One Word Archives - Lara Eastburn

Jan 31

In the first 2023 edition of the One Word series, I'm revisiting what started this project in 2020. It's hitting inboxes now if you're already signed up. If not, please join us!
---What follows is the post that started it all on 9/20/2020----
The formula, system & secret promise to remove the realities of uncertainty, risk, and the unknown for businesses. For customers, they remove choice & agency.
In marketing & business, we tend to look to how things are already done - the norms. We want to know what works. We want to avoid pain. We want to get it 'right' the first time.
So, in our uncertainty, we look for & respond to what the 'successful' present to us as a sure-fire formula, guaranteed system … or the ever-elusive secret.
Those messages come to us a "received language," an infinitely repeated - but largely unexamined - "vocabulary for success."
This post begins a series to examine, deconstruct, and reinvent the linguistic norms in business & marketing.
👉 Who benefits from this discourse? Who is left out and what is forgotten?
Our linguistic inheritance: A Military-Industrial-Religious Complex
Military: Relies on a hyper-masculine narrative of superiority & domination.
Industrial: Guarantees infallibility through low-effort, automated perfection.
Religious: Delivers promises of magical transformation, gifts, wealth & success.
-----
One Word is a series to examine, deconstruct, and reinvent the received language of business.
#speakhumanwintheinternet
#adsthatmatter
#marketwithmeaning
#responsiblemarketing
#sustainablemarketing
#startwiththewords
#businesslinguistics
#oneword

Jan 30

The best part of One Word is LIVE!
In the One Word FORUM, we develop and hone a practice for investigating the words we use to create, talk about, and promote our businesses together.
You set the tone. Bring to the live Forum the words that perplex, delight, or frustrate in your own industry - even, especially, in your own copy.
Together, we'll engage in questioning the pre-scribed language of business and marketing using etymology, history, linguistics, humor, and plain ol' common sense!
Every other Thursday at 10am CT.
Every other Wednesday at 11am CT.
Drop in for $10 or get access to all dates for $25.
#speakhumanwintheinternet
#adsthatmatter
#marketwithmeaning
#responsiblemarketing
#sustainablemarketing
#startwiththewords
#businesslinguistics
#oneword

Dec 23

Today's One Word is about to hit inboxes ... and we're doing things a little differently in this last episode of the year :-). We're chatting about the linguistic markers that the word sees as "powerless." Ones that demonstrate deference... or do they?
Hop in to the email series now - and join the conversation in The One Word Community. 30 days free for founding members until 2023 is over!
One Word is a series to examine, deconstruct, and reinvent the received language of business.
#speakhumanwintheinternet
#adsthatmatter
#marketwithmeaning
#responsiblemarketing
#sustainablemarketing
#startwiththewords
#businesslinguistics
#oneword

Dec 7

Heads up ... The next edition of One Word will hit inboxes in the next 48 hours - and it's sure to rustle some feathers :-)!
Not yet signed up for this email adventure? Word nerds welcome here - come on in!
One Word is a series to examine, deconstruct & reinvent the received vocabulary of business and marketing.
#speakhumanwintheinternet
#adsthatmatter
#marketwithmeaning
#responsiblemarketing
#sustainablemarketing
#startwiththewords
#marketinglinguist
#businesslinguistics
#linguistics
#etymology
#oneword

Nov 7

This one's Free!
In the One Word FORUM, we develop and hone a practice for investigating the words we use to create, talk about, and promote our businesses together.
You set the tone. Bring to the Forum the words that perplex, delight, or frustrate in your own industry - even, especially, in your own copy.
Together, we'll engage in questioning the pre-scribed language of business and marketing using etymology, history, linguistics, humor, and plain ol' common sense.
Thursday, Nov 10. 10am CT.
Our conscious re-examination of the words we use can reduce harm, restore agency, and straight up make business better.
#speakhumanwintheinternet
#adsthatmatter
#marketwithmeaning
#responsiblemarketing
#sustainablemarketing
#startwiththewords
#businesslinguistics
#oneword

Oct 26

For me and the people I work with, building an audience means asking 2 questions:
Is this something you think about, too?
and
Do you wanna think about it with me?
Because - and I hate to quibble with the OED - but our audience is literally everyone alive.
Our community - the ones who are asking the same questions as us - is something different.
I don't have to build an audience.
I WANT to find my people.
Full text just hit inboxes if you're yet part of our little digital epistolary linguistic romance already. This is your jam and you're not signed up yet? Come join us!
#speakhumanwintheinternet
#adsthatmatter
#marketwithmeaning
#responsiblemarketing
#sustainablemarketing
#startwiththewords
#businesslinguistics
#oneword

