We try harder.

One sentence changed everything.  

That’s the power of marketing and copy in your messaging.

It’s not always your offer that’s broken. Sometimes you just need to reframe things.

I’m not some snappy ad agency.  Tag lines aren’t my thing.  But there is a pattern in the framing of offers that I’ve noticed that you can use to develop your own one liners that will take you from generic and vague, to specific, emotional and focused on what your service feels like to use or the unique relief it creates.

1.  Start with your original sentence.  If you don’t have one yet, just write a statement that describes your offer.
   
2. What does this REALLY do for them?  What’s the emotional win or personal shift they care about?  How will they feel when this problem vanishes – what becomes better or easier now?  Focus on the result, not the work.
   
3. Be a human.  This can be the hardest part because we like to try to be clever or different.  How would you describe this to someone who was smart but completely overwhelmed? No marketing lingo.  Think metaphors and before/after snapshots.
   
4. Now tighten it up.  Use shorter words, make it punchy.  Think what you would write if it needed to go on a post it note or a tshirt.  

Here’s an example of my own products.

Business Beacon

Before: A weekly accountability email to keep your business on track.
After: Like getting tapped on the shoulder once a week to keep your goals in focus — and your business moving.

Foolproof System to Find Clients

Before: A self-paced course to help you get more clients.
After: A dead-simple method that bags dream clients — no cold pitching, awkward DMs, or paid ads.

Incite Sessions

Before: One-off strategy calls to help you move faster.
After: Hit the “next level” button and get unblocked and out of your own way in 60 minutes or less.

Monthly Accelerate Coaching

Before: Monthly business coaching to help you grow.
After: Finally feel like someone’s in it with you — with strategy, focus, and support that fits your pace.

Now it’s your turn.  Want some free feedback on your one sentence?

The post How to Write the One Sentence That Sells Your Offer on Repeat appeared first on Business Systems Solutionist | Dawn Martinello | INCITE + VELOCITY. .

Because most weeks the most exciting thing to happen is the arrival of fish flies.

There’s no big trip.
No weird Uber driver.
Didn’t accidentally join a cult.

I attended a planning night for the Kids Zone Scouts is running, watched the Oilers and threw things at the tv, and my kid got sick.

And somehow I’m supposed to pull a powerful marketing lesson from that?

Don’t get me wrong.  Stories are great.  I even did a whole presentation on that at Social West last year. (they paid $750 for it, get it here free)

But you don’t need a story to be useful. You don’t need drama to be helpful. You don’t need a perfect “aha” moment to connect with people. Sometimes, you don’t even have to try to pitch anything.

(insert collective gasp of disapproval)

Besides, the point of a story isn’t the story. It’s the connection.

And sometimes? That comes from a sharp little observation. Or an opinion you’ve been chewing on. Or just saying the thing that other people are too busy pretending doesn’t apply to them.

That’s what earns attention … not pretending your life is a highlight reel.

So yeah, I didn’t almost die in a foreign airport.
I didn’t get a book deal or win the lottery or even be able to talk about the horrors of having a boob pop out diving into the pool.

But I still showed up and wrote something real.

And that’s what makes it worth sending.

If your week was quiet?

You’re not failing.  You’re living. You just need to learn how to frame it. And if you’re really stuck? Say that.

There’s a lot of power in the truth no one else is saying out loud.

The post What to Do When You Have No Story to Tell (But Still Want to Send Regular Marketing and Sales Emails) appeared first on Business Systems Solutionist | Dawn Martinello | INCITE + VELOCITY. .

Not business – that’s about to bust at the seams.

But personally? Kinda lonely.

My best friend’s been buried in work stuff lately—she’s surrounded by people all day, and by the time she’s done, she doesn’t have a lot left in the tank.

And I get it.

But man, when you’re working from home on your own… it gets real quiet.

There’s no water cooler. No one to high-five when you finally figure out that one tech thing. No random coworker who tells you it’s okay to pack it in for the day when you’re spiraling at your desk over something that doesn’t actually matter.

