Just because you use pretty words that sound nice doesn’t mean they are effective. Although we know what we do because we do it all the time; it’s hard to separate that from what your audience wants and experiences. Thankfully, today’s guest is here to help.
Ben Guttmann is a marketing and communications expert and author of Simply Put: Why Clear Messages Win — and How to Design Them.
We discuss why business owners often muck up their sales pages (what I call invitation letters), how to reduce friction when attracting clients and customers, and the toll that writing too much takes on the receiver.
More About Ben: Ben is former co-founder and managing partner at Digital Natives Group, an award-winning agency that worked with the NFL, I Love NY, Comcast NBCUniversal, Hachette Book Group, The Nature Conservancy, and other major clients. He’s an experienced marketing executive and educator on a mission to get leaders to more effectively connect by simplifying their message. Currently, Ben teaches digital marketing at Baruch College in New York City and consults with a range of thought leaders, venture-backed startups, and other brands.
🌟 3 Key Takeaways
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It’s most effective to communicate to one person, rather than imagining an ambiguous thousand (or ten thousand).
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Strong communication is not about how many (or few) words you use; it’s about reducing friction, or offramps, from your message.
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“This and that” versus “this so that”: Test the cohesiveness of your message by replacing and with so.
📝 Permission
Not to spend money on paid advertising. Focus on making your business more referable instead.
✅ Do (or Delegate) This Next
Look at one of the most important pages of your website. If each word costs you $10, how many can you cut? What about $1,000? If you had to distill your message down to a road sign, what would it look like?
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