In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the author of Strong Language: The Fastest, Smartest, Cheapest Marketing Tool You're Not Using and CEO of Verbal Identity, Chris West.
Chris shares that he and his company helps businesses use language better. As a niche business, Verbal Identity focuses solely on helping companies earn more customers, loyalty, and sales through effective language. Josh and Chris explore what makes the betterment of language authentic. Many companies feel they’re just “okay” with their language, but know there’s room for improvement. But how do you improve something like tone and language? Companies should always be authentic to what their brand and mission are – but remain relevant and up to speed on changes with the times.
Chris also shares that most brands have sweated and stressed over how they front face -- everything is curated and tailored. The problem is that they don’t have their language dialed in. Being friendly and approachable is the bare minimum. You have to deliberately design language that resonates with your audience. Magic and mechanics are what make language so powerful, Chris explains.
Josh and Chris also explain the process with how Verbal Identity works. Their first meetings with clients are often revealing. While a business owner or marketing executive may know something isn’t dialed in with their language, they don’t know why. Chris helps to diagnose the issues with a brand’s language and then come up with a writing framework that they can use going forward. Writing for your company should always create a clear picture of who you are and how you sound via tone. Verbal Identity’s work creates more customers and deepens loyalty for the businesses they work with. They create language style guides for brands so that when they’re done refacing the brand’s tone and language, they can continue being consistent with their messaging. Consistency is key, Chris shares, and he teaches brands ‘how to fish’. He wants them to know how to design their language for years to come. Their style guides are bespoke and curated personally for their clients. They can write 40-page guides or 8-page frameworks depending on the needs for the business as well as its size and vertical. You have to paint a three-level picture with your writing to make your ‘voice’ unique; what world do you believe in, what do you stand for, and what do you stand against?
Want to learn more? Check out Verbal Identity’s website at https://www.verbalidentity.com/. .
Check out Verbal Identity on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/verbal-identity/.
Check out Chris West on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/chriswestverbalidentity/.
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