Take advantage of language to build your business.
This is as much a reminder to myself as it is for anyone… words can take you from where you are to where you want to be. And one of the things I can’t help but notice is that the language around your business can really make you feel stuck.
Just in the same way brand is not a logo – it’s an opinion customers create in their mind about you – PR is not media coverage. Publicity is an outcome of PR; but PR is the effort to reach the hearts and minds of people who need what you’ve got most. And so much of this comes from language.
Your language is the linchpin in helping your customers become who they want to be. They see themselves in your words. How you compel your customers to join your brand comes from story; from language.
To figure out your language you must figure out the core purpose of the company beyond money. I find that small business gets this more easily than big or wannabe big corporates and multi-nationals who want to fast-track revenue and sell the business within five years. You have to let go of pleasing stakeholders, worldwide recognition and wealth to get to your core purpose, vision or WHY, if you like.
Language is how you cultivate the world around you and what is possible to manifest through language. The words you use help to create the type of world you want to live in; how people experience you, how people perceive you; how people hear you. And most importantly how you see yourself.
The words you use clarify what you know about your business why it exists, why it is valuable and why it is worthy to be remembered. Words better shape reputation for your business and support it in becoming a brand that is liked, known and trusted.
Greatness in a brand comes from writing. Sure the product, design, packaging, user experience; all of that is important – but the right pairing of words with that product or service need great words to go with them. Words and pictures and design must all work together.
Great words that engage, enlighten, inform or entertain allow your business to better be in the conversation, or better yet, start conversations.
So be sure to explore and reflect on the language you use in and around your business (as well as your internal dialogue, if you’re brave). Or perhaps at least how you talk about where your business is in your mind.
With the words we choose we create a construct in our life in our state of being and in our world through our words; the day-to-day words and those that we use in our business.
Words by Jade Roberts
raraPR Founder and Creative Director
raraPR is above all the sum of people who together help build brands and share stories. We are present in our determination to make a positive difference to the world by representing individuals and businesses that are doing good. We are an extension of the personal stories within us, those that we exist for and those within you that need to be heard.