It’s not burnout. It’s just… a weird sort of business loneliness.

The kind where you start wondering if you’re making the right moves at all. If this thing is even working.

If that’s where you’re at too, you’re not broken.  This is just part of it.
 

But it doesn’t mean you have to white-knuckle through it alone.

That’s part of why I created Business Beacon.
 

It’s a tiny thing. A weekly email. Just three questions. But it keeps you tethered to your business and your goals—and if you reply, you’ll get a reply back from me. (No bots. No AI. Just actual me.)

It’s a check-in from someone who gets it.

The accountability is great.
The connection? Even better.
I hope we’ll talk soon.

The post The lonely side of solopreneurship no one talks about appeared first on Business Systems Solutionist | Dawn Martinello | INCITE + VELOCITY. .

It’s not Pinterest perfect and it’s not Christmas. 

Just a few mini eggs stuffed in drawers and coat pockets and laundry baskets. 

There’s always a “winning” egg.  The last one standing.  This year, it was hidden on top of the pile of napkins.

It’s simple.  It’s silly.

It’s not expensive or time consuming.  In fact, he helped me fill the eggs. 

The world doesn’t need help being hard.  So when things get heavy, I like doing things like this to make life feel a little softer.

Which made me think:
 

How often do we overcomplicate the parts of our business that are already working?
Like the offer that sold 3 spots and then got buried under a shiny new idea.
Or the DM script that worked once but felt “too easy” to keep using.
 

Or the plan you were excited about until someone else made theirs look fancier.

But here’s the truth:
 

You don’t need to reinvent your business every season.
 

You need a few simple things that still work—and the consistency to keep showing up for them.

Just like the egg hunt.  No big reinvention. Just do it again.

If you need help finding your version of that .. the simple, repeatable way to attract clients who are already looking for someone just like you…

I’ve got you.

👉 The Foolproof System to Find Clients Dying To Hire You
 

It’s the exact strategy I used to book out my business when I had zero game plan, no confidence, and no social media presence.

It still works.
No glitter required.

You know what shouldn’t be an egg hunt? Your contacts. Most people think their list is fine—until they need to send something specific and realize their tags don’t tell them anything useful. When would now be a good time to get that in order? Click here and I’ll give you my free Tag It Right system.

The post Why The Simple Things Still Work in Business (and in Life) appeared first on Business Systems Solutionist | Dawn Martinello | INCITE + VELOCITY. .

I can’t scroll two inches without tripping over someone declaring their authenticity. I love marketing, but sometimes I violently hate this industry.

The only thing more confusing (especially to newbies) is the health and wellness industry where every week there’s a new truth.

No one eats carbs.
Wait, everyone eats carbs.

No dairy, all dairy, some dairy.

It’s not your habits, it’s your hormones.
It’s not your hormones, it’s your mindset.

You’re all a bunch of dummies. CALORIES IN CALORIES OUT!

No one agrees on anything except that you’re most likely, absolutely, positively doing it wrong.

I had a successful business, closed it all up and started something new but sort of failed so I’m gonna spin it and talk about how I fired everyone and now I’m back but unfiltered and unedited.

Lead magnets are dead and you suck if people aren’t subscribing because of how awesome and interesting and glowy you are.

And don’t you dare add someone to your list without 17 double opt-ins, a signature in blood, and a notarized statement that yes, they are aware you might one day try to sell something.

I turn my back for two minutes and everything turned into an 80’s playground shrink wrapped in buzzwords and priced at $997.

The post The Exhausting State of “Authentic” Marketing in 2025 appeared first on Business Systems Solutionist | Dawn Martinello | INCITE + VELOCITY. .

Hey I’m Dawn.  Your suit is pretty nice but did you know that it doesn’t fit you as well as it could?  I’m a tailor.  Here’s my card.  Only $150 and I’ll tailor your suit.  Then turn tail and never speak to them again.

