After weeks of looking, you’ve purchased a website template that speaks to you, your brand and hopefully, to your people. You’ve nabbed your favorite spot on the couch, poured yourself a glass of wine and rolled up your sleeves–girl, you’re ready to do this thing! Congratulations!
But there’s one challenge I’m going to give you before you gleefully start typing like your brain’s on fire: Can you define your product or service offering in one sentence? And I’m talking, one sentence that is 15 words or less. If you’re offering a product, this might be easy peasy: This “Product X” helps you achieve “Goal Y”, or This “Product X” solves this “Problem Y”. If this, then that. Boom. Done.
But what if you’re offering a service and what if that service is multi-tiered, multi-dimensional…I mean, holy moly there’s so much to what I offer, there’s no way I can describe it one sentence or in 15 words or less–impossible! Well, here’s a secret: Getting your offering into one clear and concise sentence is the key to getting it to the right people. Simplify to amplify. For real. Here’s how you do it.
WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?
In order to get clear on what you offer, you should be super clear WHO you’re offering it to. Say I’m a yoga instructor specializing in corporate training. I am most likely not targeting the girl who goes to the gym every day after work, runs on the weekends and has a Peloton at home. Why not? Well because that girl doesn’t need corporate fitness classes because she clearly has plenty of time to make it to the gym and play the weekend warrior on her off-time. No, I’m most likely targeting the girl who shoots out the door for her hour-long commute to work, sits in back-to-back meetings, eats lunch at her desk–if at all, and gets back in the car for another hour plus of mind-bending traffic. Rinse, lather, repeat. She’s also in a position where she can make corporate-level decisions. But go beyond the office, she might subscribe to the Goop e-newsletter, buy a lot of Tone It Up protein bars to feeeeeeel healthy, shop at Nordys or Bloomies–online, of course–and order a venti chai tea no foam nonfat latte every single morning. This is her. She’s the one.
HOW ARE YOU TALKING TO HER?
Ok, now that we know who you’re talking to, let’s get clear on how you should talk to her. You want to maintain your brand voice (see Blog #12) but still be relatable. Let’s build on my example of the yoga instructor. We know she doesn’t have time to work out (ridiculous schedule) but given her lifestyle habits (Goop readership, Tone It Up protein bars and nonfat, no foam situation) we can assume she would like to be healthy but has zero time to get to the gym or squeeze in a video sesh. Think about her day-to-day, how she speaks to her employees and how she might dish with her bestie on her terrible commute home every night. Imagine you’re her and start thinking like her, using words she would use. Then find a middle ground where you can maintain your voice but also be relatable.
You’d most definitely not say, “hey, I can teach you uttanasana, dandasana and trikonasana. Fun, right?” Um, no. You’d say, “girl, you spend too much time sitting and we need to stretch that back out, elongate your spine a bit and ultimately unwind your whole bod, sound good?” Heavenly.
SHARPEN YOUR PENCIL
You know exactly who you’re talking to and exactly how she likes to be spoken to, so let’s tighten it up. Take out a legal pad and draw a line down the middle. On one side start brain dumping what you think she’s thinking: she’s dying to workout but doesn’t have the time; she’s running around nonstop, there’s no way she can add a trip to the gym; she’s not in great shape and she knows it; her back hurts–seriously go there. On the other side, start writing out every little thing you’re going to offer on your website: corporate training, video tutorials, blog posts about healthy habits for boss girls and private session rates. Now write out a few statements using the remedy: I provide Service X so you can Goal Y: “Get a kickass workout so you can keep killing it,” or “Make feeling good again part of your day,” or “Get flexibility back and become your best self.”
By using this exercise, you can pare down your offering to one clear and concise sentence. It’s not enough to know what you offer, I want for you to be precise on who you offer it to. This will help you shape your message throughout your site because you’ll basically be writing it for her. Trust me, it’s a game changer. Simplify to amplify!
