Debbie Laskey's Blog: Branding Tips to Stand Out

LinkedIn has often been called the "international watercooler" of business. According to Google, the metaphor refers to how professionals use the platform to discuss industry trends, company culture, leadership, diversity, and current events - topics that previously occurred around a physical office watercooler. Today, LinkedIn has over one billion members in 200+ countries.

As a LinkedIn user with nearly 2,000 connections, I have always used the platform as an "international watercooler." Over the last decade, I've reached out to second and third connections as well as suggested connections. As a result, I've "met" people all around the world and had inspiring discussions online, via phone, and via email about corporate culture, customer experiences, employee experiences, leadership, and marketing.

Recently, I "met" Emily Aborn on LinkedIn. Once we connected, we had a conversation about branding, brand messaging, brand personality, and more - and highlights follow below. But first, an introduction: Emily Aborn writes for a living, and even she struggles to write for and about herself. Successfully facing down the blinking cursor of doom is no small feat, and it can stop a brand in its tracks from sharing its message with others. That’s where Emily, a Small Business Copywriter and Podcast Host, steps in to help! She has experience writing for over 115 industries and has worked with 1,000's of individuals to help them gain visibility in their marketing. She helps a brand's voice make a distinct imprint and stand out. And for fun, Emily enjoys spending time in the great outdoors in rural New Hampshire, game nights with family, listening to podcasts, and reading every book she can get her hands on.

QUESTION: I "met" you on LinkedIn and was immediately impressed by your cover image's message, "Your voice. Your distinct imprint." How did you come up with that tagline?

EMILY ABORN: In late 2024, I was deep in the throes of reconnecting to the "why" behind what I do as a copywriter for small businesses and nonprofits. For me, words aren't "just words," they’re world-changers, perspective-shifters, connection-builders, and powerful expressions of who we are at our core. A lot of my work as a copywriter centers around helping individuals and businesses to stand out amidst the chaos of the online space and noise. The specificities of the words often get lost (a la Maya Angelou's, "They’ll remember how you made them feel") but the impact of the words and our messages ripple outward and onward. Our voice, our brand, our message...it's intended to leave a "mark" in the lives of others. When we find our unique voice, it can do just that. The tagline came to me (as most taglines do) as a shower thought, and I knew instantly it was "the one."

SHARE THIS: Our voice, our brand, our message...it's intended to leave a "mark" in the lives of others. ~Emily Aborn #BrandMessaging #BrandTip #DebbieLaskeysBlog

QUESTION: What first attracted you to marketing?

EMILY ABORN: I’ve had an entrepreneurial spirit since I was a little kid. It comes at me from both sides of my family, and is literally part of my DNA. In addition to starting numerous ventures of my own, everywhere I've ever worked, I've been an advocate and force to help spread the message even more. I've found myself wearing the hat of "marketer" before I even had the words to describe what I was doing for other organizations! In 2018, my husband and I were in the process of closing a retail shop we owned together, and I was at a crossroads. Needing to decide what to do next and not knowing exactly how to determine that, I simply said, "Yes!" to opportunities presented to me by fellow business owners and shifted naturally into helping others with their online and offline marketing efforts. A business was born virtually overnight before we even closed our former operation.

QUESTION: How do you explain "brand voice, tone, and personality" to new clients (or friends/family) who don't live and breathe branding and marketing?

EMILY ABORN: Most people aren't nearly as fascinated as I am with getting into "the weeds" of what makes a brand voice a voice, what makes a tone a tone, and what makes a personality a personality. That said, I would define them as follows:

Brand Voice: The consistent elements that come through as you express yourself. Your own, personal, distinct vocabulary, mood, style, and structure of writing/speaking.

Brand Tone: How you say what you say - your attitude, mood, depth, and pacing.

Brand Personality: Just like your personality, this is made up of the human characteristics and adjectives you want your brand to be known for: smart, curious, friendly, funny, helpful, kind, etc.

QUESTION: What's your favorite brand, and what makes it stand out?

EMILY ABORN: It would be impossible to pick a favorite brand! It depends on what we're talking about (clothes, tech, cars, accessories, home goods, food, etc.), but I will share a brand that I think hits the nail on the head with its marketing: Airbnb. Their ads always speak the exact pain points of their customers without making you feel like you're even "in pain." They whisk you away without whisking you away and help you dream bigger for your next getaway. They also do a great job of adapting the ads to every style of traveler.

QUESTION: What's your favorite social media campaign, and why?

EMILY ABORN: I love the creator Mahdi Woodard on Instagram as well as Tad Hargrave. They both bring a HUMAN perspective to marketing and focus on sustainability, defining niches in new ways, and anti-hustle/burnout. I'm all about bringing the un-AI-able and human experience to social media (and beyond).

QUESTION: I see that you're a big reader (me too - I read 64 books during 2025!), so what's your favorite book of all time, and why? And what was the last book you read, and why did you choose it?

EMILY ABORN: Amazing with 64! Even with a couple sprints of reading a whole book in a day, I didn't even come close to that this year (sitting squarely at 46). If I tell you my favorite book of all time, all the other books will be jealous! It's hard for me to think back to ALL the fabulous books I've read since I've been reading really good books since I was 5, but over the past couple of years, I enjoyed The Alice Project as it rekindled my love of historic fiction and had all the right elements of drama, romance, truth, horror, and heartbreak. The last book I read was The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides and it was just a book "tossed in" to a free book swap I was doing on a whim. It turned out to be a page-turner with a seriously unpredictable ending. Currently, I'm reading Fiona Davis' The Lions of Fifth Avenue. I read mostly fiction with the exception of a few books to satiate my curiosity and love of learning.

Debbie Laskey's Blog

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Branding Tips to Stand Out - A Q&A with Emily Aborn

SHARE THIS: Words aren't "just words," they’re world-changers, perspective-shifters, connection-builders, and powerful expressions of who we are at our core. ~Emily Aborn #BrandMessaging #BrandTip #DebbieLaskeysBlog

SHARE THIS: Our voice, our brand, our message...it's intended to leave a "mark" in the lives of others. ~Emily Aborn #BrandMessaging #BrandTip #DebbieLaskeysBlog

SHARE THIS: I can't pick a favorite book - because all the others will be jealous if I do! ~Emily Aborn #Reading #Bibliophile #DebbieLaskeysBlog

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