Can I persuade you?

15 November 2008
My thoughts on getting your message across, quickly and successfully.

What is the main purpose of your web site?

It's more than likely your web site or company literature is there to promote you or your services. But, it's too often the case that your message isn't getting across to the right audience or your intentions aren't clear.

Why aren't my goals being met?

There are too many reasons to list, all dependent of your individual requirements, but I have a few suggestions for you to mull over.

Don't choose too many goals. Choose one objective and make it very clear what it is you want. Always finish off with a 'call to action' i.e. "Call us now, for friendly advice and a free quotation"

Get your point across in 30 seconds...
..whether its a web page or printed material, your potential customers want quick answers and they want them now!

Get personal, write your text by addressing your reader using the singular 'you' rather than the plural.
Have a look at these two examples:
"Petrol in the UK is so expensive, I feel sure the majority of you will agree with me"
"Petrol in the UK is so expensive, I feel sure you will agree with me"
I prefer the latter. Striking up a relationship with your reader is key to persuading them.

Accurately target your audience, aiming for the widest possible audience is a common mistake. Remember, the more you know about your customer, the easier it will be to persuade them.

Here's a great statement I read recently - "Bad writers worry about whether the reader will understand them. Good ones are more concerned about how well they understand the reader"

Finally, another memorable quote - "Most people know what to do, but they don't do what they know".
How do I know this is true? Because quite a few times I've given advice and received the reply '"Yeah I know that", only to be asked the same question, from the same person, the following week.

What you talking 'bout Smartwave?

I hold a diploma in NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) - no, it's not a new web technology, NLP explores the relationship between how we think (neuro), how we communicate both verbally and non-verbally (linguistic) and our patterns of behaviour and emotion (programmes). This is relevant to all walks of life, but most importantly for me, I find it so practical for design and advertising.