Every day – save Sunday – my wife Kelli and I eat at a Buddhist vegetarian restaurant here in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
I filmed a short 1080 p video of us ordering food with a few words of Thai:
Ordering Food at a Buddhist Vegetarian Restaurant in Chiang Mai Thailand
Although Kelli and I could get away with pointing and smiling we at least learned a few basic Thai phrases to greet the folks, order properly and thank them for their help.
I speak their language to connect with the kind, generous, friendly Thai people to enhance our experience. If I tried speaking English or just pointed like a caveman the Thai would still smile and be friendly but we’d miss the special connection of speaking to someone in their native tongue; especially when in their country.
Your Readers
Sometimes when I read marketing blogs or blogging tips blogs I want to hurl.
“Marketing speak” – filled with complex concepts, verbose, long-winded explanations and silly words or phrases (we need to synergize backward overflow) – tends to slip into some marketing blogs. Even some blogging tips bloggers make things sound complex, using silly phrases to confuse their readers.
90% of readers cannot understand marketing speak. Meaning you didn’t speak their language. Meaning you just lost 90% of your audience.
Using complex words, phrases or concepts to get a point across is borne of ego. You want to sound smart. You want to impress people.
Meanwhile, the blogger who puts their ego to the side just wants to serve folks, crafting simple posts in their reader’s language to become the most successful bloggers in their niche.
Simple equals powerful.
Simple equals successful.
Einstein
Albert Einstein was one of the world’s great geniuses.
He once noted how unless you can explain a concept to a 5 year old that you don’t understand the concept yourself.
This line of thinking underscores why you need to make your blog posts easy to understand. Simple is powerful.
Not because your readers lack intelligence.
But because the quickest way to succeed with blogging is to teach your readers how to understand some concept with minimal effort.
Then your readers can put their new found knowledge into action quickly, practicing, cutting their learning curve and laying the foundation for a successful blog.
Can you see why speaking your reader’s language rocks?
You connect with them quickly, easily and painlessly, dissolving any barriers that “marketing speak” bloggers build for themselves, foolishly, the product of their ego.
Examples of Highly Successful Bloggers with Simple Writing Styles
I immediately click with any post I read on Donna Merrill’s blog.
She has developed the in demand skill of relaying potentially complex topics in simple, clear, clean fashion.
Jeff Goins is another blogger who drills down his posts to present a simple, clear, powerful message anybody can seize and use for their benefit quickly.
Darren Rowse is one of the standard bearers of keeping things simple to connect with his readers. He has built a 300,000 member community by speaking his reader’s language through his blog posts and through every guest post approved on his blog.
How to Speak Your Reader’s Language by Keeping Things Simple
- visualize yourself in your reader’s shoes before you write a blog post; doing this helps you see things from your reader’s perspective
- practice writing 1000 words daily in a Word document to become a clear, confident writer who crafts posts with authority and simplicity
- read bloggers and authors who convey their message in simple, powerful style; learn from these pros through osmosis
- Develop the habit of beginning sentences with powerful, actionable verbs; doing so adds crispness and clarity to your writing style
Your Turn
Are you crafting simple, powerful blog posts?
Or are you having a tough time writing in your reader’s language?
What tips can you add to this blog post?
How are you connecting with your readers?
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