Let's be clear about it.
Your writing should be easy for people to read and understand (duh).
The best compliment I ever got was from someone buying my vacuum.
When I met him in my company’s parking lot, the first thing he said as I rolled my old Oreck up to him was, “This is the best communication I’ve ever had on Facebook Marketplace.”
Image courtesy Kira auf der Heide
He said he was confident in paying for the vacuum, sight unseen, because I’d been clear about the condition, cost, where I’d meet, what time, etc. All the details — which was, to me, obvious to communicate. Why wouldn’t I be perfectly clear when meeting a stranger?
If you’ve had any experience buying or selling on Facebook Marketplace, you know this is rarely the case. I won’t get into the abomination of communication there — or ponder why buyers never show up when they say they will — but let’s do consider how infrequently concise, unambiguous writing shows up in our lives.
I write every day. Current projects include work for a news website, a renewable energy developer, and an autonomous drone solution. Am I a subject matter expert? Hell, no. Come at me with your questions about current literary fiction or Taylor Swift’s discography, and I’ve got you, but complicated topics and policies? I’m simply a curious person.
And that’s who we write for: fellow curious people who want to learn more. Humans writing for humans, answering those who, what, where, when, and why questions.
So let’s be clear about it, sans keyword stuffing. That’s what it’s all about.
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