helpful forother people to find us and also
(33:59):
just for me to get somefeedback.
What do you guys want to hear mesay?
What do you women care abouthearing?
I'm totally open to to bringingon guests and talking about
topics that are unique andinspiring to everyone.
So please let me know.
And this year, hopefully we'llbe full of a lot of community
building, a lot of publicspeaking, a lot of resource
(34:22):
sharing.
So I really encourage you tofollow us on social media at
Well-Minded Counseling onInstagram as our handle, as well
as going directly to ourwebsite,
wellmindedcounseling.combackslash redefining hyphen us
to So you can be in the knowwith all the things that are
happening in the redefining uscommunity.
(34:44):
Once again, thank you so muchfor listening and keep being
awesome.
Welcome to Redefining Us, where we explore
sexuality, identity, motherhood,and mental health to help women
thrive authentically.
Let's break free from roles thatlimit us and create a life where
you can truly be yourself.
Welcome back to Redefining Us.
I'm your host, StephanieContrahera, and I'm a licensed
(00:20):
professional counselor.
And today we have with us JoanneHolmsted.
She's a founder of DeskplantCreatives, is a email
copywriter, copy coach, andobsessed storyteller.
She empowers soulfulentrepreneurs and coaches in
wellness, well-being, andmindset to elevate their
stories, to connect, compel, andsell with audacious authenticity
(00:42):
email style.
SPEAKER_00 (00:43):
Welcome.
How are you?
Thank you.
Thank you for having me on,Stephanie.
I feel I'm doing pretty goodtoday, trying to keep warm.
SPEAKER_01 (00:52):
Well, that's good.
Well, we're just going to diveright in.
So what brought you to a placewhere you felt compassionate
about supporting women inbusiness and trying to coach and
mentor them for email marketing?
SPEAKER_00 (01:05):
Yeah, that is a great question because no
eight-year-old girl is saying,I'm going to be an email Well,
maybe nowadays.
Who knows?
Yeah, that's true.
It's true.
Definitely not when I was a kidbecause email was not even a
(01:26):
thing at that point.
Yeah, so it has been a windingjourney.
I was a teacher for 15 years.
And then when I started mybusiness, I did not even, I
didn't know anything about emailmarketing, marketing business.
I come from the education worldand especially copywriting.
(01:46):
I did not know what a copywriterwas when I started my business.
That was now four years ago, butI have learned so much from
that.
But I would have to say like,okay, if we were to talk about
like, and this is something I'mpassionate talking about too, is
your origin story and how didyou get to where you are right
now?
And there are so many differententry points, you know, for your
(02:11):
origin story.
because it really is like, it'sa journey.
And so right now what's speakingto me right now in my origin
story in terms of like, how, youknow, how do I get, where does
this all stem from?
Like the email marketing andstorytelling.
I have tracked it back to thismoment when I was in graduate
(02:34):
school and I took a memoircourse.
And this is one of my I think Igot to choose two electives in
my whole graduate course.
The rest was on becoming aliteracy specialist in schools
as a K-6 teacher.
And so I was very practical.
(02:55):
I wanted to take electivecourses that filled in my skill
set.
I was going to take one in likea linguistically different
language.
students around literacy.
But my friend who's in thegraduate school in my same
cohort said, let's take thismemoir course.
That's not going to support mein my career goals as a teacher.
(03:18):
But I decided to go with itbecause I'm a nurturer.
I like relationships.
I value our friendship.
And I was like, okay, you know,why not?
Let's do this memoir course.
And so in that course, we wrotesome of our stories from our
experiences in our past.
And I remember that first littlemini memoir that I wrote, like
(03:41):
something happened, somethingclicked in me.
There was a light that lit up.
I was so surprised by whathappened, like the inner
transformation that happened tome when I wrote that and what
came out when I shared it.
and realized that mini memoirthat I wrote about was something
(04:02):
that was really important in mypast that I hadn't even, I
didn't really think much about,but it just, it just came out.
And so this was really the seedto what I'm doing now.
This is what I like to think ofit as.
