I think it all started with e-mail, when I first discovered that more is less. It became easy, fast, and cheap to send a message. So the inevitable happened—information and the number of messages people are sent exploded (note that I did not say the number they received).As a marketer, your job is to make your message be one of the many that actually gets through, regardless of the medium.
I have noticed an interesting screening mechanism that people use—the length of the message. If the message is short they read it. If it is long, they do not. This is one reason I decided to contribute to this blog. I find the messages short and to the point but still with thoughtful insights.
Look at business books. The length has dropped to about 200 to 250 pages in order to be saleable. People no longer think they get more value if a book is a 1,000-page tome. Instant messaging is a hot phenomenon, especially with younger people who have grown up in the age of uber technology and information overload.
And Twitter’s rampant success with a maximum of 140 characters is remarkable. We can all learn from Twitter; it can teach us to keep it short. I advocate that everyone should sign up for Twitter and try sending 20 to 30 tweets. It is good training on how to get a message across in fewer words.
Cut the message length and increase the impact. Less is more.
This blog entry is a modified excerpt of a chapter of Jim Estill’s latest book Zero to Two Billion (and yes, he grew his business from Zero to $2 Billion).
Until next time,
Yours truly– Jim Estill , Guest Blogger for OfficeTime
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