To the Core

Clarify your professional essence in a clear, four step program.

🇳🇱 Nederlandse versie

‘To the Core’ is a no-nonsense trajectory of focused flow, to give high achievers a powerful start in their communication in a short time.

As entrepreneurial people, we are often quick to jump into marketing, sales and advertising, while not always considering if we have a strong ‘core story’ in place, which could feed and inspire everything you communicate.

Your core story is about your deepest drives and motivations and the meaning and value you ascribe to the things around you. It’s the thing that powers the unique feeling your business exude. These things together are the key attractors for new and returning clients.

If you know who you are and you roughly know what you aim to achieve, then you already have most of the ingredients for your core story ready. Your core story just needs to be unveiled, unravelled and sharpened, so it's understandable, credible and visible to the outside world.

We will find your core story together and develop your media in real time, such as a website, presentation, video, social media content or pitch.

The benefits, at a glance.

Currently, you can expect the following from the programme:

  • Your core story is sharply crafted in clear steps and applied to the visual media most suitable for you.

  • You will see the firsts drafts of your media emerge shortly after the first session and rapidly continue to develop until they’re ready to be launched.

  • After the programme, you can easily continue on your own if you want and you won't become dependent on anyone to update or expand your website.

  • You bound by any restrictions on what you do with your story or media. You will own everything 100%.

  • As someone who is rather critical of AI, I can promise you that your story will be 100% human-written and designed.

  • That said, I offer different custom GPT’s that can help you assist your thinking through testing and brainstorming your ideas.

About me

As a writer, designer, director and producer, I have developed core stories for all kinds of organisations, from the Dutch Research Council to the Rainforest Alliance and from the Harvard Kennedy School of Governance to the United Nations and many others, for more than 20 years.

I Have worked for a long time in the Netherlands and abroad, in English and Dutch. I have worked with a wide variety of experts, boards and communication managers on the stories that were really important to them. Therefore I have a lot to offer in terms of story strategy, development, artistry, tools, technique and process.

What if I worked on your story?

Who's the programme for?

  • The program is for any professional and organisation looking to level up their communications, from a wide variety of sectors, as long as they offer something of value.

  • It's ok if you haven't got ‘the core’ of your story yet, but it is important that you already know where you are headed and what you aim to achieve and that you are willing and able to surrender to the process.

  • You already have a lot of valuable ideas, that you need to bring together into a cohesive whole, yet you might be unsure of the right direction, shape, approach, tone-of-voice or something else regarding your core narrative.

What do I ask of you?

  • You make yourself available to fill in questionnaires, be interviewed and do some focused assignments. In total, you can expect to invest between 6 and 12 hours.

What does the process look like?

  • Based on a short questionnaire, we see if the programme is for you and if so, we schedule a half-hour video call.

    If we feel a mutual click, we will conclude an agreement and officially get started!

  • When we start working together, you fill in a more extensive questionnaire so that I am well informed about where you currently stand in your thinking and which parts of your story need the most attention.

    You'll also send me anything you think could go on your website as content, such as photos, your CV and descriptions of assignments you've done.

  • We start with an interview in which, in response to the completed questionnaire, I ask all sorts of questions about your mission, your ambitions, your intended target groups, your overview of services and/or products: anything that helps me to properly understand your company and your offering.

    Shortly after the interview, you will receive the first ‘text only’ version of your website with an initial overview of the elements of your story and a number of questions and assignments.

  • This week, we will identify and deepen the core elements of your story at the meaning level through a number of different exercises.

    Shortly afterwards, you will receive an update on your story and website and we will start thinking about what we would like your website design to convey.

  • In this week, we sharpen your story further and start working on the ‘look and feel’ of your business by thinking about what colours, fonts, images are befitting of your core story. We work on designing every page of your site in a clear, logical and appealing way, all focused on the ‘call-to-action’ to your visitors.

    During this week, we ask your 'brain trust' for a reaction to the story. What works well? What raises questions? What is unclear and what is still missing?

  • This week is all about finalising the first complete version of your story and website, including your first newsletter, social media posts and business card.

  • As soon as you are ready, let all your friends, peers, network know that your new website is online and ask people to share it with others.

Interested?

Share your details below and
I’ll get in touch with you soon.

Questions? Feel free to contact me.