50 marketing mistakes / Mistake #43
Mistake #43 of 50Don’t forget to tell people what you do.
Clever branding is wonderful until nobody understands what you sell.
What it costs you
Pretty doesn’t say what you sell.
You picked a great name. You love the logo.
You know exactly what you do. You do it every day.
The person reading your sign, your shirt or your car door doesn’t.
If they can’t tell what you do in five seconds, they move on.
They’re not going to look you up to solve the mystery. They’re going to call the business whose sign said what it does.
A real example
Is that a driving school?
A bookkeeper opens her own practice. She calls it Clear Path. The logo is a winding road over a hill. Very nice.
She puts it on car door magnets, a sidewalk sign and polos for her and her assistant.
At the coffee shop, people ask her, “Is that a driving school?” “Do you do hiking tours?”
Nobody asks, “Can you do my books?”
So she adds three plain words under the logo, everywhere it appears: “Bookkeeping & Taxes.” And her phone number.
Same name. Same logo. Now people know what she sells, and how to call her.
The name was never the problem. The missing words were.
Why it happens
Why nobody knows what you sell
Clear beats clever. Every time.
Do this instead
Say it in five seconds.
Keep the clever name if you love it. Just put what you do, in plain words, right next to it. Everywhere your name shows up.
| Where your name is | Add this |
|---|---|
| Your car door | What you do and your phone number, big enough to read at a stoplight. |
| Your sign | What you do, in words bigger than anything else on it. |
| Your shirts | A small logo, plus a few plain words people can read across a room. |
| Your website | A headline at the very top that says what you do and where. |
| Your introduction | One sentence: “I keep small businesses’ books straight, so tax time isn’t a nightmare.” |
| Your email signature | Your name, what you do and your number. |
Run the five-second test. Hand your card, your magnet or your shirt to someone who has never heard of you. Count to five. Ask, “What do I sell?” If they can’t answer, add the words.
Do this today
- 1
Line up everything with your name on it: sign, car, shirts, website, cards.
- 2
Next to each one, write what a stranger would think you do after five seconds.
- 3
Write one plain line that says what you do, the way you’d say it to a neighbor.
- 4
Put that line at the top of your website and in your email signature today.
Keep the clever name. Just tell them what you sell, and how to call you.
From the book
Chapter 2: Stop Waiting for Perfect
Starts on page 17. The whole chapter, plus 250+ ways to market your business, in the free book.
Download the free bookIdeas that fix it
Tell them what you do, everywhere.
Idea 184 · book page 353Polo Shirts$12–$30 eachPolished uniforms and golf gifts.Signs & DisplaysIdea 219 · book page 371Sidewalk Signs & Feather Flags$80–$250 eachCatches foot and car traffic right at your door.Signs & DisplaysIdea 230 · book page 376Storefront Window Graphics$150–$600 per windowYour window advertises 24 hours a day.Want a plan that says what you do?
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