Tag Archives: content marketing

Messy Negative “Why” Stories Are Powerful

I’ve previously talked about companies with powerful why stories. But Chantelle Davison recently pointed out something I should have realized before.

A company’s “why” story can evoke negative emotions, and for this reason can powerfully resonate with their prospects who are experiencing the same problem, and admire someone who overcame it.

As Davison tells it, her 1:1s with businesspeople often turn into confessionals. Not that I picture the lovebug-loving Chantelle as a priest, but bear with me.

“Then they tell me something they’ve been carrying around for YEARS.

“Something they’re convinced would make people think less of them.

“Something they’ve buried so deep they’d almost forgotten it was there….

“The messy backstory that shaped exactly WHY they do what they do.”

And that can resonate with prospects.

Take the Keith Puckett failure example that I shared earlier: he had purchased a home security system thinking that it would protect him…and then while he was traveling the security system sent him an alarm with no context.

Now I guess Puckett could have been embarassed by this stupid purchase of something that did no good at all. But Puckett wasn’t embarassed at all. And he tells Ubiety prospects that he spent good money on a bad system, experienced fear and helplessness…and that he NEVER wants Ubiety customers to experience those same negative emotions.

Share YOUR why story.

Even if it’s a poor tattoo choice.

Google Gemini.

And if you need help writing your why story, talk to me.

Regular Content Review Cycles

I probably spend at least 30 minutes a day playing smartphone games, which means that I probably spend at least 15 minutes a day watching ads.

I’m convinced that “games” are in reality ad delivery vehicles whose sole purpose is to lure you to download other ad delivery vehicles.

But back to the topic. I’ve seen some ads countless times, which means I’ve seen this misspelling countless times over the last few months.

Source not revealed.

And apparently no one at the company (a U.S. based firm) has noticed yet.

They would…if they reviewed their existing content on a set schedule with regular content review cycles.

This is a trick I picked up in the proposal world, one I try to implement when possible.

But not always. Apparently some people are still downloading my old SIX content questions from somewhere on the Bredemarket website. Gotta track that down and fix it.

So review your content.

Or pay me to do it.

Bredemarket 404 Web/Social Media Checkup
Bredemarket 404 Web/Social Media Checkup.

Pourquoi Bredemarket ne propose-t-il pas ses services dans d’autres langues que l’anglais ?

Il y a deux semaines, Bredemarket a reçu une demande de réunion entièrement rédigée en français. J’ai dû la faire traduire pour comprendre la demande. J’ai trouvé le site web de son entreprise, lui aussi entièrement en français. Je ne savais pas trop comment aider cette personne, mais j’ai maintenu la réunion pour voir ce qui se passerait. Au cas où, j’ai utilisé Google Traduction pour préparer un message du type « Je ne parle ni n’écris en français ».

Et j’en ai eu besoin.

Le prospect a rejoint l’appel, ne parlant que français et incapable de comprendre mon anglais. J’ai finalement dû partager mon écran avec mon message traduit, et là, il est resté muet. J’avais oublié comment dire « au revoir » lors d’un appel professionnel en français, alors j’ai raccroché.

« Mais John », me direz-vous, « pourquoi ne pas écrire en anglais et traduire ensuite ? Tu pourrais gagner des fortunes comme ça ! » Cet article de blog devrait vous démontrer les inconvénients de cette approche. Quand les mots sont essentiels, il vous faut un rédacteur qui maîtrise les subtilités du français des affaires. Pas un texte traduit automatiquement. (« Une tonne d’euros ??? »)

The paragraphs above were “written” by Google Translate. Here’s what I sent to it:

Two weeks ago, Bredemarket received a meeting request written entirely in French. I had to run it through a translator just to see what the person was requesting. I found his company’s website, which was again written entirely in French. I wasn’t sure how I could help this person, but I kept the meeting anyway to see what would happen. Just in case I needed it, I used Google Translate to prepare a “I don’t speak or write in French” message.

Turns out I needed it.

The prospect joined the call, speaking only French and unable to comprehend my English. I finally had to share my screen with my translated “I don’t speak or write in French” message, at which point he said nothing. I had forgotten the proper way to say “good bye” on a French business call, so I just hung up.

“But John,” you’re saying, “why don’t you write in English and just translate it to French? You can make a ton of Euros that way!” This blog post should demonstrate the drawbacks of this approach. When words are critical, you need a writer who understands the nuances of business French. Not some text translated by a bot. (“Ton of Euros???”)

Bredemarket Essentials November 2025

If I had to choose three videos that represented today’s Bredemarket, I would choose the three listed below:

  • Landscape.
  • The Seven Questions I Ask.
  • Bredemarket: Services, Process, and Pricing.

I placed all three in this YouTube playlist.

I’ve shared all three as an Instagram story (which will probably have expired when you see this).

And I’m sharing them again below.

Landscape.
The Seven Questions I Ask.
Bredemarket: Services, Process, and Pricing.

Those are good essentials.

If you want to know more, visit https://bredemarket.com/mark/ and book a free meeting with me.

Stop losing prospects! Use Bredemarket content for tech marketers

Bredemarket Services (2511b)

This video talks about Bredemarket’s services.

Just the services.

Bredemarket Services.

If you also want to find out who I (John E. Bredehoft) am, the process Bredemarket uses, and Bredemarket’s pricing, see my previous (longer) video from 10 days ago, “Introduction to Bredemarket: Services, Process, and Pricing (2511a).”

And if you want to discuss my services with me, visit https://bredemarket.com/mark/ and book a free meeting.

Stop losing prospects! Use Bredemarket content for tech marketers

Introduction to Bredemarket: Services, Process, and Pricing (2511a)

Here’s a new video that lets you know about Bredemarket: who I (John E. Bredehoft) am, what services Bredemarket provides, the process Bredemarket uses, and Bredemarket’s pricing.

Bredemarket: Services, Process, and Pricing.

But why…why did I create it?

Stealing from James Tuckerman

So I was reading my emails one day, and I saw how James Tuckerman created a video to introduce himself to prospects. This allowed Tuckerman, based in Australia, to introduce himself to prospects around the world without having to wake up in the middle of the night.

Now Bredemarket doesn’t do business outside the United States (with one exception), but I could certainly use an introduction video.

Wait…I already did that

Then I remembered that I already had several “talkies” from the time when I branded myself as a “CPA”—a content, proposal, analysis expert.

And one of the talkies covered a lot of ground, even pricing.

But it was long, it dragged at times, it was incomplete, and it lacked a couple of my recent branding changes.

You go back, Jack, do it again

So here’s my first cut at a new introduction video. 

  • It’s not a “talkie,” since I wanted to keep it below 90 seconds. 
  • And I may play with different edits. 

But for now, this is my introduction video. Enjoy.

Bredemarket: Services, Process, and Pricing

Here’s the video.

Bredemarket: Services, Process, and Pricing.

And if you want to discuss my services with me, visit https://bredemarket.com/mark/ and book a free meeting.

Stop losing prospects! Use Bredemarket content for tech marketers