With internet marketing, we have a little leeway, right?  When someone signs up for my list, they basically walked up and said – can you teach me some shit?  

And I do!  I sprinkle them with lots of value and fun and point them around my different offers.  

And sometimes it’s actually OK to start with a pitch.  But that’s a VERY specific situation.

I’m used to people randomly emailing me to pitch me their services.  

I’m used to people connecting with me on LinkedIn and immediately pitching me after a line or two of compliments and fake friendship tactics.

But this year, I’ve seen an uptick in something I don’t like.

I’ve left these 3 on my list for research purposes. They subscribed to my list, responded to the first email and haven’t done a single thing since.   

Honestly, if they were solopreneurs, hustling for their first clients, I’d respect the fuck out of this.  

But instead, they sit on my list I pay for so they can market to me. 🤢

So does it work?

This kind of cold outreach is a numbers game so if they have the money .. yeah it would.  Most likely they’ve got some Ai bot handling everything but I guess it could work with some low-cost VA’s too.  

Would I recommend this for you?  For a number of reasons, including it feeling slimy, hells no.

I said earlier that there’s a specific time when it’s OK to introduce yourself WITH a pitch.  It’s exactly what I did to start and fill my Virtual Assistant business.  

It’s a solid plan and stupid cheap.

I think that I’m going to add a new module to the course because I KNOW some of you are looking at what these guys are doing and thinking it could work.

It can*, but you’re going to do it with some marketing class.  That means more work for you on the front end, which means lower numbers than what these guys are doing.  But I guarantee you’ll have way better results.  

*I don’t think this is suitable for every type of business.  

Have you seen anyone like this show up on your list yet?

The post What a horrible first impression: these cringy cold pitches don’t land appeared first on Business Systems Solutionist | Dawn Martinello | INCITE + VELOCITY. .

Last week, his dad asked me to send some gift suggestions and here’s a recap of yesterday’s text convo.  

Him: There’s only one hoodie option on the website. My sister was going to get it but I guess she went a different route.

Me: I don’t know what you’re asking.

Him: I’m not asking anything. I’m just worried that if someone else decides to get him the sweater and since there’s only one style and one colour, he’ll end up with multiple hoodies.

Me: Your sister said she’s getting him something else and this isn’t on anyone else’s radar.  

Him:  Well that’s fine then.  Maybe I’ll order it.  I don’t know what to say.

Me: 😵

This has been building all week, and the way this man spirals over the smallest decisions is next-level. 

Now, most people don’t experience it this intensely, but this kind of paralysis shows up all the time—especially when we overload people with too many choices.  

It’s why we limit the buying choices on our sales pages.  (There’s more psychology around having your middle option marked as Most Popular.  If you want to know why, hit reply and I’ll tell you)

This is going to sound so stupid easy but HEAR ME OUT because people are NOT doing this.

When I started my virtual assistant business in 2009, I had no marketing experience. I was literally an ambulance chaser. I found people complaining on Twitter about their workload, needing a VA, or struggling with tech and (gasp) hit them up directly.  

And I booked out in two months.

Why? Because when people already want something, they don’t need to be convinced—they just need to see you as the obvious choice.

Most people do this terribly. You’ve seen it:

Somebody posts in a Facebook group, Does anyone know anyone who sells Avon/Scentsy/Service? and immediately gets a billion comments from desperate sellers throwing their links in the void.

It’s chaotic. It’s forgettable. And it rarely leads to sales.

I figured out how to do it differently—so I always ended up with the client.

The best part? It still works today. And it’s even easier now because social media has only made people crave more direct, personal interactions.

No chasing. No hoping. Just the simplest, most effective way to get hired.

It’s a 60-minute masterclass with scripts and a copy of the exact template I used to book out my business when I was brand new.  

Want in?  

Grab The Foolproof System to find clients who are dying to hire you here.

