Words that don't matter anymore

There was probably a time when words like quality, honest and reliable mattered. But I doubt it.

My dad taught me to be wary of those who said they were honest. If they feel they have to say it, they probably aren't.

There are a bunch of words that don't matter anymore: quality, honest, reliable, professional, trustworthy, service oriented, experienced, dedicated, capable, respectful, and caring are just a few that come to mind.

These are "mushy middle" words that no longer mean anything. They don't mean anything because everyone is using them.

A liar will never come out and say he's a liar. He'll justify he's honest and then lie to you when you're not looking. Don't tell me what you do, show me what you do. What you'll do will speak so loudly, I won't be able to hear what you're saying.

Business owners and most marketing people like to use unimportant words. They waste their breath. They waste their money. They waste their time.

Instead of saying your company is polite, tell me you measure the amount of "thank you's" you get a day.

Instead of saying you're honest, tell me about the deal that went bad and how you fixed it.

Instead of saying you're experienced, create a how to video showing me how you could solve my problem.

Instead of saying you're respectful and caring, be respectful and caring.

Then use words that do matter. Words that matter have nothing to do with your business. If they did, your competitors have already beaten them to a useless combination of letters that no longer carry meaning.

In this example, it's not just a promise. It's a pinky swear promise.  And we all know that pinky swear promises are more important to keep than regular promises. It's foolish. But it works because no one else is promising with pinky swears. Now Morris-Jenkins owns Pinky Swears. None of their competitors can use that in their advertising. And if they did, they wouldn't come off as authentic.

Marketing is NOT hard. Choosing to be remarkable IS.