“Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.”

– John Jakes

When my May issue of Inc. arrived last week, I turned immediately to Jason Fried’s article on business writing. So many of his points reflect my own thoughts about how businesses communicate, so I wanted to share.

He points out a few fun facts:

• Full-service solutions provider – A quick search on Google finds at least 47,000 companies using this phrase
• Cost effective end-to-end solutions – brings you about 95,000 results
• Provider of value-added services – nets you more than 600,000 matches

Jason goes on to give several examples of companies that are doing it right – with business writing that is fun, personable and clear. My suggestion? Think about your approach – how do you go about the writing process when you are creating copy?

Step one – Stop thinking about yourself. Sounds counter-intuitive, right? Once you have given blood, sweat and tears to build your company, your products, or your brand, you must realize that at the end of the day, it is NOT about you. It’s about your customers. What do they want to read? What will draw them to your company, rather than your competitors?

I hate filler. Don’t say the same thing over and over. Each sentence, each word must be intentional.

Bottom line – the words you use to describe your business could ultimately affect sales. Words are important. Is it time to re-evaluate your own business writing? Try this: read your website. Go through it line by line, and ask yourself – what does this really say? What do my customers want?

Don’t be afraid to be real! For some good examples, see Jason’s article. What other business writing have you seen that you actually enjoyed reading? Feel free to share here!