In this blog—I’m gonna break down what you can learn about website design & marketing from The Princess Diaries.
You’ll learn:
- Why serving your audience is better than following the crowd 👑
- Why your ideal clients like to see behind-the-scenes content 😊
- Why you need something your business is known for 🍐
- How to become the Queen of Genovia 👸🏻
(Never watched The Princess Diaries before or need a refresh? Click here & here for the summaries.)
Let’s start with the marketing & launch for The Princess Diaries.
The Princess Diaries premiered in August 2001—followed by The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement in August 2004 (this summer marks the 20th anniversary of the sequel 🎉).
The Princess Diaries is based on a book series that became more popular after the premiere of the first movie—which is interesting considering that in most cases of books turned into movies it’s usually the opposite *shrug*
While the books are geared toward a teenage audience—the movies maintained a G-rating to prove that people would still go & watch those types of movies instead R-rated films. In fact the first Princess Diaries movie was the only G-rated film released in the summer of 2001.
^^^ But despite the naysayers the makers of the film were right because both the OG & the sequel did very well at the box office, even with the G-rating.
And what can you learn from this?
It doesn’t matter what’s popular—you need to serve your audience with what they can help them, even if it goes against the normal.
While it’s not an exact Cinderella-style story of rags to riches—The Princess Diaries has the quintessential “ugly duckling-esque” plot, transforming the main character Mia into a princess.
^^^ Which is basically what you do when you work with clients. You take something of theirs & help transform it into something better.
And your clients want to see what that transformation could look like for them before they book—aka. you need testimonials & a portfolio or case study on your website.
The proof really is in the pudding social proof—because it backs up that what you say in your marketing is real, because people wanna know that you can *actually* help them with their problem or not.
You don’t see it as much now, because of streaming—but it was a common bonus feature in the 2000s when a movie was released on DVD to include behind-the-scenes content from the making of the movie & deleted scenes.
^^^ And that’s another thing that your ideal clients will like to see before they book with you.
Social media is usually the easiest way to show in-progress projects but you can also email your email list with behind-the-scenes content too.
Here are some notable quotes & plot points from the scripts of The Princess Diaries that can help you with your website design & marketing.
Quote: Lilly Moscovitz: “Does this popcorn taste like pears?” Mia Thermopolis : “Mmm, Genovian specialty.”
Business Lesson: You need a UPV (unique value proposition) for your business—but it doesn’t have to be as unique as being known for Genovian pears. It can be how you do your processes in a way that’s different than everyone else in your industry. Or it could be the equipment or software that you use.
Quote: Queen Clarisse: “Good. A diplomatic answer. Polite, but vague.”
Business Lesson: While being vague may work for a Queen—when it comes to your website copy clarity is always better. <<< Because an unclear website can equal people leaving faster than they can wave Queen-style.
Quote: Mia Thermoplis: “Okay, I look like an asparagus.” Helen: “But a very, very cute asparagus!” & Mia Thermoplis: “I look like a moose.” Paolo: “Ah, yes, but a very cute moose! Make all the boy moose go ‘WAAAAH!’”
Business Lesson: This is what it can feel like if your website is not as good-looking as it could be. But there’s no shame if your website looks like a moose right now. Take updating your website one page at a time & pretty soon you’ll have shut up-worthy website.
Quote: Nicholas Devereaux: “How can one rule the people if they do not know the people?”
Business Lesson: ^^^ It works the same way in your business—if you don’t know who your ideal clients are (specifically what problem they need solved) you can’t serve them well. And the best to find out what problems your ideal clients are *really* facing is by asking them.
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