Creativity: Business Writing's Special Sauce.
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Writing for business clients is unlike most other writing because it must address specific needs and produce concrete results. Even so, a thoughtful business essay or story can be every bit as creative as a keynote speech, video script or radio ad. All must contain an incandescent spark to attract the eye and engage the mind. Call it style or a kind of creative alchemy, it's that special sauce that connects writer or speaker to the hearts and minds of the people they propose to enlighten or persuade. That's the kind of writing Brian Faulkner has done for his clients over the years. And will do for you. |
This page contains a variety of short samples, including First Lines of Brian Faulkner's client business writing and several personal essays related to business, which Brian didn't start writing until later in life when he had more time to write simply for the pleasure of it.
Business Essay 1: The Courage to Change
Sometimes it takes guts to break out of your comfort zone and get real about your business--and your life.
I once suggested a powerful new tagline to a client. The new tagline didn’t stake out fresh strategic ground but did tap into a universal dilemma that each of my client’s future customers likely would have faced at some time in their lives. The tagline was a strong one because it presented my client’s service as a solution to that problem, But my client hesitated to say yes.
I once suggested a powerful new tagline to a client. The new tagline didn’t stake out fresh strategic ground but did tap into a universal dilemma that each of my client’s future customers likely would have faced at some time in their lives. The tagline was a strong one because it presented my client’s service as a solution to that problem, But my client hesitated to say yes.
Why? They are cautious, deliberate decision makers, which is one reason they’re successful in a fragmented, and somewhat undifferentiated business category. Their decision to put off adopting the new tagline, therefore, was in keeping with their conservative management style--although it reminded me of my father, who my mother once said could spend six months thinking about whether to purchase a $500 used car back when five C-notes could buy a decent set of wheels. Then, by the time he made up his mind, the car had long since been sold.
Was my client ever in danger of missing out on the new tagline while they thought about it? No, because it’s unlikely that anybody would have come up with the unique combination of words that fit that particular business/customer situation.
My point here is not about the decision of a client to not adopt my tagline recommendation. Instead, I’m suggesting that sometimes it takes courage to change, to break out of your comfort zone and declare new competitive space. Truth is, these guys could have gone on for the rest of their business lives, not changed a thing and still been successful because they had so many good things going for them ... although as it turned out they DID have a change in mind, a major shift in strategic direction they kept to themselves,
Was my client ever in danger of missing out on the new tagline while they thought about it? No, because it’s unlikely that anybody would have come up with the unique combination of words that fit that particular business/customer situation.
My point here is not about the decision of a client to not adopt my tagline recommendation. Instead, I’m suggesting that sometimes it takes courage to change, to break out of your comfort zone and declare new competitive space. Truth is, these guys could have gone on for the rest of their business lives, not changed a thing and still been successful because they had so many good things going for them ... although as it turned out they DID have a change in mind, a major shift in strategic direction they kept to themselves,
READ THE ORIGINAL ESSAY BY CLICKING BELOW.
| the_courage_to_change___3.docx |
Business Essay 2: Passion is Calling
When I think about passionate people, one person nearly always comes to mind. I’ve written about this man before, although not by name.
He impressed me from the start, not just because he began his business in a closet--quite literally--but because of his passion for that business, its customers, its products, its people and its future. He was confident that he and his team could create a new line of apparel for a disorganized, underserved market that needed a more consistent branded product. So, with the blessing (and backing) of his parent company, he gathered a small handful of like-minded believers around the closet and went to work.
He impressed me from the start, not just because he began his business in a closet--quite literally--but because of his passion for that business, its customers, its products, its people and its future. He was confident that he and his team could create a new line of apparel for a disorganized, underserved market that needed a more consistent branded product. So, with the blessing (and backing) of his parent company, he gathered a small handful of like-minded believers around the closet and went to work.
Their business took hold and prospered, and their brand became an icon in the trade. His team grew as they created opportunity, managed growth and guided the company into the future. No matter how well they did (and they were enormously successful in a blazing short time), they never lost that passion for their business, its customers and purpose.
The passion was most evident during their annual sales meetings, which were a combination of “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet!” optimism and a palpable awe that they’d all been graced with the privilege of working together. Love was afoot in that company, and no matter how many sales meetings we worked for other clients, no experience quite matched the sense of belonging our team felt when working with this passionate group.
