“Life is too short”

I’ve heard this saying so many times in my life. So many times, in fact, I stopped hearing it.

It’s cliché.

It lacks impact, so it’s become white noise. Something, that when uttered, falls somewhere into my sub-conscious only to be buried away in the depths of my brain with other self-assessed ignore-worthy information like algebra and basically everything my parents said to me from ages 12-16.

Flipping the switch

Then, one day, while sitting quietly on the dock with my Opa (Grandfather) enjoying the sounds of nature and the thoughts in our heads, he turned to me.

He said, “Lara,” (in his Russian-Hungarian-Yugoslavian accent).

“…you spend your entire life planning for the future. Then one day you wake up and you realize you’re living that future and there’s nothing to plan any more.”

I stopped. I absorbed what he said. And I nodded. And we went back to silence.

But that statement stayed with me. It stayed with me all day, through the night and for weeks afterwards.

It was those very words that prompted me to leave my corporate job and start my own business.

Because, life is too short.

What was it about Opa’s statement that disrupted my propensity to drown out that lesson? Simple. He flipped the switch and chose different words.

Life’s too short to be cliché

Have you ever been reading a book and got to the end of a page only to realize you hadn’t absorbed anything you read? So you have to concentrate and re-read it again (sometimes having to repeat this step multiple times). This is kind of like what happens when a customer gets to your website and sees industry speak, expected copy and clichés.

They zone out.

Your site may sound a little something like this: “We are a full-service, turnkey event planning company that creates award-winning events. We’re known for our creative and strategic solutions.” Blah, blah, blah.

If you’re a wedding planner, it might sound like this: “We create beautiful memories for the modern and sophisticated couple.” Blah-bity, blah, blah.

Look up 20 different event planning companies and I guarantee 19 of them have some iteration of this copy.

Want to be ignored & overlooked? The answer is to sound like everyone else.

Great words have power

Great words cause you to stop dead in your tracks and listen.

They arouse an emotional reaction.

They create rapport and camaraderie.

…but they’re never ignored.

When your customers have a lot of choice, they’ll skim their options and ignore what’s expected. Companies that choose the right words have a dramatically better chance of being noticed and remembered. Those who don’t will be passed over.

Don’t get passed over.