Asking the Right Questions

Does your home page feel generic or anemic? Think beyond information and find your business’ personality! Asking the right questions brings out the best writing.

Written Jun 22, 2008, read 370 times since then.

Looking through that wonderful “better or worse” gizmo at the optometrist’s the other day, I commented on what a wonderful technology such a machine was. “It’s an art, too,” was the doctor’s prompt reply. So, too, is writing. Certainly, there are mechanics that guide our writing, but saying what you mean to say requires being in touch with your artistic side, too. No, not your woo-woo, artsy, “wow, man, yeah,” artistic side, but the open, new-adventure-loving side that helps you cultivate a sensitivity to your purpose.

Purpose, in a business sense is different from purpose in our daily lives. In general, I walk to get from Here to There, usually in as straight a line as possible. In business, we “walk” our services from Here to There in a manner that gets the most positive attention and customers possible, rarely in a straight line. We want to attract as many clients as we can, which means not only greeting everyone we walk past, making eye contact and shaking hands whenever possible, but also greeting the people peeking out their windows up above, selling from their shop fronts, driving by, and flying overhead. We want everyone to know who we are and what we do. In fact, it’s really not a walk, so much as a campaign. Even if you are doing something as simple as leaving business cards at a local dry cleaners, you are campaigning for yourself.

Why am I rambling on like this? Because the primary way that we campaign for ourselves is through print. Advertising, web sites, online recommendations, networks, radio spots, you name it and someone has written it. And all of that writing must have a purpose.

What makes one person’s Home page or About Me page better than another’s? Purpose. The next time your prose feels flat ask yourself, “why am I writing this?” “To get more business” is not a good enough answer. “To describe myself/my business” is not good enough, either. Go beyond the obvious and think about what you most want people to know about you and your business. All dry cleaners clean clothes, so why do we choose some over others? Personality, customer service, presentation, all the things that make personal service feel personal.

Does your home page feel generic or anemic? Think beyond information and find your business’ personality! Why are you better than other providers? Why should I choose you? What makes you special? What makes you stand out? What makes you different? What makes doing business with you a personal experience and not just doing business? Are you “green?” Are you multi-lingual? Outdoorsy? Full of panache? Whimsical? Trendy? A solid, good old-fashioned straight-shooter in a world of squirrely business practices? Is your focus more toward men, women, children, families, or someone else? Who is your ideal customer? Why? How would you improve your business with a sudden infusion of cash? Why? What would be your worst kind of customer? Why? Who are your heroes? (Everybody now…) Why?

I ask questions, lots and lots of questions. As an editor who focuses on purpose, continuity, and clarity, asking questions delivers more bang for a writer’s buck than all the grammatical and syntactical corrections put together. If you don’t know why you are writing, neither does your reader. Writing, like any technical endeavor, has an art to it, and you are the artist. Are you a Monet or a Jackson Pollock? Run DMC or Bono? Chuck Close or Ansel Adams? Asking yourself questions and really listening to the answers is where the art comes alive and where your business thrives. Any questions?

Learn more about the author, Suzanne Griscom.

Comment on this article

Posted by Pamela Ziemann, Bellevue, Washington | Jun 25, 2008

Thanks for your questions Suzanne ... and your article.

I think we're all being asked to show up more as who we really are. Time to get to it!

Energetic Speaking Coach in Bellevue & Seattle
Posted by Suzanne Griscom, Shoreline, Washington | Jun 26, 2008

Thanks! You are right, Pamela. Differentiating ourselves from all the other providers has become a very personal endeavor again.
Posted by Kaya Singer, Portland, Oregon | Jun 26, 2008

I enjoyed your article. I think the best person to ask questions to is your customer. The best web page is when your customer's concerns, wants and needs are mentioned. Nothing is more boring when people ramble on talking about themselves!

Small business support, mentor, coach, Portland, Oregon
Posted by Judy Dunn, Seattle & Renton, Washington | Jun 26, 2008

This is such an important topic, Suzanne. The promotional pieces that truly come to life are the ones that allow a solopreneur to shine in a unique way, to show their true selves, rather than hiding behind an antiseptic "corporate speak."

Asking a client the right questions is an important first step. I think the other issue is whether they (clients) have the courage to "show up," to communicate their vision, their values, their real selves.

When I go to websites, the "About Me" pages that resonate with me, the ones that motivate me to click through to learn more about the business's products or services, are the ones that show me a real person, someone I can relate to, someone with a "face."

Thanks for reminding me again of how important it is to, as my fiction writing coach was fond of saying, "find your voice."

Seattle Copywriter
Posted by Suzanne Griscom, Shoreline, Washington | Jun 26, 2008

Kaya and Judy, you are both right. The client can tell us the most about what they want and need.

What we don't know is what the people we haven't reached want.

Judy, that is exacty what I mean! We gravitate toward the About Me pages that show a "real person" behind the business. It isn't just found in the About Me pages, though.

Differentiating ourselves starts with the Home page. It means moving beyond the template (thinking outside the template:-) and presenting information clearly, but differently from everyone else out there.

Asking questions of ourselves, and everyone who might use our site, helps to find those features that make us unique among the masses.
Posted by Judy Dunn, Seattle & Renton, Washington | Jun 26, 2008

Suzanne,

You are absolutely right. It shouldn't be just on the "About Us" page. But that page is critical because, after the home page, that's where a lot of web readers go next and if they don't feel a connection there, often they won't read on.

I think what Kaya said was very important. It's NOT about us. It's about the customer. Always. So even "About Us" needs to be written with the customer's problems and issues in mind.

Thanks again for the thoughtful piece, Suzanne. You are a bright addition to this community.

Seattle Copywriter
Posted by Suzanne Griscom, Shoreline, Washington | Jun 26, 2008

Thanks, Judy!
Posted by Karrie Kohlhaas, Seattle, Washington | Jun 26, 2008

Lots of good points in this article, Suzanne.

The biggest reason people choose a service provider is for who they are. I tell clients to infuse their marketing with their personality. So often business writing is bland bland bland. I love shaking people up, even daring them, to write with more personality.

As for purpose in writing, boy howdy, more people need to hear that and really understand it! Often people write what they think they are supposed to write instead of getting crystal clear on their message and crystal clear on their call to action.

Thanks for the article. I hope you'll write more!

ThoughtShot Business Consulting
Posted by Suzanne Griscom, Shoreline, Washington | Jun 26, 2008

Thanks Karrie! How right you are! That's what I mean by thinking outside the template. We are so accustomed to filling in boxes.

Finding our own true voice becomes more and more important as we rely ever-heavily on technology to present ourselves and our services.
Posted by Ellen Sousa, Spencer, Massachusetts | Oct 16, 2008

Suzanne - great article and much food for thought. I'd like to add one of the tenets of technical writing, of asking (sometimes hypothetical) questions of your audience too. What is their perspective or angle? Why are they reading in the first place? Why should they read beyond the first sentence? How can you "hook" them into reading more? If your work is not immediately relevant to whatever their perspective is, then you'll lose them after the first paragraph. Or in the case of, say, a product user guide, if you don't provide a clear path towards a solution for whatever problem the user has, then they'll probably never open your user guide again. Studying your audience's needs is integral to the writing process.
Posted by Suzanne Griscom, Shoreline, Washington | Oct 16, 2008

Ellen - You are so right! These are exactly the kind of questions I mean. The more questions you ask, the closer you are to pinpointing your audience and their specific needs.