Let’s talk about words.
Words are the ultimate tool we, as business owners, use to communicate with our market.
But words, by themselves, are meaningless and empty. Backed with action, they say more.
Words either uplift, or they bring a person down.
Words either motivate, educate, and inspire (MEI)…
Or they condition people to settle for less than what they’re capable of (including yourself).
Words aren’t action, but they can be a catalyst for action, either positive or negative.
Words, indeed, are either a weapon, or a healing agent.
And your interpretation of them is either a weapon against yourself (and your customers), or a healing agent.
“The word of God” is the ultimate word — where it all started. And that simple concept eludes most people. Misinterpretations and mistranslations abound.
Words, language, the tower of Babel — are all a gift and a challenge from God. We misuse our gifts, don’t we? We look down on our challenges, don’t we? (instead of praising them, loving them, using them to grow!).
Very few people are precise with their words. They use their self-talk to cripple themselves and their business.
They use bullshit “definitions” and words to weaken their sense of confidence in life.
For example:
- Weak self-talk: You look at a challenge in your business and think, “I’m never going to be able to overcome this.”
- Strong self-talk: You look at the challenge and think, “I’m crushing this. I’ve got this. I’ll handle this in no time. Just keep going!”
- Weak self-talk: You look at your product and think, “I don’t know how to market this. I’ll never sell a thousand units, let alone a million. I don’t know what to do.” The repetition of this hypnotizes you into believing it.
- Strong self-talk: You look at your product and think, “I know this will help people in a massive way. It’s my life’s purpose to market and sell this thing and help as many people as possible. I know exactly what to do. The answers are inside me. I’m here for the long run; I’m not gonna quit.”
If you don’t use words to uplift yourself daily, how can you expect to lift up others?
In business, our words either challenge people to be their best self… or our words lull a person into hypnosis, fear, and complacency.
One of the best ways to inspire people is to simply “write how you talk.”*
This requires communicating as your true self, no matter what the circumstance is or who you’re talking to.
We’re either “writing like we talk,” or we’re adapting our language to accommodate another person’s judgment of us.
(*See The Anti-Marketing Manifesto for info on writing like you talk.)
Predatory marketers are using words full of lies and deceit to mislead the masses. “Sickening.”
Nobody believes the fake-happy, canned sounding voice in the commercial is a “real” person. It’s a scripted-@ss fake.
Anti-marketers are fully tapped into the “God” energy in themselves. Acting in congruence with who they really are, they can’t lie to anyone. Nor would they want to. Their self-talk uplifts themselves… then everything they do in their business uplifts their perfect-fit customers too.
Anti-marketing tip: Create your own words, phrases, definitions, vocabulary terms, or even acronyms to strengthen your brand. Do you have a unique way of saying something? Make sure that’s apparent in your content. (If you need 1-on-1 help with this, reach out to me for an editing package.)
Michelle Lopez Boggs is a copywriter, copywriting mentor, and author of "The Anti-Marketing Manifesto: How to Sell Without Being a Sellout." She's helped her clients sell millions of dollars' worth of products and services online by using the MEI(S) principle — motivate, educate, and inspire, and sell. 