Entrepreneurs: Content Familiarity Blindness
by Miki Saxon
One of the biggest problems I run into when I work with startups is what I call “familiarity blindness.”
I see it most frequently in the content I am asked to revamp, but also occasionally in the products/services themselves.
Familiarity blindness is the result of being immersed in an idea at its most basic level from conception on and the result is often a version of not seeing the forest for the trees.
Typically, tech entrepreneurs are in love with their tech. They love to talk about it and it often forms the basis for discussion with their peers.
What tech entrepreneurs often have trouble accepting is that most customers don’t care.
That’s why it’s so important to know how your product/service is actually viewed by your market and that means getting out of the incubator or coffee house into the real world and talking to your target audience—not just talking, but really listening to what they say. (See yesterday’s post for help identifying and understanding your value proposition.)
When it comes to content, for your website, ads, articles, etc., “less is definitely more.”
Skip the technology, no matter how cool or groundbreaking, or even what it does, unless you are talking about what it does for your users/customers.
The exceptions are articles and interviews with technical media and even then what it does is usually more important than the technical description of how it does it.
Generally speaking, the only thing your potential users/customers care about is how your product/service will benefit them.
And they want to know quickly and painlessly and to understand with little mental effort on their part required.
Join me tomorrow for a look at familiarity blindness when pitching.
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