Like my client, Albert Einstein claimed to have no special talents. But he was passionate and curious. “Imagination,” he said, is “more important than knowledge.” So, today I began musing about my experience with this client and wondered what might happen if a good shot of passionate imagination like that were to be introduced to, and even expected of, students throughout America’s public schools ...
The passion was most evident during their annual sales meetings, which were a combination of “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet!” optimism and a palpable awe that they’d all been graced with the privilege of working together. Love was afoot in that company, and no matter how many sales meetings we worked for other clients, no experience quite matched the sense of belonging our team felt when working with this passionate group.
Like my client, Albert Einstein claimed to have no special talents. But he was passionate and curious. “Imagination,” he said, is “more important than knowledge.” So, today I began musing about my experience with this client and wondered what might happen if a good shot of passionate imagination like that were to be introduced to, and even expected of, students throughout America’s public schools ...
READ THE COMPLETE ESSAY BY CLICKING BELOW.
| passion_is_calling.docx |
First Lines: (from a range of Brian Faulkner's work)
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the hardest to think up.
- new product brochure headline -
Stop by our booth and we'll print a piece of your mind on almost anything.
- trade show placard -
When Beauty met The Beast in the famous love story, the beautiful girl had no way of knowing that under that beastly exterior was a handsome prince ...
- garage door print ad -
Imagine a world that works perfectly. Where all your dreams come true. Where the sky is always blue and the sun always shines--and where everything stays clean and in perfect working order. That world does not exist. Instead, we've got a world filled with dirty wares and greasy equipment, a world where clean is only temporary ...
- sales meeting video intro -
Rumor has it that every once in a while, one of our customers goes astray, gets lost somehow on their search for a new Chevrolet. Well, since that's not how it's supposed to be, we've put up a big new sign on I-40 reminding them how to get to our store. It's really uncomplicated ...
- car dealer radio spot -
In case you hadn't noticed, demographics is very much in the news. It's a key driver of change. In fact, today's changing population mix impacts just about every business concern, from marketing new products to developing new ways of thinking within our companies ...
- presidents' conference keynote -
Some years ago, in a burst of creative craziness, Washington Post reporter Joel Garreau began looking at "America" with different eyes. He took the country apart in his mind and reassembled it into a new, more fluid pattern. He reinvented the map ...
- keynote speech -
One of the best things that ever happened to America was Russian. On October 4, 1957, the Soviets shot their Sputnik into Earth orbit, the first nation to do so. I can still remember how stunned the leaders of our country were and the "beep-beep-beep" sound their satellite made on the radio ...
- keynote speech -
Once upon a time, not really very long ago in the fix of things, early man came out of his cave and put on clothes ...
- sales meeting video -
There are all kinds of heroes ...
- keynote video -
Preston Tucker called himself an imagineer. He reached out and grabbed the future by the eyes. He boldly designed his vision of tomorrow--not in some fancy office building but in a beat up old barn in back of his home ...
- president's keynote -
When people hear or see the name Wrangler, lots of good things come to mind, and this--today--is one of the most incredible and personally rewarding days of my life. To stand here and dedicate this building in the presence of an audience like this ...
- president's building dedication presentation -
Ladies and gentlemen, I want to talk to you about developing the incredible ethnic market, a market that might be better described as a "notch" instead of a niche ...
- sales presentation for marketing consultancy -
It was sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s that the economic world shifted its axis from the Atlantic to the Pacific ...
- keynote for multi-national president -
My objective for today is to do nothing less than change the way you think--about your education, about yourself and about your future ...
- client sales pitch -
This is the story of Dowd E. Dalrymple. On the surface, Dowd seems like an ordinary kind of guy, but underneath the surface is a man with a mission. For most of his day, Dowd travels his rounds with single-minded purpose. But then, every day at 2:15, while his associates divide the afternoon with a couple cups of coffee, our hero undergoes an amazing transformation. More about that after this message ...
- sales meeting product intro -
"I've got the Pantyhose Blues. I can't seem to find the ones that fit me! No, not my SIZE ... I'm a Miss Average. They've got to fit ME! The zingy, flingy sunshine me--give my legs something to shout about!
- match to sales meeting intro above -
Fashion is many things: set apart, distinctive, remote, singular. What has been described as "unattainably elegant."
- apparel company product intro -
Love blooms. Grace dances ...
- headline -
Put your money where your heart is ...
- another headline -
Nick Williamson's great adventure began several years ago in his own restless mind ...
- university business school article -
We'd like to go on record as saying that the business management specialist is as outmoded as the dial telephone ...
