Entrepreneurs create powerful businesses by having clear messages. Startups and people who just begin to get into the entrepreneurial spirit quickly learn how important it is to have a message. However, there are too many people who forget about having a clear message.
Having a clear message equates to more traffic, sales, subscribers, and everything else that a business wants more of. Having a clear message gives people a reason to come back and buy your other products. Most people have a foggy, or even worse, an undefined message. These messages do not equate to an increase in traffic, sales, or subscribers. In fact, these kinds of messages make it harder for people to find you. When people do find you, having a foggy message makes the visitor less likely to stick around.
Instead of playing by chance, there are some ways to tell whether your message is a clear or foggy one. If you are able to tell that your message is a clear one, that’s great. If it’s foggy, you need to work on your message so more people learn about you and decide to stick around.
In order to tell whether your message is clear or foggy, the first thing you have to do is look at your message and make an honest decision about whether your message is clear or not. Some people will be honest with themselves and realize that their message is foggy. Others will lie to themselves and say that their message is clear. There will also be the few who have a clear message for their target audience.
The fact that some people will not be honest with themselves is the reason this process has two steps. The second step will allow you to know the truth because you lose some control in this step. This step requires you to ask your friends what they think is the message of your business.
This part is very important. Here is the question that a lot of people ask, which is a big mistake (I used myself as the example), “Did I do a good job at telling people that one of the messages is that teenagers can do more than they think?” Your friend is going to say yes because they don’t want you to feel bad. Saying no would break the code of friendship. Then you and your friend don’t talk for a while. That’s why your friends will say yes to that question to avoid that fate.
Friends also say yes just to make you feel good. When you hear a friend say yes, that gives you the reassurance that your message is a clear one. Friends have said yes in the past so they don’t hurt the feelings of other friends. Asking the wrong question will taint the truth.
Instead of asking a question, just say, “Tell me what you as the consumer think the message of my business is.” This is not a yes or no question. They either go in detail about how clear your message is or how foggy your message is. Some friends will try to say that your message is clear when it is not. You will be able to identify most of these people because they will have a shaky voice when telling you how ‘clear’ the message is.
When you ask your friends, make sure you choose the friends that will take the time to come up with a good answer. Getting better answers will allow you to take more action.
