If you are a solo entrepreneur, please stop using the word “we” in reference to your business. I’m asking on behalf of the Internet. Your readers can see through this transparent attempt to make your business seem larger.
Instead, why not tell your readers:
- What makes YOU different than your competition?
- How long you’ve been in business for yourself.
- Where (geographically) you’ll help customers.
- Why you are the best choice for the services you offer.
Your readers generally are not looking for a bigger company to do business with, but a better company. If it’s you, tell them. You can write in the first person (I) or write in the third person (Matt). This works well for websites, and has the side benefit of helping your SEO.
Disclaimer: If you are a small business with multiple employees, and decision makers, this does not apply to you. “We” would then be a perfectly acceptable way to refer to your business.
Readers can see through deceptive tricks to make your business appear larger including:
- The “We” problem stated above.
- Stock photos of smiling people in suits around a computer. (Or any variant of this.) I’ve seen way too many stock photos of happy, smiley business people. Either they are highly successful people with multiple jobs and never sleep, or they really don’t work for the 19 other companies that posted this picture either. I think we (as the Internet) figured out which one is true.
- Listing of “locations” that are nothing more than a PO Box, or some other loose claim. Instead, why not simply say you service clients in this particular area? A customer looking for your location, and not being able to find your address, or instead finding a PO Box may be sorely disappointed.
It’s no longer 1996. We now have a stronger grasp over the Internet. Your customers will appreciate the chance to base their decision around a more accurate description of your services.
Matt Brennan is a Chicago-area marketing writer and copy editor. He is also the author of Write Right-Sell Now.
