Don’t pretend your business is bigger than it is

by | Last updated Jun 8, 2022 | Published on Dec 26, 2021 | Blog Posts, Business

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I’d say most people have been guilty of this at some point, and there’s no shame in that. In fact, it used to be considered good marketing advice ‘back in the day’.

I started Pink Giraffe in 2007 and the internet was a completely different place to what it is today. You could rank easily on Google and social media wasn’t used for business that much yet. It was still mainly a student thing where you could write on your friends’ wall and share funny cat pics. 

People didn’t trust small businesses very much. If you had a website without a landline number, that was extremely suspect and if it was obvious you were just one person working from home, that was seen as amateur and unprofessional. People didn’t even like paying by PayPal, it was seen as risky.

So we all bought landline numbers that diverted to our mobiles and we tried to make our businesses look bigger than they actually were. All the copy on our websites said things like “We value your custom” and “Please get in touch and one of our customer service representatives will contact you soon”.

It was complete bullshit of course. The reality was that we were typing from a laptop in the spare room or garden shed and hoping customers wouldn’t hear our kids screaming in the background if we answered a call.

So much has changed. Small businesses are now more likely to be trusted more than large corporations because people know that smaller companies often care more and give great customer service. It doesn’t matter that we don’t have a landline, most people don’t share their mobile anymore either. This used to be seen as well dodgy. It was thought that if a business did not have a means of being contacted besides email, they were likely to disappear overnight and take all our money with them, so businesses needed to look bigger, and therefore more trustworthy.

But over the years this feeling faded. Eventually I got rid of my landline number. It was costing me to keep it active and I couldn’t even remember the last time it rang. Customers much preferred sending off a quick email so they could carry on with their day and await a reply when it came. 

More and more small businesses were popping up. The internet made it much easier to run a business than ever before and so gradually people started to trust these micro-organisations and the need to make ourselves appear bigger was gone.

Not everyone got the memo though and the internet is still full of small business owners, working from home, on their own, yet still using the words “we” and “us” when they meant “I” and “me”.

So why is that?

I don’t honestly know why some people still do it. For me it was a huge relief when I realised it wasn’t necessary and I remember going through all of my website pages and searching for any mentions of this fabricated twoddle so I could update them. It was refreshing to be honest and upfront about exactly who I was and what my company looked like.

I guess some people just still feel the need to appear bigger than they are. Perhaps they feel it will reassure their customers, or maybe they think they will look more successful if people think they have a huge team of people working for them.

Whatever the reason, it’s time to call BS on it.

Stop pretending to be bigger than you are. It’s just not necessary and may even be harming your business. Be honest and upfront. You don’t need to put out a corporate image for your company. Lots of people want to buy from small business owners because they’ve had it with the online retail giants.

They want to see the real person behind your business. Some of the best social media posts are when small business owners share behind the scenes photos or stories about their life, not just what product they’re trying to sell next.

So take a chance. Delete all that “we” and “us” nonsense. Get real and show your audience exactly what your business looks like, even if it’s just you in your shed.

To show my commitment that I practice what I preach, I will tell you about what my business looks like right now, today. No polishing it up to make it look better, just a true account of me writing this blog post today.

You can read it here…

What if I’m still using “we” and “us”?

If you’re still using the words “we” and “us” when you mean “I” and “me” don’t worry. It’s an easy fix and you don’t need to worry about it. Just go through your website or online shop and change the words over. Your customers may not even notice, but your writing will have more authenticity to it and it will feel more comfortable and natural to write.

If you’re feeling brave you could even create some content out of it and tell your audience what you are doing and why. They might be interested and want to support your integrity.

 

NB: I will add that it’s advisable to leave any T&Cs or legal documents with the terminology they were written in. Legal speak is different to everyday writing and you don’t want to invalidate your legal docs by messing around with them, so just leave that stuff to the legal people. 👍

 

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The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this article are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of this article. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this article. Nicky Merrick disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this article.

Photo of Nicky smiling at the camera. She has pink, orange and purple hair and is wearing a black t-shirt.

Hi! I’m Nicky from Pink Giraffe.

This blog is where I share tips and tricks that have helped me run a small business from home since 2007.

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