It's like marketing to me isnot, it's not marketing.
It's building relationships andIt's educating, it's informing,
(04:23):
it's inspiring people to takeaction.
That's the copywriting piece.
And it's all throughstorytelling.
This is why I'm an obsessedstoryteller.
This is why I want to help otherwomen entrepreneurs and coaches
to elevate their stories, totell their stories, because when
you tell your stories...
And you can speak your voice.
(04:44):
It's really like self-discovery,like what I gained from that
memoir course.
It was really something insideof me that needed to come out,
that needed to be shared.
That's how I think of marketingcontent.
It really is just you're tellingyour stories and you are sharing
what you're learning aboutyourself in the moment and
through your whole journey aswell.
(05:05):
Again, there's a lot ofdifferent country points for
that.
And so that's really my seedfrom there was this memoir
course that just surprisinglybrought out this new light in
me.
And that's why I love doing whatI do now, because I love seeing
that light turn on for myclients as well.
And seeing them step into theirauthentic voice and not worry so
(05:30):
much about what do people wantto hear?
What do I say?
I always sound professional.
I don't want to, you know, Idon't want to offend anyone.
All the things come out and it'sreally being able to look at
that and say, okay, what is itin your heart you want to speak
out?
And okay, now how do we go aboutdoing that without all the panic
(05:51):
buttons going off at the sametime?
SPEAKER_01 (05:54):
Yeah, I imagine you help people really tap into
maybe some vulnerability forthemselves too along the way
because most storytelling I feellike is really only captivating
when there's some vulnerabilitytied into that.
SPEAKER_00 (06:09):
Yes, there definitely is a piece of the
vulnerability and there's apiece of I'm showing up as
myself and that can be very,very scary and that is okay.
Like I have been there.
UNKNOWN (06:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (06:23):
A lot of it has been there.
You're not alone in that.
And it is understanding how toshare your vulnerability in a
way that is comfortable to you,that it's not like you like, oh,
I have to be vulnerable becausethat's what they say I have to
do in my marketing, you know,and then sharing things that
you're not very comfortablesharing.
(06:44):
I don't like to come in thatway.
It's like, no, what do you feelcomfortable sharing?
And what is it like?
What does it really mean even tobe vulnerable?
vulnerable when it comes towriting your stories and writing
your marketing content.
That's just really a way toeducate, inform, and inspire
action is what I like to say.
(07:05):
It's like building the emotionalconnections there in a way that
feels good.
It's not manipulative.
It's not creating shame in them.
It's just really helping them tosee more clearly what's going
on, what's their challenge, andthis is how I can help.
SPEAKER_01 (07:25):
Yeah, I imagine there's a lot of purpose-driven
businesses that you work with.
So I imagine they may already besomewhat tapped into what their
values are, what they want toconvey to their audience.
But I'm curious, are thereexercises that you go through to
help people maybe understand Tapinto those values or tap into
(07:47):
those pieces of authenticitythat maybe has been set to the
side because they have all ofthe rules of marketing blocking
them from seeing that that'sactually what is going to help
promote them the way that feelsaligned with them.
I
SPEAKER_00 (08:05):
love how you bring up values because that's the big
piece about authenticity.
When I first started mybusiness, this is how I thought
of authenticity.
Like, be yourself.
Show up as yourself, you know,easy, right?
There's a huge piece of it now.
I believe when we show upauthentically, it really is
(08:25):
about aligning with our values.
It really is a big piece of it.
And as I work with a lot ofclients who are personal brands,
they are the face of theirbusiness.
And talking about their brandvalues are really their
personal, their personal values.
And that is something that Ilike to work out with my
(08:49):
clients, especially when itcomes to talking about their
voice and their stories and theway they want to market
themselves.
It really comes down to what areyour values?
I'd like to have it in all ofthe email sequence blueprints I
(09:09):
have for my clients.
I have there on the top of eachemail type is, Just list your
values right here.
Because when you have yourvalues there, then when you
write, you can go back and lookand say, oh, does this align
with my values?
Like, for example, like mine arecreativity, personal growth,
(09:33):
integrity, and authenticity.
