What’s your line ?
Twitter has done more than just micro-blogging or social networking or bringing celebs closer to their fans or all the other things it is credited with. It has brought back into importance the importance of one line.
If you look around you will be bombarded with messages, be it in the media, in your work. Messages ranging from 2 words to multiple pages! If it is an advertisement you have everything from the headline to its body copy to its sign off. Recently my former colleague Srini who has become an entrepreneur (Apt Consulting) had sent me a mail giving his company’s introduction and asking for my views on making it more business-like and effective. As I read the paragraph I realized that like on Twitter all I wanted was one line (no more than 140 characters). When I told Srini, he immediately agreed.
Both of us realized that putting what his business does into one line, which answers the questions – “Who are you? What can you do for me? How will you do it different from the others?” -is the most challenging exercise of all. Cracking that one line would mean positioning his business and giving it that one entry line when approaching his clients.
Having become a fan of Apple and Steve Jobs in recent times, studying his presentations (key note addresses) and reading the book-Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs by Carmine Gallo I also discovered that Steve gives that one line which differentiates his product, defines it and gives his customers a clear understanding of what is being offered. Be it – ‘the world’s thinnest notebook’ or ‘built for me’ or ‘it’s a magical product’, Steve Jobs gives one easy-to-understand description of the product he is launching. Can we apply this to services, ourselves, our job applications? Why not?
- Resume or your CV: Can we give a one-line description that answers what the potential employer is looking for? Ex: Would a recruiter notice- ‘I will drive sales growth by 35% in the personal computing business’ and be impressed or would 2 pages of what the person done impress more?
- Business: A one-line description for your service or product? Why not? Google the best brands and businesses from Starbucks to your local brand and you will find most of them have that one line describing what is special about their business. If you cannot say it in one line, you are no different from those 1000s of businesses out there
Think about a one-liner to describe you. Would people who know you believe it? Would people who have heard of you respect it?
Trust me, it is not an easy task. Companies spend millions trying to figure this out and express it. Maybe finding out what you really do, being honest about it and expressing it simply enough is the key.
Try describing everything you do or you want to sell in 140 characters. Then ask yourself – Does it really say what I want? Does it answer what my target audience wants to know? Does it sound simple enough o be used and broadcast?