Aug 24

The latest edition of One Word is about the titles we're given and the ones we give ourselves. It's a linguistic process that we are continually negotiating - and one that's taking up a lot of my mental space right now.
It's already in inboxes if you've joined the list! Word Nerds welcome: https://laraeastburn.com/oneword
#speakhumanwintheinternet
#adsthatmatter
#marketwithmeaning
#responsiblemarketing
#sustainablemarketing
#startwiththewords
#businesslinguistics
#oneword

Jul 12

"Exploit" just hit inboxes - and it may make you think differently about the word "leverage."
Not yet part of our little digital epistolary linguistic romance, friends? Come join us!
One Word is a series to examine, deconstruct & reinvent the received vocabulary of business and marketing.
#speakhumanwintheinternet
#adsthatmatter
#marketwithmeaning
#responsiblemarketing
#sustainablemarketing
#startwiththewords
#marketinglinguist
#businesslinguistics
#linguistics
#etymology
#oneword

May 27

Balance is the newest addition to the One Word email series. And it's just hit inboxes. Are you signed up?
In 2022, with remote work on the rise, the phrase 'work-life balance' is at peak use (spoken and written with the highest recorded frequency) with no signs of slowing.
Work-Life Balance implies a binary that feels outdated at best. At worst, it rings as an imaginary - and too often, harmful - goalpost.
It is a story that (dis)places the responsibility of 'not working too much' or 'not working enough' onto the worker's shoulders, rather than the expectations of employers, our culture, and predatory economic systems.
The One Word FORUM is Thursdays during JUNE! Join us for a limited-series, LIVE, communal investigation of the words upon which we build our businesses. Grab your place at laraeastburn.com
#speakhumanwintheinternet
#adsthatmatter
#marketwithmeaning
#responsiblemarketing
#sustainablemarketing
#startwiththewords
#businesslinguistics
#oneword

May 13

Our conscious re-examination of the words we use can reduce harm, restore agency, and straight up make business better.
In the One Word FORUM, we'll develop and hone a practice for investigating the words we use to create, talk about, and promote our businesses together.
You set the tone. Bring to the Forum the words that perplex, delight, or frustrate in your own industry - even, especially, in your own copy.
Together, we'll engage in questioning the pre-scribed language of business and marketing using etymology, history, linguistics, humor, and plain ol' common sense.
Thursdays during June at 10am CT. Come to one ($10). Or join us for all 5 sessions ($40). Jun 2 - 30.
#speakhumanwintheinternet
#adsthatmatter
#marketwithmeaning
#responsiblemarketing
#sustainablemarketing
#startwiththewords
#businesslinguistics
#oneword

Apr 15

'One Word' is back in your inbox!
This one's a little ditty about our conceptions of 'good' and 'evil' when it comes to advertising - and why those are weird measures. Also, a little teaser about The Forum - a live OneWord experiment coming in May.
One Word is a series to examine, deconstruct & reinvent the received vocabulary of business and marketing.
Not yet part of our little digital epistolary linguistic romance, friends? Come join us!
#speakhumanwintheinternet
#adsthatmatter
#marketwithmeaning
#responsiblemarketing
#sustainablemarketing #wordnerd
#startwiththewords #linguistics
#businesslinguistics
#oneword

Jan 20

Fill up your drinking horn of mead! Because the latest edition of OneWord is all about how the name of a thousand-year-old Viking king ended up on every single one of our phones.
This is a fun one - and timely! It's all about naming stuff, which is exactly what we'll be doing THIS Friday, Jan 21 at 11am in the Name-Your-Shit Wordshop. It's not too late to join us - $50 | laraeastburn.com
Not receiving the good word yet? One Word is a series to re-examine, deconstruct & reinvent the received vocabulary of business.
#speakhumanwintheinternet
#adsthatmatter
#marketwithmeaning
#responsiblemarketing
#sustainablemarketing
#startwiththewords
#businesslinguistics
#oneword

Jan 5

Naming our products, courses, websites, newsletters, programs … is not like naming KIDS or pets!! Except that it … SO … is.
Naming things is half science, half art. Equal parts research and intuition. And in my experience, it’s best done with friends!
I'll be sharing my own iterable, "if-then" process for naming things in this wordshop. One you can use and repeat with confidence. It will be SO worth every one of those 5,000 pennies.
So, friends, let’s get together and name some shit!
laraeastburn.com/wordshop
-------
👋 I’m Lara! I’m a digital ads expert for small business. Also a linguist. Mainly, I’m hella good at marketing and words. I’m good at them because I use both of them to make the internet a better place.
#speakhumanwintheinternet
#adsthatmatter
#marketwithmeaning
#responsiblemarketing
#sustainablemarketing
#startwiththewords
#businesslinguistics
#oneword

