Words of Power
Words of Power
Words have power – words spoken with clear intent and emotion carry more power than just random words on a page. Many businesses try and create their business plan or marketing material by just copying what someone else has done. They take the words, shuffle them around a bit and then label it with their company name.
One of the most common areas I see this is in a company mission and vision. Unless a group of people have had deep and probably challenging conversations about their personal goals and their understanding of the direction and then converted this to words ... then the company mission tends to look the same as everyone else’s.
Try this out – go to the net and search for mission statements. Cut out the company name from the statement – in most cases they could be describing any company anywhere in the world. Here are two examples with the company names removed so you can see what I mean.
Expand upon our reputation in xxxx and to see the centre recognised as a world leader in the area.
XXXX is a market leading supplier of consumer and business XXXX solutions. We are a team committed to our customers' ongoing satisfaction through the empowerment and development of our staff.
To be the preferred supplier we will be easy to deal with and provide quality, value for money, products and services. To ensure success for all stakeholders we will deliver profitability, growth, job fulfilment and have a positive impact on the community.
Another common mistake I see is executives who say “of course everyone knows what we are about – we don’t have to spell it out”. Ask a random sample of 10 people in those companies what the business is truly about and you will get 10 different answers. Without common understanding these 10 people will all be pulling in 10 slightly different directions (and costing productivity as a result).
The problem is that words without a depth of shared understanding fail to communicate a clear and compelling message to the audience. They fail to motivate and inspire staff and they don’t inform customers about what makes that business truly unique. This dilutes their effectiveness.
So how do you convert thoughts into words? The vehicles you use are things like business plans, corporate plans, marketing plans, website, brochures, business cards, flyers, magazines, articles, videos, letters, position descriptions and induction manuals. Each one of these conveys part of the purpose of the business and encourages action and buy in by the reader. Each one needs to be consistently reinforcing the message and your business essence – they are not stand alone documents.
The “how” you do this is through discussion, drafting, more discussion and redrafting. That is why copywriting is much more than just words on a page. A truly great copywriter digs into the mind of the executives, the company and customers, facilitates discussion and then converts the thoughts into form. This form becomes the basis of more discussion and redrafts until the true essence is captured. If your copywriter doesn’t dig, challenge, research and draft and redraft then you are probably not getting the best representation of your business and will lose sales and opportunities as a result.
This also holds true for great graphic designers. Good design is not just great pictures on a page – they are the result of similar amounts of research, thought and challenge about your business. Images used should reflect your demographic both in terms of customers and staff – so people can identify themselves with your business.
Good designers and writers are facilitators of your discussions – able to stand impartially on the outside to facilitate shared understanding of the essence of your business.
Your words and images still need to be crafted with skill and there are many techniques and strategies to ensure your words and images are clear, compelling and trigger an action. Before you start putting pen to paper, read up on some core information about powerful writing or have a professional write or edit your language for maximum power and results.
You then need to test the words and images to ensure they are achieving the results you intended. Track the response rates, gather feedback, and try different variations on phrases or designs until you get the ones that have maximum results with your staff and customers. Maximum results means that you have created something that resonates with the most amounts of people and is usually the one where your business essence is the most faithfully reflected.
All of this should tell you that your company’s words and pictures are not just words and pictures – but the end of a mini strategic planning and review process for your company and should be given the same amount of care and attention for best results.
Once you have your words and images clearly identified – if you are open to it, you may choose to look at some forms of energy work such as Feng Shui or a space clearer to set your intent into your work space. I know this may sound far out, but Feng Shui is merely the essence of good design and flow for results. It is certainly worth trying if you want to get the best results for your business.
Thoughts without being committed to paper are just dreams and are not likely to materialise. Put your dreams out there – have the discussions – write down the results – test the resonance and tweak if needed to get a closer match to who you are. If you do all of that, your business will be significantly more successful than a business that has just chosen a stock standard design and template words.
Words of Power - To learn more about this author, visit Ingrid Cliff's Website.