And so when I write somethingand I go back and look, I'm
really looking for those values.
Like, oh, oh, here is where...
I am talking about creativityand, oh, this is where I talk
about authenticity.
So it's just a way for you to,again, like, as you said, be
able to align with your valuesand align with what your story
(09:56):
is and how that connects back toyour business.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (10:00):
Yeah.
As someone that's been inbusiness for, I don't know,
maybe going on seven years now,I should probably actually keep
track of The years go by.
The time has warped.
But congratulations.
I feel like COVID made the timefeel different.
Like I've lived 10
SPEAKER_00 (10:17):
lives.
Oh, gosh.
I know.
Seven years is really equivalentto about like 77 lifetimes.
SPEAKER_01 (10:26):
Especially as a business owner, but that's a
whole other story that we couldprobably have a little separate
podcast about.
But I wanted to speak to thevalues that I had as a business
owner, perhaps in like 2017 whenI started this, to the values
that I have now.
Yes, they're similar, butthere's also, I think, sometimes
(10:48):
these unique shifts in the waythat they show up or the way
that they hold value to me.
And so I'm just kind of thinkingabout this meeting that I went
to recently.
They're like, what are yourvalues as a business owner?
And then what are your values asa person?
And how are those potentiallyjust, they're the same, but
(11:11):
different.
They show up in different ways.
I'll give you an example.
The exercise was like, there'smy values are connection and
independence.
Those are my top two values thatI recently rediscovered.
But those things showdifferently in business than
they might in my personal life.
(11:32):
So I'm curious in the work thatyou do, is there a way that you
try to encourage people to honorthat the values might look
different in different spaces,whether that's in the execution
of an email compared to theexecution in their business or
the execution that that valuemight show up in their personal
life.
Because I think sometimes therecan be, I don't want to use the
(11:54):
word confusion, but maybe justlike values feel so big
sometimes.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (12:01):
Yeah.
It can feel really big.
Like I'm curious to know foryou, what is the difference for
you in terms of your businessand your personal in terms of
what you said about connectionand independence.
SPEAKER_01 (12:14):
Yeah.
So I'll speak about independencebecause I feel like that has the
biggest difference as far aslike what that means to me.
So for independence, that wouldlook like I get to decide
exactly the way that things aregoing to look like.
I'm quote unquote in charge ofmy life.
(12:36):
I I get to do things solo.
I get to spend time by myselffor self-reflection.
I get to just like, I don'tknow, exude a sense of I can do
anything that I want to do on myown.
But because of the business thatI run and the fact that there's
a team involved, theindependence looks a little
(13:00):
different because I'm not justmaking decisions for myself.
I'm making decisions for myteam.
And I'm making decisions basedon not just what is good for me,
but what is good for everybodyelse.
And then in extension, theclients that we serve.
What decisions am I making thatare going to serve the clients
(13:24):
and protect the values ofwanting to have equitable and
affordable and et cetera, etcetera, et cetera, like
services, right?
that doesn't look like somethingthat's all about me.
You're embarrassed.
Right.
And so sometimes, yeah, I guessI wonder if you had someone that
was in a conundrum like that,like what sort of exercises or
(13:47):
tools or things that help youguide people to work that out?
SPEAKER_00 (13:53):
Yeah, that is such a great question.
I love this.
Yeah, I think that I haven'tlike come across that for
clients in terms of their value.
Well, yes, there is.
There's like a differencebetween how their values show up
in their business versus theirpersonal life.
(14:16):
Definitely.
And where is the like, is therea line in terms of how do you
draw that line?
Is there a line there?
How do we balance the two?
And it always comes down to formy clients is what do you feel
comfortable with in terms oflike when you're sharing your
stories?
And this goes into your valuesto like sharing your values in
(14:40):
terms of personal lifeexperience and then business
experience, like theprofessional experience.
Yeah.
Because a lot of the stories maystem from the personal life
side, because you are learning alot through that.
And that does come into yourbusiness.
And therefore, there is a blend.
(15:00):
It's not like black and white.
