I love starting off with a brand new client.  It is remarkably like entering a new relationship with someone.  We spend all our time thinking about, talking about and learning about our new client.  And when a new client happens to be in an industry that is not overly familiar to me, I spend a lot of time researching all I can about what it is they do.

One of the things that I have noticed regularly with clients is that they have the “curse of knowledge.”  I know some of you are thinking, “I wish someone would curse me with knowledge right about now!”  So no, I’m not talking about general knowledge.  I’m talking about the very specific knowledge that comes with intimacy within an industry.  And in a way, that’s a good thing.  We expect people we work with to know what it is they do.

However, sometimes we can be so familiar with our product and industry that our language comes off as a bit foreign to others.  We use industry buzz-words like they were going out of style.  We use letters to represent whole concepts.  And often, entire ideas are condensed down to short phrases.  And really, that’s ok that those things exist.

But . . . it’s important to ask yourself, “Will those who are searching for my services understand what I am talking about?  Will they even know what words to use when searching for my services?”  You absolutely MUST know your audience (have you created a Buyer Persona?).  You MUST know their pains, their challenges and their motivation.  But you need to speak to them in words that they can understand.

Don’t be afraid to use simple, general words.  Those are likely the very words that your target audience is searching with.  Remember, you’re not writing for your peers.  you’re writing for your ideal audience.

Creating killer content – on your website, your calls-to-action, and your offers – sometimes begins with stepping back, taking a deep breath . . . and keeping it simple!