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As you begin to imagine your business growth it is an important stage for the future, for you to be prepared for what might come. But it doesn’t matter how well you visualise your future plans and feelings for your business – just visualising business success is not enough. You need to convert your thoughts into the form of words and visual images.
Words have power – words spoken with clear intent and emotion carry more power than just random words on a page. Many businesses try and create their business plan or marketing material by just copying what someone else has done. They take the words, shuffle them around a bit and then label it with their company name.
One of the most common areas I see this is in a company mission and vision. Unless a group of people have had deep and probably challenging conversations about their personal goals and their understanding of the direction and then converted this to words ... then the company mission tends to look the same as everyone else’s.
Try this out – go to the net and search for mission statements. Cut out the company name from the statement – in most cases they could be describing any company anywhere in the world. Here are two examples with the company names removed so you can see what I mean.
Expand upon our reputation in xxxx and to see the centre recognised as a world leader in the area.
XXXX is a market leading supplier of consumer and business XXXX solutions. We are a team committed to our customers' ongoing satisfaction through the empowerment and development of our staff.
To be the preferred supplier we will be easy to deal with and provide quality, value for money, products and services. To ensure success for all stakeholders we will deliver profitability, growth, job fulfilment and have a positive impact on the community.
Another common mistake I see is executives who say “of course everyone knows what we are about – we don’t have to spell it out”. Ask a random sample of 10 people in those companies what the business is truly about and you will get 10 different answers. Without common understanding these 10 people will all be pulling in 10 slightly different directions (and costing productivity as a result).
The problem is that words without a depth of shared understanding fail to communicate a clear and compelling message to the audience. They fail to motivate and inspire staff and they don’t inform customers about what makes that business truly unique. This dilutes their effectiveness.
So how do you convert thoughts into words? The vehicles you use are things like business plans, corporate plans, marketing plans, website, brochures, business cards, flyers, magazines, articles, videos, letters, position descriptions and induction manuals. Each one of these conveys part of the purpose of the business and encourages action and buy in by the reader. Each one needs to be consistently reinforcing the message and your business essence – they are not stand alone documents.
The “how” you do this is through discussion, drafting, more discussion and redrafting. That is why copywriting is much more than just words on a page. A truly great copywriter digs into the mind of the executives, the company and customers, facilitates discussion and then converts the thoughts into form. This form becomes the basis of more discussion and redrafts until the true essence is captured. If your copywriter doesn’t dig, challenge, research and draft and redraft then you are probably not getting the best representation of your business and will lose sales and opportunities as a result.
This also holds true for great graphic designers. Good design is not just great pictures on a page – they are the result of similar amounts of research, thought and challenge about your business. Images used should reflect your demographic both in terms of customers and staff – so people can identify themselves with your business.
Good designers and writers are facilitators of your discussions – able to stand impartially on the outside to facilitate shared understanding of the essence of your business.
Your words and images still need to be crafted with skill and there are many techniques and strategies to ensure your words and images are clear, compelling and trigger an action. Before you start putting pen to paper, read up on some core information about powerful writing or have a professional write or edit your language for maximum power and results.
You then need to test the words and images to ensure they are achieving the results you intended. Track the response rates, gather feedback, and try different variations on phrases or designs until you get the ones that have maximum results with your staff and customers. Maximum results means that you have created something that resonates with the most amounts of people and is usually the one where your business essence is the most faithfully reflected.
All of this should tell you that your company’s words and pictures are not just words and pictures – but the end of a mini strategic planning and review process for your company and should be given the same amount of care and attention for best results.
Once you have your words and images clearly identified – if you are open to it, you may choose to look at some forms of energy work such as Feng Shui or a space clearer to set your intent into your work space. I know this may sound far out, but Feng Shui is merely the essence of good design and flow for results. It is certainly worth trying if you want to get the best results for your business.
Thoughts without being committed to paper are just dreams and are not likely to materialise. Put your dreams out there – have the discussions – write down the results – test the resonance and tweak if needed to get a closer match to who you are. If you do all of that, your business will be significantly more successful than a business that has just chosen a stock standard design and template words.
Words of Power - To learn more about this author, visit Ingrid Cliff's Website.
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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