Simplicity Is The New Sex.

In my last post I told you to stop acting stupid.

Today I'm going to tell you to simplify your offer and the way you communicate it.

To some, this may seem contradictory: "Are you telling us to dumb it down for our customers? Didn't you just tell us to stop acting stupid?" But in reality, simplicity has nothing to do with stupidity. Simplicity (done right) requires a lot of mental discipline.

Sex is so 5 minutes ago.

You know that expression, "sex sells?" It turns out that sex has helped a lot of people sell a lot of stuff over the last hundred years - including (as I recently learned) vacuum cleaners, toilet paper, coffee, milk, and scooters.

Why? Because until recently, sexual imagery was an easy way to cut through the noise. It got people's attention. It connected to our most basic human instinct and drew us in.

Until it was everywhere. And then it became more noise. And the imagery had to get more raw for us to pay attention. And then even that was so common as to be unremarkable.

So now what?

What gets our attention now - at a time when we are bombarded constantly with advertising, to-do lists, innumerable decisions, and more information than we can possibly process in our entire lifetimes?

Simplicity. It's the new sex.

Keeping it simple is not stupid. It's, like, really smart.

When you're figuring out what to sell, it's tempting to put together a sophisticated portfolio of offerings. Something for everyone. Your buyer can select exactly the right package. Your buyer can figure out exactly what s/he needs and put together the perfect selection of products or services. Right?

WRONG.

While your long list of products or services may make total sense to you, it's probably confusing to potential buyers. Once confused, your potential buyer is likely to give up and move on to something easier to understand - not because your buyer is stupid, but because your buyer is busy and overwhelmed. Aren't you?

What does this mean for you?

Forget about sophistication. Stop trying to impress your customers the way you impressed your teachers when you were in school (i.e., by demonstrating how much knowledge you managed to stuff into your brain).

Make your offer - and your marketing message - as simple as possible.

Focus exclusively on what matters to your ideal buyers.

Describe the value of what you're offering in concrete (not abtract) terms.

Figure out how to save your buyers time and effort, and tell them how you'll do it.

If your "Services" page currently lists a million different ways you can help your buyers, but you're having trouble converting leads into buyers, try this. List 3 services on the page instead. Put bullet points underneath each option describing exactly what the buyer gets - but only talk about the benefits your buyers actually care about. List the prices right next to each option. Tell buyers exactly what to do to get started.

Make it easy for them to buy from you.

The easier it is, the more likely they are to do it.

So why are you making it more difficult than it has to be?

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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Click here to view all previous posts in the "Bad Girls' Guide to Business" series.

Comments

[Ramblings of a Woman]

I have never liked the hyped up sales pages that so many internet marketers use! I love simplicity! Tell me what you got and what it will do for me (whay I would want it) and how I can get it. Simple. Love it.
Found your blog thru someone's tweet from BWE, which I did not get to attend! Will be taking a peak around your blog, looks like my kind of place!
Bernice
http://bernicewood.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/a-season-of-change-for-me-and-for-my-blog/