Oh, yeah.
This is personal.
This is professional.
And so it really just comes downto what do you feel comfortable
sharing?
The thing that you've kind ofset some boundaries around,
like, okay, for example, like Iwork with a lot of clients who
are moms.
Do they want to...
tell stories about their kids intheir business marketing content
(15:25):
that's something that they theycan decide where's the boundary
for that so it really is aboutlike just sending boundaries
around what is it I feelcomfortable sharing in my
personal life that is alsorelated to my business because
it is really an integration andwhat do I feel like it's off
limits I don't I want to talkabout it.
(15:46):
And just finding also thedifferent levels, too.
Like maybe you do talk aboutyour kids, but you're not naming
anything specific.
And it's not really specificallya story about them.
It's just more about you'retrying to teach a concept.
SPEAKER_01 (16:03):
Yeah.
And that sounds like the valuesmaybe inform the type of stories
that are shared.
Yeah.
Or maybe hold them accountableto, am I shining a light on the
value in the way that I'msharing or in what story I am
sharing?
SPEAKER_00 (16:18):
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Is it reflected in the story?
That was a great way to put it.
Are my values reflected in mystory?
And then how do my values informwhat stories I tell?
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (16:36):
I think values...
to me feel like they can becomplicated, but maybe there's a
way to really simplify them.
Cause as someone who's tends tobe very analytical, like this is
the type of stuff that couldlike paralyze me from like
writing because I'm like, how doI even get my thoughts onto the
paper in a way that feels likeI'm sharing something, but I'm
(16:59):
not sharing too much and I'msharing what I want to share and
We'll still have interesting anddynamic things to share with
people.
SPEAKER_00 (17:07):
Yeah.
I see.
I see the gears turning.
Yes, the overthinking isdefinitely something that you
are not alone in.
Many of us as entrepreneurs andbusiness owners, we can get into
that hamster wheel of spinningand just like in paralysis.
I like to joke that myhusband...
(17:29):
loves getting these printedt-shirts online from Threadless.
And he was looking at aparticular t-shirt.
He was doing some onlineshopping.
I kind of like look over hisshoulder and he's like, I don't
know if I should get thist-shirt for myself or not.
And I look at the t-shirt andthe t-shirt says like, hold on,
(17:50):
let me overthink this.
UNKNOWN (17:52):
And
SPEAKER_00 (17:53):
I just started laughing so hard because I said,
you have to get that shirtbecause you're overthinking it.
It was just so great.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (18:06):
That is a funny anecdote because I feel like
it's like the true level ofoverthinking.
I imagine it's like a commonhurdle.
Even as I was sharing about myhurdle with independence, I was
thinking like, am I overthinkingthis?
I feel like I'm complicating itand I probably am.
And so that if I was sittingdown to write an email and share
(18:26):
a story, if I'm alreadyovercomplicating talking about
my values, I imagine I mightovercomplicate what story I feel
like is good to share in anemail marketing campaign.
SPEAKER_00 (18:38):
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
It's all.
Yeah.
It's like a catch-22.
It's like, oh, if you'reoverthinking the overthinking,
then you're stuck in the loop.
You're not alone in that.
And a lot of my clients findthemselves in that paralysis.
And that's where it's like theoverthinking.
And that's where it comes downto.
(18:58):
There's the strategy.
Okay.
We have a plan.
It's a line.
We're going somewhere.
And then there's also the, thisis going to be messy.
Like the first draft.
is going to be messy.
And you're just going to writewhat comes out.
Because we have a plan, we havea strategy, you have some
resources to choose from.
(19:20):
So you choose something, andthen when you sit down to write,
you're not thinking about, okay,how is this reflecting my
values?
Are my values informing this?
How do I hook someone in?
Is this a story that is okay totell?
All of that Just like throw itout the window.
(19:40):
And all you do is you justwrite.
You just write what's coming toyou in the moment.
And there is a structure and aframework that I use for that to
then make it so that it's notjust random.
We're just not making randomstories and random content.
It really is going in adirection.
