The ‘A4 Sessions’ Discovery Workshop

A focused session where we go over the aspects of your key messaging, your ideal client, website elements, values and traits… and (if there’s time) a few other queries that might naturally crop up.

And why do we do this?

Because your brand and your brand messaging is the only strategy left. In a world full of AI copy, AI content, AI ads – a sea of ‘best practices’ and not much originality – you only have two ways to separate yourself from the competition and stand out. One is how much you can spend. The other is your brand, your personality, the way you say things.

 

The story behind the session

 

The first time I did this, it was with my wife, the designer. I’d promised to write her website copy and so we needed to figure out exactly what needed to be said. I remember having a headache as we sat down at the table. I wanted to get to the crux of the matter right away. 

My first question was: “What do you want your website to do for you?” And the next one was: “What do you want to do for people?” And then we took it from there. 

We ended the morning with a stack of A4 sheets of paper (hence the ‘A4 Sessions‘ name) and a whole bunch of new ideas for messaging.

Over time, drawing from experience and adventures with defining my own messaging, I refined the questions down to the process outlined below. 

Having guided several clients through it, I know it works. 

 

You will go away with: 

 

• Renewed focus on what you do and why
• Clarity around your key messaging and what to say to hook people in
• Usually, a fresh view on your business’s direction, and/or, maybe an idea for a new offer

It typically takes around three and a half hours, so I’ll run the session in the morning or the afternoon. It can be at your place, or mine, or somewhere else with a table where we can focus (and have a decent supply of tea/coffee/water/snacks).

Price: 

£200 for a half-day A4 Session

Let’s get started

 

 

Session details: 

 

It all starts with the vital opening question: 

What caused you to come to me? (This identifies underlying goal for the session)

Then I go through 2 key sections where we explore : 

Messages

• What are you confident at doing?
• What problems do you solve? 
• What don’t you want to do?
• Who do you do it for? (or: who can overcome those problems with your help)
• Ideal Client Avatar diagram – who gives you most value, joy and profit?
• What kind of verbiage is going on in their heads?
• When stars align, what is the ideal result for the client?
• Value prop: Helping X achieve Y through Z / I’m a Z helping X achieve Y

Website

• What do you want it to do? (main goal)
  • e.g.: “I want people to [buy/hire me/book] by [action they should take – calling, submitting a form, etc.]”
• What does the site need to do to achieve that goal? 
• Processes of attention, trust, authority and suitability
• What do people need to see? 

Also, we’ll maybe consider your main offer…

• Do you have packages?
  • Maybe a tier system?
• Competitors – Who? What are they doing?
  • It’s interesting to compare, but I would always say pay attention to your own clients and processes first in order to create messaging and content that’s true to you.

 

So, what do you think? Fancy a go at this? 

You can look at the questions and bullet points on this page yourself until the cows come home. Or you can sit down with me and I coach you through it, draw out of you what matters and make it sharp.

 

Pricing

 

The standard half-day, 3.5-hour session is £200. 

But there’s another option. Usually, the half-day session covering what’s outlined above has been enough for everyone. They’ve gone away with renewed clarity on their messaging, a smile on their face and sometimes a whole new way for their business to go. 

But there’s another option. I kept a third section in hand just in case we raced through the questions and I needed to fill the time. That never happened. But I know there are more elements around your brand that we could go into.

If we go into extra time…

We can unravel more aspects of who you are and what you do:

• Your key values and traits
• SWOT analysis
• Which super-villain are you? 
• And some personal thoughts: 
  • Mission
  • Speciality
  • What are you kicking against? 
• Conversations to unpack thoughts around the above and how it might further influence your messaging.

If you want to commit, and we come back for a final round and more thoughts after lunch, then I’ll call it a whole day session for £350. 

Totally up to you. It might be overkill for some people, but I think it would be extra productive. And there’s one thing I that I strongly believe to be true:

Only after doing all this can you go into your logo and branding.

 

If you want to take it further, drop me a line via the Contact page.

Let’s go for it

 

 

 

PS – More ways to get the brain juices flowing

While we’re here, if you just want a quick fix or a jump-start for your messaging, I find these short exercises often work wonders:

 

4 kickstarters: complete the following sentences:

“I’m not creative…”    (what you do)

“I’m not scientific…”   (how you do it)

“The best thing I ever did for a client…”   (what you can really do for people)

“I am raising my rates tomorrow because…”   (why you can charge a good fee)

 

4 key questions: (if we need to find website headlines and ideas quickly)

1. What 3 questions do your customers always ask you?
2. What do you love about your work?
3. What is the perfect outcome for your clients?
4. What do your clients love about what you do?

 

Thanks for reading! I hope to hear from you soon.