- tv spot -
The world was once a simple place. People were concerned with the basics. Most meals were served at home, leaving restaurants to the more affluent or an occasional treat for a working man's family ...
- corporate presentation -
Before we begin this radio commercial, I'd like to ask you to take a few seconds to look over at your living room couch--or your bed. If you like what you see, turn your radio down. If you think there's room for improvement, listen up ...
- bedding product spot -
Planning how to run a company and its manufacturing facilities efficiently is a lot like organizing a child's birthday party. Timing is critical. You can't have a birthday party without partygoers, and when you're seven years old and waiting for your friends to show up, the fact that somebody failed to mail the invitations on time doesn't sound very reasonable ...
- MRP video intro -
Sue was mad! She'd been up most of the night worrying, and the noise she'd been so worked up about was getting worse. It seemed to come from the very ground her house was built on ...
- client story -
Welcome to the Pacific Rim, the most exciting market in the world and Sara Lee's next big opportunity ...
- keynote speech -
I must confess to being only slightly intimidated to stand up in front of a group like this to introduce the subject of technologically-based innovation. It's a bit like carrying ice to the Arctic given 3M's legendary reputation for fostering innovation ...
- client speech -
It's hard to know just when America began. It may have started as long ago as the 15th century in the eyes of the young Christopher Columbus looking out to sea, dreaming of what lay just beyond his vision ...
- marketing video -
The mountains call. Their voices whisper in the background of our busy lives, beckoning to families and individuals of all ages and outlooks. Saying "Come ..."
- real estate promotional video -
This was a watershed year for our company. More change occurred more quickly during the last quarter than in any other period in our history. Because we chose to undertake these changes--including some with short-term negative financial consequences, we are entering this new year with a sharper market focus, a more flexible, productive organization and a stronger management team ...
- information systems company, letter to Shareholders -
From day one, our company has focused on a single business purpose: making produce look more fresh and appealing so people will be attracted to our customers' produce and buy more of their fresh fruit and vegetables. Today, our purpose is the same ...
- packaging company web story -
Memories of past successes die hard. In fact, they can cheat future success by inhibiting vital new thinking that may lead to tomorrow's next big idea. Comfortable old notions about customers, business and future may not be enough in today's time-based world of increasing product choice and heated competition ...
- article about leadership -
Most business education curricula are written in stone: "Do it by the book." At Babcock Graduate School of Management, our integrative approach encourages independent thought ...
- TV spot -
Quality: It's not an easy concept to get your head around. As guru Philip Crosby once said, "Quality has much in common with sex. Everyone is for it." ...
- client speech -
Bring us your most demanding, most complex, most time-sensitive and strategically important systems challenges ...
- headline for systems integrator brochure -
Nothing is more important today than getting more things done with fewer people--the right things. Because nothing is more critical than aligning people, purpose and profit ...
- introductory business letter -
The microchip, an extremely powerful miniature computer, its hundreds of components etched onto a thin wafer of silicon--a true electronic marvel that performs nothing less than minor miracles every second of every day ...
- telecommunications company video -
Much of what you've been hearing today has to do with change. I know from experience--in both my business and personal life--that change doesn't always come easy ...
- consumer products company sales meeting intro -
You walk into your favorite coffee shop anticipating a pleasurable experience. You may have awakened with that thought on your mind, and it's likely that you passed several other coffee shops on your way. But you chose this one ...
- business essay -
Brand is experience writ large.
- one of my talks -
Business clients have included:
artists...
battery manufacturer...
car dealers...
churches...
church renovators...
clothing stores...
consultants...
consumer products companies...
CPAs and attorneys...
schools and colleges...
computerized systems...
electronic systems providers...
fast food restaurants...
forklift manufacturer...
industrial cleaning provider...
industrial compressors...
industrial controls and transmissions...
industrial packaging...
interior designers...
jewelry manufacturer...
local and regional banks...
home improvement businesses...
major oil company...
medical instrument manufacturer...
medical practice...
medical product distributor...
millwork manufacturing...
municipalities...
music stores...
newspapers...
non-profit organizations...
parks & recreation...
photo lab...
piano stores...
plumbing supply distributor...
systems integrators...
political candidates...
power turbine manufacturer...
printing industry...
private networking provider...
produce packaging company...
public transit...
radio stations...
real estate sales...
restaurants...
retail shopping...
sock manufacturing...
telecommunications company...
women's wear...
worldwide plastic container manufacturer...
and others.