But really, when you're writingthat draft, you have the
(20:01):
resources, you have thestructure and framework.
And within that safe space, youcan just...
dump it out, write it out.
And then after that, that's whenyou can start really tweaking
and you can really start seeing,okay, what's what in here?
Oh, I'm seeing some values inhere.
(20:22):
Okay.
I like that.
And that's just helping you forthe next time you write like,
oh, I liked that.
It's a process.
It's a journey.
You're learning along the way.
And so once you dump it out andand you have it written, you
just have it all written out.
It's messy.
You're thinking in your headlike, oh, this is just way too
long.
Or like, oh, this is like, whereis this going?
(20:44):
Like that is okay and verynormal.
And that's actually good to havethose thoughts because it just
means that you're just writingfrom your heart and you're just
dumping it out.
And that way from there, you cansay, okay, let's look at the
length thing.
And what I like to say aboutlength is it's okay if it's
(21:06):
long, as long as it'scompelling.
So you don't have to worryabout, oh, I have to stay within
this, you know, maximum ofwhatever, 500 words or whatever
that is for your emails.
SPEAKER_01 (21:21):
Yeah, it sounds almost like anything.
It's really important to justrecognize that it's like a zero
draft.
It's not like draft one, drafttwo, final draft.
It is the first go around.
Just getting words on the paperis truly like a zero draft.
SPEAKER_00 (21:37):
Yeah,
SPEAKER_01 (21:38):
yeah.
Needing it to be a certain way.
SPEAKER_00 (21:41):
Right.
It doesn't need to.
Yeah, it doesn't need to beanything.
And a lot of my clients, some ofmy clients will get they get
stuck because they're thinking,what?
What does my audience want tohear?
It gets stuck with, they're onthis side.
My audience is way over here.
It's almost like I'm standing ona stage.
(22:01):
What do they want me to say?
Which can cause paralysis too.
And instead of thinking of itthat way, thinking of like,
well, what do you have to sharewith them?
And you're creating that bridge.
You're creating the bridge tothem through that way.
Yeah.
UNKNOWN (22:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (22:14):
Yeah.
I mean, since this podcast iscalled Redefining Us, I just
want to make a link to this ideathat you're kind of helping
people redefine how to marketthemselves.
So think about marketing andthink about the journey of
telling their story and sheddingall the like shoulds or must
haves or perfectionism or allthese layered things.
(22:38):
complicated thoughts they mighthave around what it looks like
to put themselves out there infront of their audience.
SPEAKER_00 (22:45):
Yeah, it really, I like to describe it as a
journey.
It really is a journey intoyourself.
And I've seen that for myclients where I'm teaching them
and coaching them to do, I'mteaching them the fish, to be
able to write emails that reallyspeak their heart, that get
open, that get People inspiredto take action, to get clicks
(23:08):
and to book calls with them.
And also for my clients who I dothe done for you for them, even
that is a journey for them aswell because...
They're learning along the wayas well.
When we really dig into what'scoming up for you right now,
what is it you want to share?
(23:29):
How does this connect back toyour offers that you have?
And it really is a redefining ofa home.
It's almost, I like to say it'slike going into the kiln, going
into the fire and coming out.
Yeah.
UNKNOWN (23:46):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (23:46):
transformed in a new way.
And I feel so honored to be ableto be a part of that journey
with my clients.
And even the clients who likewriting and who like
storytelling, you know, whenthey come to work with me, we
find like, oh, I see that you'reactually hiding behind your
stories.
Okay.
Yeah.
(24:10):
They're using storytelling in avery particular way of teaching
and informing, but not as muchof the storytelling where
they're bringing in theirpersonal stories.
SPEAKER_01 (24:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (24:23):
And I have found with one of my clients who we
realized like, oh, you're usingthe storytelling, but you're
hiding behind your storytelling.
When she started tellingstories, more personal
connection stories, she startedto get more engagement because
people, I mean, 100%.
When you're just more authenticand you're putting yourself out
(24:44):
there, but in a way that's, youknow, that's still comfortable
to you, you just have to diginto your thoughts.
