Meet Shari Berg

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shari Berg. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shari below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Shari with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

I learned my work ethic from my parents. Both knew hard work paid off and that it would make any rewards in life worth achieving.

My dad was a blue-collar steelworker who worked long, hard hours. When he wasn’t on the job, he would work around our house to keep things ship-shape. He even built an extension onto our house with the help of my mother.

My mom also taught me how to work hard to get what I wanted. When she wasn’t working outside the home to bring in extra income for our family, she was busy running the household.

Even now, with my dad 81 and my mom 79, they’re still hard workers.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

If you asked my son when he was 8 years old, he would have told you that I’m a “processor of words.” Tired of me working long hours, he begged me one day to “stop processing words and play with me.” It was an excellent lesson in how others see my work, and I even used that descriptor as my tagline on Twitter for a long time.

Today, I call myself a copywriter and content strategist. A trained journalist, I write copy for clients across business and industry. High-quality articles, marketing copy, and social media marketing are among my specialties. My journalism background positions me to intelligently (and accurately) write about any topic, which makes me a bit of a unicorn in the writing industry, which preaches the value of “niching down.”

I’ve always loved writing and can’t imagine myself doing anything else. I crave the thrill of learning new things and about the people behind them, and then turning that information into a final product that engages, educates, and entertains the people reading it.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. The ability to uncover “hidden gems”
Every person has a story to tell. You just have to know how to find it. When I was a reporter, one of my editors told me I had an uncanny ability to find those hidden gems, calling it my superpower. I’ve told some incredible stories that otherwise might never have seen the light of day by knowing how to relationship-build and get people comfortable enough to share their insights.

2. Active listening
Some people think effective communication means expressing yourself well. While that’s part of it, there’s a missing aspect most people overlook – active listening. Good communicators do more listening than talking. It helps them build trust and strengthen relationships. It’s key for reducing misunderstandings and can help you identify underlying issues or concerns that aid in problem-solving. Most of all, active listening is how to find those hidden gems I mentioned earlier.

3. Empathy
The ability to put myself in someone else’s shoes has helped me tell compelling stories that connect with readers. It allows me to expose different perspectives and experiences, challenge preconceived notions, and broaden world views. People make connections to – and ultimately decisions about – a brand based on how they feel. Logic doesn’t drive decision-making. Emotions do. People like to think it’s the other way around, but that’s just what we tell ourselves to justify our choices. You can’t appeal to someone’s emotions without empathy.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I welcome the opportunity to partner with other professionals in my industry or others who complement my skills and abilities. I frequently work with graphic and website designers because collaborating is a natural fit. We partner to add value to our respective clients by bringing services we can’t provide individually.

I also enjoy collaborating on projects with other writing and marketing professionals on mutually beneficial projects. One of the ways I do this is by creating high-quality articles for my business website featuring their subject matter expertise. It’s an effective way to bring multiple perspectives to a relevant industry topic outside of my own.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thewritereflection.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writereflection/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheWriteReflection
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shariberg/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB_56-AL4D7tPeK5erFFwdw