The Little Handout That Could (part 3)
Yesterday, we identified building blocks that can build your opening value statement. Hopefully you have something that grabs the people you want to help, and lets them know how you can help them.
If they choose to read on, and you bombard them with paragraphs of supporting evidence, further details, endless descriptions, you may see a glaze fall over their eyes right before they make their speedy exit (probably without your handout). Be kind to your reader. They are dealing with a lot of input, and the last thing you should do is overload them.
Help them understand how your product or service integrates with their workflow. Current research says that the human mind can only hold about 4 things in it at once, so see if you can break your explanation into 3-5 steps. This gives it the best chance of being quickly digestible by a distracted brain. Try to describe each step with a minimum of content. Remember, you're trying to give just enough information to get the reader to the next step, which is:
A call to action! This is mysteriously missing from a lot of handouts, but at the end of the day, what is it exactly that you'd like your reader to do after looking at your handout? Visit your site? Request a free demo? Schedule a meeting? There's no way that your audience could gain enough insight from your handout to sign on with your product or service, so there's no advantage to giving them every bit of information about it. Your goal is to get them to take a smaller action. They will learn more about you along the way.
So don't be shy. Make it big! Put it on both sides! Make sure they don't miss what could help them next. Speaking of helping, think about how this call to action could be useful to them. Will they gain some knowledge? Be able to try something out? If it's simply "Go here and learn more", they may not make the effort.
Tomorrow...Says who?
If they choose to read on, and you bombard them with paragraphs of supporting evidence, further details, endless descriptions, you may see a glaze fall over their eyes right before they make their speedy exit (probably without your handout). Be kind to your reader. They are dealing with a lot of input, and the last thing you should do is overload them.
Help them understand how your product or service integrates with their workflow. Current research says that the human mind can only hold about 4 things in it at once, so see if you can break your explanation into 3-5 steps. This gives it the best chance of being quickly digestible by a distracted brain. Try to describe each step with a minimum of content. Remember, you're trying to give just enough information to get the reader to the next step, which is:
A call to action! This is mysteriously missing from a lot of handouts, but at the end of the day, what is it exactly that you'd like your reader to do after looking at your handout? Visit your site? Request a free demo? Schedule a meeting? There's no way that your audience could gain enough insight from your handout to sign on with your product or service, so there's no advantage to giving them every bit of information about it. Your goal is to get them to take a smaller action. They will learn more about you along the way.
So don't be shy. Make it big! Put it on both sides! Make sure they don't miss what could help them next. Speaking of helping, think about how this call to action could be useful to them. Will they gain some knowledge? Be able to try something out? If it's simply "Go here and learn more", they may not make the effort.
Tomorrow...Says who?
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