Dec 31

The latest edition of 'One Word' has just landed in your inbox if you're part of our little digital epistolary romance, friends!
9.75 times out of 10, dropping the word 'resonate' in casual convo tends to raise my little linguistic hairs. In this missive, I explore why.
One Word is a series to examine, deconstruct & reinvent the received vocabulary of business and marketing. Link in bio.
#speakhumanwintheinternet
#adsthatmatter
#marketwithmeaning
#responsiblemarketing
#sustainablemarketing
#startwiththewords
#businesslinguistics
#oneword

Oct 29

Should.
This one is tough because I HATE THIS WORD. It's fair to say that my biases toward the word 'should' are ... multiple, many-layered, and maybe unsurpassable.
Should is the word at the tip TOP of my shit list.
I can recognize that my aversion to the word is likely a product of my upbringing and ongoing journey outside of it.
It's possible that for other people, 'should' implies something like 'best practices.' But I just hear "These are the rules. This is the answer."
"You know what you should do, Lara?"
"How many times should I post, Lara?"
"Lara, you should try this app."
"10 Things You Should Do To Optimize Your Ads."
"Lara, should I change ... ?"
Clients know my answer for any question that involves this red-flag word:
"The only thing you SHOULD be doing is what works for your business."
When I'm pushed, I'll say "This is what's working for me right now." Or "It looks to me like ..." Or "Here's what I've observed lately."
But ... standards? No. I'm in the business of bucking those. And I'm a classic case of tending to want to do the opposite of what I should do.
Still, 'should' is the ghost in my machine. It haunts me even though I don't believe in it. It gums up the works even when I push it away.
SHOULD (Old English sceal, Northumbrian scule) means "to owe / to be under obligation."
Should - and its every cognate (linguistic cousin) to the word means 'to owe,' "duty' - even 'to be guilty.' The word's meaning hasn't changed since ... well, ever.
There is no moment that should - and all of its ancestors - didn't mean 'to owe.'
When we tell folks what they should do, we're telling them what they "owe us." We're telling them what they're guilty of not doing. We're telling them that there is a condition (obligation) for success - or worse, approval.
And should has equally twisted cousins.
OUGHT is the past tense of OWE. NEED TO means what IS REQUIRED.
No, no, no. The hairs raise on the back of my neck when I hear these words.
Take your SH*?&D and shove it!
That's the word, nerd.
#speakhumanwintheinternet
#adsthatmatter
#marketwithmeaning
#responsiblemarketing
#sustainablemarketing
#startwiththewords
#businesslinguistics
#oneword

Oct 27

Small business owners wish we could clone ourselves on the daily! But none of us manages well alone.
👉 Social media ADS are one of those areas in our business where we often need some expert help.
But if yours is a business working to change your field and our culture for the better, it's tough to find an ads manager that shares your values.
👋 I'm Lara. And I get up in the morning to make ads that MATTER.
Ads that are beneficial to businesses AND the humans they serve. Yep - at the same time.
✓ We say what's true.
✓ We amplify hope, not pain.
✓ We make ads that don't behave like ads.
✓ We create messaging and media that reflect the spectrum of human experience.
✓ Whenever possible, we entertain!
Because if it's not fun, true, and culture-changing, why bother?
#speakhumanwintheintheinternet
#startwiththewords
#maketheinternetabetterplace
Image by @callynthphotography

