I’ve been posting our available positions to several appropriate websites in search of our next Collegewise counselors. Each site doesn’t just ask for an ad. Most also want a description of our company. One wanted me to explain which competitors were similar to us. Yet another wanted me to describe where we see ourselves in five years. Like a college application, each of those questions is hard to answer because I’m thinking about how the text will be perceived by the reader. Pretty soon, I’m writing the same stilted, formal text I always advise both students and small business owners to avoid. The way to get back to real communication is to pretend I’m saying the words to the applicant in person.
When you pretend you’re speaking to one person instead of writing to anyone who might see your ad, web page, or group email, you become much more conversational. Once you’ve written it, read the text out loud and you’ll know for sure if it doesn’t sound like you.
Here’s an example. One of the fields I had to fill in was “Similar organizations/partners.” How would I answer that question to one person?
This is a hard one. There are plenty of private college counselors out there. But do they work with as many kids as we do? Have they sent students to over 700 colleges? Can they juggle torches? We do all those things. Except for the torches.
I’m not that cheeky in every answer, but it sounds like what I would say in person. And I’ll bet we’re one of the few companies listed on that particular site that’s willing to risk losing some over-polished professionalism in the name of injecting a little personality. I'm willing to take that risk.