Clarity is so freaking important to your business.
Your website has to be clear.
Your course material has to be clear.
Your lead magnets have to be clear.
Your landing pages have to be clear.
Your offers have to be clear.
Because Clarity is so dang crucial to the success of your marketing materials, I'd like to push you to look at it a little more closely.
Let's start with a quote from George Orwell.
The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.
First off, may I say that Orwell himself was a wee bit wordy there?
UUGH. But still, the message comes through.
Second, may I say that octopi, and other creatures in the class Cephalopoda, freak me out a bit?
I don't know if it's the slime, the tentacles, or the eyes.
They're just ... eerie.
Third, this photo actually shows an octopus spurting ink; I could not find a photo of a cuttlefish spurting ink.
In fact, I didn't even know what a cuttlefish was before now!
This is a cuttlefish.
Not the handsomest of fellows.
Freaky deaky!
I bet he would say the same of you and me, were he to meet us.
Back to sincerity....
Orwell says that insincerity happens when our REAL aims don't match our DECLARED aims.
And when that happens, we resort to long words and exhausted idioms, clouding the water, making it hard for people to understand, believe, and trust us.
If we flip that script, we get this:
Sincerity happens when our REAL aims match our DECLARED aims, which in turn frees us to pursue CLARITY with short words and fresh language.
Here's an example.
My declared aim in writing this blog post is to educate you and help you create clearer copy. It is also to help you to know, like, and trust me so that you might, someday, consider taking advantage of my products and services.
My real aims are the same.
I am open, honest, sincere.
But what if my real aim was to gobble up your email address and sell it for fifty bucks?
You'd know it.
You'd smell my insincerity.
The lesson?
When you're writing content for your business and find that you're using all sorts of jazzy, fluffy language and crusty cliches, think about your declared and real aims.
Are they the same?
If not ...
CUTTLEFISH!
***
Join my tribe?
Do you sweat the small stuff? Do you want your online presence to inspire trust and confidence? Do you grit your teeth when others don't care enough about YOUR web experience? Are you all about creating an excellent website and excellent content that makes it easy for people to get to know, like, and trust you and buy your stuff?
I think we might be soul mates. And I'd love for you to join my tribe.
When you do, I'll alert you to new blog posts, new programs and products, and new ways for you to create excellent, frictionless, online experiences that lead more people to YES! I promise to be relevant and real, and to send only thoughtful content and advice.
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