Aug 5

SOLUTIONS.
Got a problem? Somebody on the internet wants to (dis)solve it.
There are solutions, y'all. It took me all of 10 minutes to compile this little collage of 40 logos (image 2). It could have been thousands. And that's just business names - never mind slogans and taglines.
Like, the digital landscape is so intense you need, y'know, solutions.
USUALLY, this is the part where I'd talk about the word's lazy vaguery. About how its overuse has emptied it of any meaning at all. You've got answers? We've got solutions! Yawn.
Except this is a truly fascinating word. Its verb form, solve, has the same etymological root as that which would seem to be its opposite, dissolve (resolve and absolve, too). Their Latin great-grandma, solvere, meant to loosen, untie, release.
Which threw me for a linguistic loop for a good minute - my features stuck in the super attractive, scrunched-up configuration my laptop surely knows as my stumped face.
How could solution mean BOTH 'to find an answer' and 'to undo?'
But here's the thing: these are not words that function alone. They always require a direct object. We can't just 'solve' the way we can just 'walk,' for instance. We solve something. We seek a solution to something.
And it's in the something that we understand how finding a solution is simultaneously an undoing.
If we are to solve a Rubix cube, a riddle, a knot - we will loosen it. If we desire a solution to the wage gap, it will involve an undoing of patriarchy. Solutions to global warming demand undoing what we've done, releasing our current ways of existing.
⭐ Solving a problem, in other words, is equivalent to dissolving it.
And that's a reading that shines a whole new light on the word solution for me. It changes how I understand the word entirely. Now, instead of causing me to roll my eyes, it raises my brows, and perks my ears. You?
That's the word, nerd.
👉 ⭐One Word is a series to examine, deconstruct & reinvent the received vocabulary of business. laraeastburn.com/oneword
#speakhumanwintheinternet
#adsthatmatter
#marketwithmeaning
#responsiblemarketing
#sustainablemarketing
#startwiththewords
#businesslinguistics
#oneword

Jul 8

*This is an excerpt from the latest One Word email - link in, well you know 🙂
“But WHY?!?!” demands our red-faced 9-year-old.
Her father has now denied her 4th request to take a small boat out on our small lake.
“Because I said so,” he finally answers without knowing exactly why. (Hey, it worked for HIS dad, right?)
Last week I stumbled upon several articles claiming the word “because” was the most important word in sales.
Hmmmm…. said my brain. Plausible assertion, right? But .. WHY?
Turns out it’s all about a 1978 psychological paper colloquially called by marketers “The Copy Machine Experiment.”
Yes, 1978. It went like this. At the CUNY library, Ellen Langer et al sent in researchers one at a time (half women, half men) to cut the line at a busy copy machine with 3 different ‘reasons.’
Image 2 shows the results that numerous marketers quote as proof that you just need to say the word ‘because’ to get people to do what you want.
EXCEPT … NO.
Because anyone with a child – or who has ever been in a relationship with another human ever – knows for a FACT that’s some bullshit.
That's why the numbers change considerably when the stakes are higher. Not HIGH, though – it’s still 20 copies in the second test (not 200). This part of the study is what all the marketers IGNORE.
The argument here is that we don’t hear what comes after “because” that’s all we need to hear. But this study is about cached language and automatic responses in low-stakes situations of inconvenience, NOT high-stakes sales situations.
I'm still going to use "because." Because it’s the right thing to do when it’s real.
I say to ads clients, “Take your time with this decision because it’s a big deal and it’s important you choose the person that’s right for your business.”
I’m NOT ever going to say, “Hire me because I’m the best.” “Because I can guarantee results.” “Because you’ll be sorry if you don’t.”
BECAUSE the word carries power.
Check your copy. Are you using it in ways that feel good? Because it matters.
#speakhumanwintheinternet
#adsthatmatter
#marketwithmeaning
#responsiblemarketing
#sustainablemarketing
#startwiththewords
#businesslinguistics
#oneword

Jun 9

Here's a word that shows up to the marketing and business party with more than its fair share of baggage.
It arrives in written English in 1340 and is already fully infused with religion. Conversion is - from the very beginning - a Christian word.
What does that mean for the way we use it business? This one just hit inboxes! If you're not signed up yet, head to that link in bio and I'll get it to you!
#speakhumanwintheinternet
#adsthatmatter
#marketwithmeaning
#responsiblemarketing
#sustainablemarketing
#startwiththewords
#businesslinguistics
#oneword

May 23

By the time we start Kindergarten, we've downloaded and assimilated HALF the major framework we will ever have for understanding and communicating in the world.
What?!
The average English-speaker has an active vocabulary of 20,000 words. (English words in active use number over 171,000). Another 20,000 words make up our passive vocabulary - words we know exist and recognize, but never use.
As tiny humans, we absorb the history of these words (without understanding it), their baggage (without recognizing it), and their context (without questioning it) before we can even write a word.
Language acquisition means learning HOW words are used.
But rarely WHAT they mean - or WHY.
Eager to change yourself or the world around you?
Start With the Words.
#speakhumanwintheinternet
#adsthatmatter
#marketwithmeaning
#responsiblemarketing
#sustainablemarketing
#startwiththewords
#businesslinguistics
#oneword

Speak Human, Win The Internet.

We exercise responsibility in marketing through linguistic precision, social awareness, and radical inclusivity. Lara Eastburn is a Facebook & Instagram Ads specialist for smaller business & non-profits.