Like, why is that happening forher?
We dug into it and realized whatwas really behind it.
And then she was able to releaseit and write more connection
emails.
When you start being moreauthentic like that, people
resonate with it and they startengaging more.
(25:07):
They start clicking more.
It's fascinating.
As you know, human behavior isso fascinating.
Yeah, for sure.
I'm
SPEAKER_01 (25:14):
not sure if this is something that you hold to be
true in the way that you helppeople market themselves, but I
have heard from, there's athousand gurus out there, so I'm
not even sure who I learned thisfrom, but This idea that your
marketing needs to beeducational slash informational,
(25:34):
connective, like driven, soyou're connecting to the
audience, but then alsoentertaining.
And I personally, in my businessas a therapist, I'm like, how do
I entertain the audience?
Like, that seems like a big askfor a therapist because our job
(25:55):
isn't really...
again, entertainment-focused.
So I don't know if there's threethings that you really focus on
when you encourage people towrite from a certain place or to
be thinking about whatinformation to include.
Yeah, I would kind of love tohear your thoughts on that.
SPEAKER_00 (26:11):
Yeah, I mean, because I work with clients who
are in wellness, well-being, andmindset, yeah, entertainment is
not...
Sometimes the word entertainingand entertainment can...
It can lead you to think like, Ineed to be got my top hat on and
I'm tap dancing and look, youknow.
(26:33):
I like to also think ofentertainment or entertaining as
compelling.
That's really what you're doing.
It's not like you have to tapdance.
It's really about are youwriting in a compelling way?
It's attracting people and it'slike they're leaning in, like
(26:54):
they want...
They read your first line.
They want to read the secondline and the third line and the
fourth line.
And they are suddenly at the endof your email and they were just
compelled the whole way.
And even if, you know, peopledon't have time and they're
scanning, that's okay too.
(27:15):
You can create it in a way thatfor scanners, it's also
compelling as well.
And so that's kind of how I liketo think of the piece of...
Is it compelling?
And yes, I do, you know, gothrough with my clients on the
different types of email contentthat they can be creating.
One you had mentioned is thevalue email, is the educational,
(27:44):
thank you.
I was going to say edutainment,
SPEAKER_01 (27:47):
which
SPEAKER_00 (27:48):
is what you're talking about, the education
with the entertainment content.
Is it educational?
What's the value you'rebringing?
And also like value doesn't haveto necessarily be like you're
teaching a tip or something.
It can be inspirational as well.
That's also what I like to calllike a value email.
And then there's the connectionemails.
Are you connecting with them?
(28:10):
That's really bringing out thebehind the scenes.
What's going on?
What are you working on?
And then the third type is thepromotional emails.
SPEAKER_01 (28:18):
Oh.
SPEAKER_00 (28:20):
And the promotional.
And when you have the threetypes, like generally what I see
is either they're really leaninginto the value.
They're giving so much value.
And what they're saying is thatno one is clicking to book a
call with me.
And that's where, oh, we needmore of the connection and the
(28:42):
promotional emails.
Yeah.
Or if they're doing a lot ofpromotional emails.
Yeah.
They may also not be getting alot of clicks because they need
to be able to show the value.
Their community is not seeingthe value.
If they can see the value, thenwhen you promote, it's a much
easier yes.
Like, yes, I see the value and Iabsolutely want to work with
(29:06):
you.
So yeah, it is a balance and Ihave a ratio of...
Okay, let's see if I can do thisright.
Like value is four times,connection is...
three times and promotion is twotimes.
So if you had a grid of, okay,numbers is not my, of I think
(29:29):
like nine or 12 on a grid, youwould end up with like six of
those emails are value for ourconnection and to our
promotional.
I think it's like a nine grid.
SPEAKER_01 (29:45):
Okay.
All right.
Yeah.
I think it's important to, Likeknow that having strategy around
what you're putting out there isreally important.
I'm sure everyone has seen, orat least people who are in
business have probably seen allof the billions of, you have to
do it a certain way in order forit to work.
Videos on Instagram that arelike, you can't just post every
(30:05):
day.
