A hot topic lingering on the minds of several corporations today is “how to clarify your business’s core message.” Joining us on the latest episode of The Small Business Show is Temsen Webster, Founder and Chief Message Strategist of Find The Red Thread and Keynote Speaker.
Webster is a former TedX Executive producer and has shared her expertise with major companies and organizations like Johnson & Johnson, Harvard Medical School, and Intel. With 15 years in business messaging, Webster spent most of her time fascinated by how people make decisions.
Key Takeaways:
1. Webster believes that the official flow of ideas while defining a company’s core message is the “Red Thread,” which refers to how individuals differentiate or stand out from the crowd and how to make their messaging designs easier to understand for time-pressed business professionals.
2. The “Red Thread” is the story we tell ourselves about why thighs are related. In the business world, it’s often this unspoken assumption or reason why a company, individual, or business owner operates the way they do. “Because the ‘Red Thread’ is the beliefs that drive their behavior,” asserts Webster.
3. Webster is adamant that messaging belongs between product plans, business strategies, and internal and external communication strategies, as it’s where all the pieces of the business intersect.
4. An organization’s message should be its top priority since, often, there is the largest disconnect between its current strategies and its public or brand-focused communications.
5. The key to a business’s success is its ability to communicate its message clearly. This involves identifying the fundamental questions that a company needs to answer. These questions should align with the purpose of their product, which is to address the questions their customers already have. By gaining clarity on these questions, a business can gain a better understanding of how to proceed and achieve success. As Webster puts it, “If you get clarity on that, everything else becomes much clearer.”
"My philosophy is to ensure things are done correctly the first time, fully comprehend them, and then use that understanding to narrow the organization's message." – Tamsen Webster
