Yesterday, I took my boys to the dentist. We’re good friends with the hygienist, so as they walked in, they made her day by telling her, “If we could come to the dentist every day, we would!”
On she went letting them watch a cartoon on the TV above the chair, choose bubblegum toothpaste, and even get a little extra rinsing so they could have the fun of suctioning it all up again. My oldest got to press the X-ray button outside the room while my youngest had his X-rays taken. It was all fun and games.
Fun shows. Fun tastes. Fun button pushing. Fun.
That’s not usually a word people use to describe the dentist, yet here we were, enjoying ourselves and getting those pearly whites cleaned up.
That was until the dentist came in. My youngest laid back in the chair, arms casually crossed behind his head and sunglasses still on, as the dentist and our friend discussed what they saw on the X-rays. The talk turned from bubblegum flavors to textbook dental jargon — and the reason was apparent. There was an issue, and they didn’t want to describe it in front of my 7-year-old’s ears.
The news wasn’t great, so as they turned to me to share it, they used adult language rather than words being used on the cartoon in front of him.
This is the importance of verbiage in your business, too.
If you’re not using the right verbiage in your business at the right time, you’re making your job of growing an audience and selling 10x harder for yourself.
That 10x is just a guess, but it’s an educated guess at least! That’s because I’ve seen smart people freeze up when it comes to writing a sales page or newsletter. Have you felt the same?
You might feel like you have to prove your worth to be putting a price tag on your work (you don’t).
You might feel like you have to attach flowery phrases to your product descriptions to make them sound their best (you don’t).
You might feel like you have to hide behind jargon to prove your expertise (you shouldn’t).
So many entrepreneurs forget that jargon is to be saved for the conversations when you’re telling a client what they need (and might not want to hear) rather than your sales pages, blog posts, or newsletters.
And that should feel like a breath of fresh air.
Using language that sounds big and brilliant is the fastest way to erode trust and make someone shrug their shoulders in confusion as they walk away.
As consumers, we want relationships. We want the kind of enthusiasm for the end result my friend has as a hygienist. It’s that kind of enthusiasm that’ll make people want to come back to your business day in and day out — even if your business requires them to sit in a dental chair.
Next time you sit down to write your sales pages, blog posts, newsletters, or any type of content for your business, remember this — your job is to tell them what they want to hear and then give them what they need.
Before the purchase, you’re offering the fun toothpaste flavors.
After the purchase, you’re doing what they came there for and keeping them healthy by giving them exactly what they need.
For a photographer, that’ll look like using your content to show off beautiful pictures for inspiration, offering outfit ideas for the shoot, and posing ideas to eliminate a double chin. Then, during the shoot, it’ll mean using your expertise to position the subjects in the right lighting, use the right angles, and get the one person who never seems to want to be there to schmize (smile with their eyes) at the camera.
For a product maker, regular content will show ways to use the product in everyday settings and why that product is a non-negotiable to have around. It’s times when you need to have your accessory. It’s times when your decor starts a conversation around the dinner table with your in-laws. Save the jargon for the wholesalers carrying your product and need to know the level of quality or the moments when you’re teaching your audience how to use the bells and whistles that might come with their purchase.
For the graphic designer, regular content will look like how you elevate logos, leverage the Pantone color of the year, and put your designs to use. The jargon can be saved for the moments you’re teaching others how to design or your audience the bigger picture, the color psychology behind the visuals.
The point is to make someone feel something first and then tap into the logical side of their brain with the big language, nitty gritty details, and pinky-in-the-air expert chatter.
And that should make you feel much easier because it takes a thousand pounds off your shoulders. Rather than having to start speaking with a lot of jargon to sound smart, you can just be YOU and share your enthusiasm for your work without confusing the person on the other side of the conversation.
Want more help reviewing what to share and how to simplify your sharing? Join me inside the Content Club where you’ll get my eyes on your copy anytime you want, weekly templates for what content to share with your audience, monthly sprints, and quarterly content strategy plans to keep your business simplified and streamlined.