You have to post with a purpose.
Or you can't just email peopleand expect them to click on your
stuff because you emailed them.
You have to give a reason toreach back out to you.
SPEAKER_00 (30:15):
Yeah, that is a big piece.
And I think that's where, so Ifinally came up with my
framework for what I do.
It's a seven part framework andit is STORIES as an acronym.
And the first S in STORIES isstrategize and align.
It's really setting the vision.
It's really setting your NorthStar so that there is a
(30:38):
strategy.
It's not like random throwingspaghetti on the wall, which...
It's also okay when you're justgetting into it and you're
learning and you want to try it.
I'm not against that.
Like, just take that.
Don't, don't overthink it.
Just stay patient and do it andsee what, you know, what you get
is you get data, you getinformation.
And then from there you can thenpivot and say, okay.
(31:01):
I'd like to put some strategy onthis.
So it's not so random.
So yeah, it is definitely likethe strategy and the aligning
piece is important, but alsohaving flexibility in that.
A lot of the times I say to myclients, like, this is what I'm
teaching you and you can gobreak the rules.
Like go break the rules.
(31:21):
It's okay.
Just because I...
I'm saying this is bestpractice.
This is what we do.
If you want to try somethingnew, go try it because that's
really what it's about as abusiness owner is trying
something out, tweak and seewhat happens, what works.
For sure.
SPEAKER_01 (31:39):
Well, I want to thank you for coming on and I'd
love for you to share with ourlisteners where can they find
you?
How can they connect with you sothey can learn more and schedule
a call?
SPEAKER_00 (31:50):
Yeah.
So I am most active on LinkedInright now.
And so if you'd like to connectwith me there, you can find me
by my name, Joanne Homestead.
I'm the only Joanne Homestead onLinkedIn and on Google.
So it's pretty easy to find me.
You can also search JoanneHomestead copywriter on LinkedIn
(32:10):
too.
to really make sure it's me.
But I'm pretty sure I'm the onlyone there.
I'm also on Instagram in themessages, not actively posting
anything.
But if you want to find methere, it's deskplantcreatives
with a dot in between each ofthe words.
And then, of course, you cancome join me in my email
(32:32):
community, Flourish.
That's where I am so passionateto show up and share Give
copywriting tips, emailsequences, email strategy tips,
and stories of all flavors.
It really is just showing youall the different ways that you
(32:54):
can use stories in buildingrelationships with your
community and attracting thepeople you want to bring in.
So if you'd like to join methere, you can go to my website
and grab my free emailstorytelling guide from there.
And then I can also share withyou the link for the free gift.
And from that, you can join myemail community.
SPEAKER_01 (33:16):
Awesome.
You know, all that informationwill also be linked on the show
notes and on our website.
So if you feel like you didn'tget a chance to write all that
down, don't worry.
It'll be posted there as well ason our Instagram.
So thank you so much for joiningus today.
And thank you for the listeners.
And I hope you all tooksomething from us.
SPEAKER_00 (33:35):
Yeah.
Thank you so much for having meon, Stephanie.
SPEAKER_01 (33:38):
Thank you for tuning in to Redefining Us once again
and share with other people soother people can continue to
listen to Redefining Us and wecan get into more listeners
ears.
If you follow us or subscribe orleave a comment or review,
that'd be greatly helpful forother people to find us and also
(33:59):
just for me to get somefeedback.
What do you guys want to hear mesay?
What do you women care abouthearing?
I'm totally open to to bringingon guests and talking about
topics that are unique andinspiring to everyone.
So please let me know.
And this year, hopefully we'llbe full of a lot of community
building, a lot of publicspeaking, a lot of resource
(34:22):
sharing.
So I really encourage you tofollow us on social media at
Well-Minded Counseling onInstagram as our handle, as well
as going directly to ourwebsite,
wellmindedcounseling.combackslash redefining hyphen us
to So you can be in the knowwith all the things that are
happening in the redefining uscommunity.
(34:44):
Once again, thank you so muchfor listening and keep being
awesome.
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