If there is one thing that business people from all industries don’t seem to like admitting, it’s having a great big fat ego. They don’t mind driven, focused, even greedy…but a big ego? Whoa, watch your language there, fella!
Now, I’m not qualified to dissect the psychological reasons for this pattern. We can leave that to the experts. But I can show you how your ego may be holding back your content writing and costing you sales in the process.
No One Cares About You
Sounds a little extreme, doesn’t it? I mean, you probably know lots of people who care about you, right? But when it comes to content, this in-your-face statement is often necessary to help people get the message.
We, us, our and I…these are the ego-driven words that muffle your message and break the trance with your potential leads. This is true with websites, sales letters, emails, brochures and just about any other place a business has an opportunity to sing its own praises.
Keep in mind why someone is visiting your website in the first place. They aren’t coming there to hear how wonderful you are, they are coming there to solve a problem of their own. They want to know how to get rid of the bed bugs in their house or heal their aching back or manage their bills. They are self-centered, just like everyone else and they want to know what’s in it for them.
It’s Like a Blind Date
When you litter your homepage and landing pages with content that includes a lot of ‘We’ ‘Us’ ‘Our’ and ‘I’ you invoke what I call the Blind Date Rule. Imagine if you were on a blind date, or even if you knew the other person casually but this was your first time in a one-on-one situation.
Now, imagine if this other person only talked about themselves the entire time you were with them. How would you feel? You’d think they had a huge ego. You’d be instantly turned off and if possible, you’d get out of there and never see them again.
This is what happens when someone ends up on your website or landing page and all you do is talk about yourself or your company. They want to know how you’re going to help them but all they see is your ego on display.
Who Do You Want to Read This?
The key is to exit your own ego and get into the mind of the person you want to read the content. You can call them your prospect, your visitor, your ideal customer, whatever you like. Just make sure you keep them in mind the whole time you’re writing.
Write conversationally in the second person, as if you are speaking to a friend. In second person writing, ‘You’ ‘Your’ and ‘Yours’ are more prominent. When you write like you’re speaking to a friend, you will engage the reader and create trust, because it feels as if you are speaking directly to them.
It’s Not Your Fault
If you’ve been guilty of this ego driven style of content writing, it’s not your fault. For the longest time, we’ve been conditioned to think that it’s the way to go. It sounds more professional. It lets everyone know what you have to offer and why you’re better than the competition.
There’s nothing wrong with being better than the competition, by the way. You just can’t go spouting off about it too soon, or no one will stick around to find out if it’s true or not.
The lesson here is: Get the ego out of the content. If you’re not sure how, or think you need help, let us know and we’ll be happy to help. Don’t wait too long, though…I think you just lost another sale!
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