Will’s neighborhood had a big community yard sale this past weekend, so the kids and I collected a bunch of stuff we would have
otherwise donated and we went out for it.
Let the kids keep all the money that came from their stuff, and gave them a hefty 50% commission on anything of ours they sold,
too.
Start ’em young and all that.
My dad and stepmom live nearby, so they came and spent the morning with us too.
My stepmom and I have something in common:
We are not tall.
In addition to my not-tall-ness, I have particularly short arms.
There are little step stools in almost every room of my house to help me move about the day without dragging a stool from room to
room.
It’s either that or not put things on shelves, which is not really an option I’m interested in.
This is one of the reasons it’s so nice to have Will around.
He can reach stuff.
He’s not freakishly tall or anything — I think he’s probably right around average height, maybe a little more.
But apparently that’s all it takes to function in today’s modern kitchen.
So when he’s around, I like to make use of his reach.
Play the damsel in distress, and let the knight in shining armour rescue me from my life of desolation, the salad spinner just out
of reach.
We call it “shelf hero.”
(One of these days, I’m gonna make a shelf hero shirt.)
So anyway, Will is my shelf hero, and he wears the title proudly.
This is one of my favorite parts of being in a long-term relationship — the shared one-liners, the in-jokes, the bits and pieces
of funny terminology you develop.
But on Saturday, this bit of our terminology moved beyond us.
Because Sharon was trying to reach for something, and she asked my dad for help.
“You know, we have a term for people like you and me,” Will piped up.
“We are affectionately known as shelf heroes.”
And then he went on, dramatically…
“To the people of lesser stature, and sometimes short arms…
“We are the few, the brave, the tall… ”
My dad was amused.
(I was, too.)
And thus, shelf hero makes its way out into the world.
There are lots of arenas in life where you sort of develop your own little vocabulary…
Copywriting is one of them, for sure.
Having your own business is another.
Develop and use your own terminology deliberately for a number of reasons…
To build your own authority — you’ve pioneered this idea.
To establish your frameworks — you have a proprietary approach.
To create a sense of community — we all speak the same language.
To give your people a new identity — this is a huge part of being a leader in any space.
There’s a bunch more reasons to do this, but it’s getting late and the kids are crawling all over me.
If you’d like help clarifying and developing your own terminology, ideas, frameworks, or even the identity shift your “thing”
offers, best thing you can do is book a VIP day.
We’ll chat, I’ll come up with some ideas, and then it’ll be off to the races to develop as much marketing material for you as I
can in a day.
(Which is to say, a lot.)
In past VIP days just this year, I’ve written entire email campaigns, done full funnel audits, written sales copy, worked out an
email strategy, and more.
Want to know how much I could get done for YOU in a day?
Just send me email and let me know you’re interested.
