You're a little company, now act like one • Hacker News Board

Re: You're a little company, now act like one

#11

Post by sfphotoarts » Mon, Aug 31, 2009, 3:35 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #5

...is the leading provider of... Unless you're McDonalds, Microsoft, or Walmart, this is guaranteed bullshit that just makes you look stupid. For many cases, OP provides great advice. While some customers feel more comfortable with the stableness of a large institution, just as many feel more comfortable with the attention they'll get from someone small and hungry. For many of us here, we should use that to our advan…

not necessarily, there are a lot of niche products where there is a small company that is the leading provider. Leica, for example, the leading provider of rangefinder cameras since the 20's. A perfectly true statement, but you won't find them in the fortune 50. There are many many more examples.

Re: You're a little company, now act like one

#12

Post by donaq » Mon, Aug 31, 2009, 3:35 PM UTC

That is, of course, until the present batch of small companies grow big (or die) and all the big companies are putting words like "suck" and "cool" on their corporate blurbs. Then the next batch of small companies will ape them because people never change, and then early adopters will start looking out for companies with "people who care enough to sound professional" (excerpted from the future version of OP).

And when that happens, I'll be ready...

Re: You're a little company, now act like one

#13

Post by there » Mon, Aug 31, 2009, 3:42 PM UTC

i think it's certainly possible to make your company's image look professional without all the corporate speak, buzzwords, and stock images.

my company is mostly just me (unless i sub out parts of a project) and i usually use "we" when talking to customers. many of them know the company is just me but they are already my customers. a potential customer might not even consider calling me in the first place if my website said i'm one guy. if they have a big project planned and they think it needs a whole team, would they even consider asking a one-person shop for an estimate? maybe not.

Re: You're a little company, now act like one

#14

Post by patio11 » Mon, Aug 31, 2009, 3:48 PM UTC

tsestrich wrote: post #4

I love the advice given in this article. In working on putting together a little company of my own, I often find myself looking at what seems to be "accepted" and trying to steer in that direction. This creates a lot of fluff in my language and, honestly, I end up with something that I don't think I'd even be interested in trying. Keeping it simple and honest always sounded like a good idea, but the fact that people…

You want a simple recipe for eliminating fluff and connecting with your customers? Talk less about we/us/I and talk more about you/your.

When you're talking about "we", you're almost certainly talking to hear yourself talk -- "We have an industry-leading solution with years of YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT THIS."

When you're talking about "you", you're probably addressing the customers needs and ways to get those needs satisfied. ("You can use Widget to flangle a foobar in less than 30 seconds, saving you time and getting you home to your kids faster.")

Re: You're a little company, now act like one

#15

Post by josefresco » Mon, Aug 31, 2009, 3:50 PM UTC

stevoski wrote: post #7

My favourite "pretending to be big" line I see little guys using is: "With more than 20 years experience" based on 4 guys in the firm, each 5 years out of university.

20 years of 'collective' experience is the key word that needs to be there to make it (slightly) less of a complete bullshit line.

But that's the least of the problem with false claims ...I recently met the owner of another local web firm who was telling people they've been 'in the business' for 30 years. I don't think I need to point out the error in math there.

Re: You're a little company, now act like one

#16

Post by donw » Mon, Aug 31, 2009, 3:57 PM UTC

donaq wrote: post #12

That is, of course, until the present batch of small companies grow big (or die) and all the big companies are putting words like "suck" and "cool" on their corporate blurbs. Then the next batch of small companies will ape them because people never change, and then early adopters will start looking out for companies with "people who care enough to sound professional" (excerpted from the future version of OP). And whe…

It is possible to sound professional without sounding boring, and I'd also argue that being honest about the scale and capabilities of your company is a big part of professionalism.

"UberSoft is a leading provider in synergistic data-driven technologies focused on improving ROI through market-driven analytics. The UberSoft Team has over twenty years of experience in delivering proven solutions to our corporate partners." is fluff.

"Spend less time marketing, and more time watching hockey. UberSoft makes marketing easy, because we've got a really great way to link statistics from news feeds into your existing analytics." is honest, and a lot more memorable.

Re: You're a little company, now act like one

#17

Post by donw » Mon, Aug 31, 2009, 3:58 PM UTC

patio11 wrote: post #14

tsestrich wrote: post #4

I love the advice given in this article. In working on putting together a little company of my own, I often find myself looking at what seems to be "accepted" and trying to steer in that direction. This creates a lot of fluff in my language and, honestly, I end up with something that I don't think I'd even be interested in trying. Keeping it simple and honest always sounded like a good idea, but the fact that people…

You want a simple recipe for eliminating fluff and connecting with your customers? Talk less about we/us/I and talk more about you/your. When you're talking about "we", you're almost certainly talking to hear yourself talk -- "We have an industry-leading solution with years of YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT THIS." When you're talking about "you", you're probably addressing the customers needs and ways to get those needs satisf…

Good advice when Dale Carnegie put it in his book, still good advice today.

Re: You're a little company, now act like one

#18

Post by jcromartie » Mon, Aug 31, 2009, 4:03 PM UTC

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. I've worked with 3-person operations that claimed to have "teams" and double-digit employee counts to clients. Why not just be honest? It's like black-hat SEO for your HR.

Re: You're a little company, now act like one

#19

Post by patio11 » Mon, Aug 31, 2009, 4:10 PM UTC

there wrote: post #13

i think it's certainly possible to make your company's image look professional without all the corporate speak, buzzwords, and stock images. my company is mostly just me (unless i sub out parts of a project) and i usually use "we" when talking to customers. many of them know the company is just me but they are already my customers. a potential customer might not even consider calling me in the first place if my websi…

I think the choice of "we" versus "I" is bicycle shedding for copywriting. I've seen software developers paralyzed by this decision. (No, really. It used to come up with some regularity at the Business of Software boards.) They've both got merits -- pick whichever sounds good to you and get back to stuff which matters.

Re: You're a little company, now act like one

#20

Post by pxlpshr » Mon, Aug 31, 2009, 4:11 PM UTC

josefresco wrote: post #15

stevoski wrote: post #7

My favourite "pretending to be big" line I see little guys using is: "With more than 20 years experience" based on 4 guys in the firm, each 5 years out of university.

20 years of 'collective' experience is the key word that needs to be there to make it (slightly) less of a complete bullshit line. But that's the least of the problem with false claims ...I recently met the owner of another local web firm who was telling people they've been 'in the business' for 30 years. I don't think I need to point out the error in math there.

Right, distinction is important. We use "combined experience" to call out the width of our expertise, not depth, on our publishing services page for mobile development. I think it helps reassure some prospectives that while young, we have a broad range of experience in multiple industries.

Getting sign off on a ~5-6+ digit services project takes a fair amount of work, and more so without a thick portfolio. Vertical software sales benefit from tech diligence and product demo as part of the buying decision.