171 - How A Financial Behaviorist Uses Stories To Illustrate Our Financial lives: Interview with Jacquette Timmons
Release Date: 02/20/2025
Strategic Storytelling
If you’re a small service-oriented business, you want to get people to talk about you! But how do you do this? Small companies—especially service-based solopreneurs—can’t generate buzz the same way as big companies. They need to dip into their client’s backstories. When someone says, “You seem to be talking to me!” -- that's how your buzz begins! In this episode, I talk about what it means for a solopreneur to create buzz. It’s not the same thing as big-company buzz. You’ll get examples of stories that never became the subject of conversation, and how...
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"You're the expert." How do you feel when you hear those words? You'd better get used to hearing that sentenence if you're a service-based solopreneur! Because when you sell a service, you’re selling expertise. You’re offering knowledge and skills beyond what “everybody” has. You hire a licensed electrician because a handyman might do the job...but you want to be sure they won't set the place on fire by mistake. You hire a professional decorator because you want someone with flair who adds something to the project…something your best friend just can't do. So how do...
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You’ve got a nice draft of the copy, all set to go…but will your audience ever read that copy? The answer is: Not unless you’re reeling them in with a strong headline! The truth is, most people don’t get past the headline when they’re reading a sales letter. And yet headlines can be incredibly hard to write…unless, of course, you start with a good story. In this episode you’ll get three tips for using stories to write headlines. It’s one of my favorite topics because we tell business stories to help the copywriting—not to entertain or amuse the audience. You will learn: The...
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Telling the right story, the right way, can lead to more clients and more sales. You don’t have to come up with a story that keeps you in suspense--a story that could be made into a movie or a slick Superbowl commercial. The selling story for a solopreneur calls for two key ingredients. You don't have to dig into your life story to come up with edge-of-the-seat excitement. In this episode, I'll share two ways you can tweak your story to turn listeners into buyers. You will discover... ...the two tricks to get increasing sales from your story ...when a memorable story can...
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You've heard it over and over. Success come from hard work, not talent. You're not a good writer? Not a natural business person? Just work, work and work some more. So hard work is admirable, right? People are most impressed by hard workers? Wrong. Research studies asked this question directly, "What impresses employers and investors most?" Employers and investors listened to stories of people achieving success by hard work...and stories of people who were so talented, success came easily. And the winner? Listeners reported greater respect for people who found success...
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Angela Wills created her Life Style Freedom business by making connections. She believed business doesn’t dictate your lifestyle: your lifestyle creates your business. “I’m really passionate about helping business owners find a business model that supports their lifestyle.” - Angela Willis Angela is a very down-to-earth business owner who’s built her business by understanding her clients. She understands the juggling act of being a parent and a business owner. “That is a skill," she says. "To me, it comes naturally now…the ability to connect with telling...
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Solopreneurs often get advised to show their real selves--to come out from behind the website and reveal who they really are. And one way to do this is to tell stories. What's wrong with this advice? First of all, "Just tell a story" means, "Curate a good story portfolio." A story may represent your self...but you have many selves. The first part of this podcast talks about this point. Which self is the Real You? At about 5.0, you'll get 3 tips to share authentic stories: 1 - know what "be yourself" really means 2 - why "I understand where you're coming from" can mean "I'm clueless" (and what...
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When you tell stories, do you ever think, "That's all well and good for life coaches with personal stories. But I'm a technical person who wants to help people discover new ways of thinking about their actions. Talking about finance seems to call for discussions of numbers, trends and charts with percentages in three colors. Jacquette Timmons brings a different perspective. She's a financial behaviorist, someone who helps people deal with issues related to money, income and investments. Money reflects what's going on in people's personal lives. If you want to understand money conflicts, you...
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Oh no...the New Year begins with two tasks a lot of us dread: planning and taxes. I can't do much about taxes, but this episode is all about making planning more realistic and more fun. Most people make plans and schedules with their left brains. So you get cold, analytical plans...or even worse, daydreams about the future. That's fine if you're a big business...if you sell cola, beer, or sportswear. But if you're a solopreneur, especially if you provide a service, you have a double role. You plan and you deliver. Let's face it: there's no Planning Department for solopreneurs. So your planning...
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What kind of stories can you tell to explain complex or unusual concepts? What metaphors? This podcast gives just one example: How do you explain web development, especially the role of designers and copywriters? One way is to use a football metaphor. Each player on a team has a role to play. The copywriter is the quarterback and the designer is the offensive line. How do these roles work together? Why is one the quarterback and another the offensive line? That's what we talk about in the podcast. It's very short and to the point. Here's a question for you: What stories do you tell when...
info_outlineWhen you tell stories, do you ever think, "That's all well and good for life coaches with personal stories. But I'm a technical person who wants to help people discover new ways of thinking about their actions.
Talking about finance seems to call for discussions of numbers, trends and charts with percentages in three colors.
Jacquette Timmons brings a different perspective. She's a financial behaviorist, someone who helps people deal with issues related to money, income and investments.
Money reflects what's going on in people's personal lives. If you want to understand money conflicts, you need to understand family dynamics and individual emotions.
To illustrate, Jaccquette uses stories about what happens when ordinary people encounter massive shifts in money. She talks about how she realized that money reflects what's going on in our lives -- and how changes in money also change our lives.
What makes this especially interesting is that Jacquette is an Educator archetype. (If you want to learn more about the archetypes, click here.) Her message is, "If you apply what I teach you, you will reach your goals." Her stories are told to educate readers by making a point, not to help us get to know Jacquette as "the person behind the web."
On this episode, you will hear:
-- Jacquette’s origin story: what made her motivated to be a financial behaviorist
-- sample stories of how family background creates a ceiling on your business earnings (and the dynamics of money management in a marriage)
-- why you need to acknowledge your relationship with money (and how it mirrors several relationships you have in your life)
-- how Jaquette uses stories to make her clients realize they're not alone (so they're more comfortable sharing their challenges)
-- how Jacquette uses stories from her own experience to help her explain complex concepts to clients
Learn more about Jacquette at her website: JacquetteTimmons.com
Get a free exercise to understand your own relationship with money: jacquettetimmons.com/wheel
You can also find her. on Instagram and LinkedIn.
Learn more about me on my website.
My new book on solopreneur branding will show you how to use the archetype framework for your own marketing. You'll see why marketers are successful with different kinds of stories, depending on how they choose to position themselves. Free with Kindle Unlimited.