What’s Inside?

I’m always thinking about how we package ourselves and our work online.

Why is it so hard to quickly, clearly explain what we do and what makes our work special?

You might be the world’s best business consultant, or real estate agent, or sell a must-have software solution. You might be the best copywriter in your field. Your customers keep you on speed dial and can’t live without you. Your secret sauce — your process, your experience, your expertise, your perspective — is what makes your work successful.

But then, when you go to explain that work to a stranger (especially a stranger on the internet), the secret sauce gets lost. You get tongue-tied. You rely on big-picture language and buzzwords. You show the wrapper, but not what’s inside.

Here’s what I mean by the “wrapper.” The wrapper is the most high-level, general way to package what you do. The wrapper tells people what you do: “strategic business planning.” But the wrapper doesn’t give any sense of how you do it, or (most importantly) why.

When I start working with a new client (or an old client!) on developing their thought leadership strategy, I spend a lot of my time trying to peel back the wrapper. I want to knock them off their well-worn script. I want to know the nitty-gritty details. I want to talk to their customers about how their work plays out and why customers can’t live without them. I want to get to the juicy stuff inside.

So, the next time you’re writing web copy about your brand, or trying to explain your work in a sentence, resist the urge to hide your most interesting work in a generic wrapper. Start with the good stuff. Peel back the layers and show people what’s inside.