Why You Need to Use Your Words
By Jessica Albon
One of my photos from my recent trip to Hanging Rock State Park.
The Internet’s doubling every five minutes (I made that up–but suffice to say it’s growing faster than those weeds in my back flower bed that sprang out of nowhere). This means that when your people are out there, trying to find you, it’s really easy for them to get distracted. It’s easy for them to get lost in the pages of Google results.
And that means you absolute must: make it easy for them to KNOW they’re in the right place once they’ve found you.
There are two key pieces to this. The first is your design. All of your online materials must have the best design for you–whether that’s simple or elaborate, modern or vintage, dramatic or understated. Because, before your people even start to read your words, they take in your design and decide whether to stay a moment longer or to zip away to the next search result.
So, assuming your design is spot-on, your next step is to get your words exactly right.
That means using YOUR words. Because when someone’s stumbling through a dozen websites looking for what they need, they get cranky, distracted and unsure. There are so many choices out there, how can they be sure yours is the right one?
Which means your words need to speak to your people. Not chosen because your mentor told you to use the word “investment” instead of “price” (or any of a dozen other “rules” for writing). Not chosen because your top competitor puts it that way. Not chosen because you’ve always hated the word “moist” and avoid it at all costs.
Your words need to be chosen because they speak to your people.
In marketing terms, we call this “using the words they’re already using” or “entering the conversation in their head” and honestly, I find that approach a little sleazy.
Because this isn’t about manipulating someone into hiring you.
This is about making sure they know you’re the one for them (when you are), and, just as importantly, making sure they know you’re NOT the one for them when you’re not.
Some of you need to talk more about the journey of getting from Point A to Point B while others should talk more about the results your clients get. Some of you need to include more of your backstory and others less.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to this. If there were, they wouldn’t be YOUR words, they’d be “everyone’s words.” I’d be able to give you a list of “Words to Use” and “Words to Avoid” and believe me, if I could give you such a list, I absolutely would because I don’t believe in holding back.
I’ve been doing a lot of my signature Use Your Words sessions lately and one thing that continues to amaze me is no matter how many conversations I have, each client’s list of words is different. That’s because each of us brings something new to the world, and it’s up to you to capture what that is in a way your people can understand.
In a cluttered marketplace, the number one thing you can do to stand out is to know exactly how to communicate what makes you most client attractive (in words and pictures). The question is: do you?