The post Decision paralysis is real appeared first on Business Systems Solutionist | Dawn Martinello | INCITE + VELOCITY. .

Then they said 4pm. 

Then 6pm. 

*eye roll*

By the time the first snowflake finally hit the ground at 8 PM, I had already run through every possible outcome in my head—power outages, buried cars, a frozen ice rink that I have to drive my kid to work on.

And this morning? Meh. It wasn’t even that bad.

It got me thinking just how often we do this in business (or with our family/friends even).

We hype ourselves up (or psych ourselves out), waiting for the perfect moment to finally take action. We plan. We overanalyze. We tweak our to-do lists instead of actually doing the thing.

Meanwhile, the people making real progress?

​​Oh well, they just get started.  They show up. They take the next step, even when they don’t have all the answers. 

Wouldn’t it be great if you could stop waiting and start doing?  

No overthinking. No waiting for the “perfect time.”

Just steady, unstoppable progress.

So, what are you waiting for? 

A sign? A snowstorm? 

Consider this it.

The post How Overthinking is Freezing Your Business Growth appeared first on Business Systems Solutionist | Dawn Martinello | INCITE + VELOCITY. .

Too many mainstream “popular” people’s emails aren’t as good as mine – they have horrible formatting and aren’t as entertaining and real.

She’s right.  I look forward to every one of her emails even when I don’t want what she’s pitching.  

But then she said that entertaining stories are only half of the equation.  The other half is consistency.  Also true.

Shocker, I know.  A business automation specialist getting all teary eyed over the scaffolding that habits and consistency bring your business.  

This fits everyone, everywhere.  

I love lifting weights and I’m in the gym 4 days a week.  That’s 16 times a month.  Of those 16 visits, I’m highly motivated for maybe 6 of them.  8 of them I go because I know I won’t ever regret getting the workout in even though I really don’t want to go.  The other 2, I would pay you to light me on fire rather than want to go.

But 16 times a month, you’ll find me in the gym because I have a massive scaffolding of habits around my workouts.  

In your business, half of your scaffolding is documentation.  

AKA Standard Operating Procedures.  

The other half comes from building the habits to get stuff done.  That’s usually the hardest part for us solopreneurs who can sit back in our chairs and scan Facebook because no one’s around or run over and throw a load of laundry in.

So I have 2 resources for you to build your scaffolding.  

One.

Two.

I also want you to make me a promise. 

Please stop thinking that there’s some secret sauce that you don’t know yet.  There’s not.  You know what you need to do, you’re just missing the faith in yourself that you know what step to take next AND the habit of taking that step forward.

Both of those resources will help with that too.

The post Twice a month I hate the gym appeared first on Business Systems Solutionist | Dawn Martinello | INCITE + VELOCITY. .

Easy to make fun of it now, but for those whose income relied on that platform, it was anything but funny.

I’m gonna scream this out one more time for those in the back.

Just because you have an audience doesn’t mean you have a business. 

→ Let’s follow one another and help each other grow!

→ Tons of engagement on something “universally funny” but nothing on your business posts. 

→ Vanity numbers to prove your worth

Watching those final days and weeks was brutal.  

People started every video with a reminder that it was going away but to follow them on the other platforms.  

Luckily for them, TikTok has a 90-day reprieve but what do you suppose would have happened if it was gone forever and they were lucky enough to bring their audience and continue building over yonder.

Lesson learned?  Fuck no.  Because, as humans, we mess stuff up.  Repeatedly.  As long as the numbers were there and the cheques were flowing from a new source, more often than not, nothing would change other than the platform they were on.

Please.

PLEASE.  

For the love of sweet baby Jesus, build your business.  

Each one of them needs this.  

Selfish?  Yeah, a bit.  But I also know it works.  So yeah.

So tell me, what did you do this week to build your business the right way?

The post One glitch away from being broke appeared first on Business Systems Solutionist | Dawn Martinello | INCITE + VELOCITY. .