Tag: writing

It is an altogether established fact, contrary to what logic may dictate, amongst the academic and corporate business worlds, both literary cognizant populaces, that composing documents with a willingness to dig deeply into the complexity of the language being composed enables widespread viewership and understanding.

So, did that make any sense to you? Don’t feel bad if you needed to read it a few times to get the gist; that’s not unusual. When you are trying to get a point across, do you want to muddy the waters of understanding with overly complex writing? To say something in many words that could be said in few?

I spent many years within the academic world, receiving a Master’s degree in my field. You won’t believe how many papers I read (and conversations I had) where the level of discussion was so high none of us understood what was going on! It’s as if to be seen as credible and intelligent, you must express your ideas at a level above that of the average person.

Well that’s convenient. Just talk above everyone’s head; hasn’t that always been the best way to explain yourself?

Unfortunately, it happens outside the world of Ph.Ds (even they need to re-read the tough sections!). You see it on the news and in industry publications…but where do you never see this? That’s right, marketing.

As a marketer, your goal is to catch the audience’s interest long enough to present your idea and motivate them to take action. That may mean visiting a website, going to a dealer, buying a product, etc. If your limited time is spent confusing a potential customer, you can imagine how it affects sales.

Ok, class. It’s research time!

When you’re presenting or writing in your preferred field, I’m sure you can discuss at a very high level. In fact, it’s probably when you get most excited. Details, complexity, rationale, and research! This is awesome! And your audience is lost. They’re not dumb, just in that area, they’re not as advanced as you. Which is ok. Talk to me about fashion or accounting at an advanced level, and I’ll give you a blank stare that truly has nothing behind it. But, bring up technology, world news, or other topics where I hold an understanding and interest (those usually go together), I’m engaged and following, no matter how in-depth you get. Understanding all depends on how easily read your material can be.

Imagine this: You’re offering a new accounting platform, I mean completely new to the industry, but it is wildly great. Cuts hours out of doing payroll, tax filing, and even finds more deductions than anything else on the market. You know your product totally, absolutely rocks. But I have no interest or understanding, remember? However, as a business owner, I’m the exact target of your marketing…I’m who would benefit the most from your solution. How do you present it to me? Do you dig into the complexities of how it works, using long, drawn-out sentences? Do you present me a 10-page research summary about how it achieves such great results?

Of course not! You simplify it down to its most basic level.

We’re here to change perceptions. We believe accounting should save you money and time, not consume it. That novices and experts alike can generate equal results. We believe your finances can be well-managed without needing a degree. To this end, we created our Accounting Plus platform. So you can do what you do best: running your business.

So go forth and be simple! The next (scheduled) post will connect this concept to reading levels. You won’t believe what grade level your writing should be.