Crazy People Sure Write Small

Have you ever seen a crazy dude by the roadside with a sign? Have you ever seen some nutty rant on the side of some farmhouse about the evils of a fiat financial system or some other such unintelligible rant? Did you notice something they have in common?

They always use really tiny writing.

It’s infuriating! I mean, HONESTLY – if you’re going to stand on the corner and ‘expose’ some hidden evil, shouldn’t I be able to ACTUALLY READ IT?? Seriously, what’s the point?

I’ve given this much thought and it finally came to me. These people don’t do this because they are nuts, they do this because they truly believe in what they are saying, and they feel they are doing you a favor in letting you know.  No, more importantly they are nuts, but as a semi-interesting side-note they are zealots. The reason these fruitcakes write so tiny is because they have SO MUCH TO SAY. They couldn’t possibly imagine putting a large 4 sentence statement out there and building on it over time. They fail to comprehend the value of the understated.

This reminds me of a very common type of marketing client. The small-business client. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE marketing for small business folks – they are fast on their feet, unfettered by organizational nonsense, and generally appreciative of good work. It’s just that they are so very INTENSE about their products and services..

Here is what I’m saying..the small business person LOVES what they do. They feel that they do it best, they feel that they offer a level of quality and service that is unparalleled, and they are generally right. How this becomes a problem is that they want to CONVEY this to the customer in every piece of marketing they do. This goes back to the small writing thing..invariably, when we create ad copy, there is always a request to ‘add’ copy. It’s because they believe in their service and want the customer to know about it. The thing is, a good marketer can do this in 12 words of copy.

Take for example the following concept that was discussed in a meeting with a client who provides over-the-phone technical support. They needed to express the following:

We provide support for all of our products and services. Our company offers technical support that is fast and local. When you call our office, you will reach an easy-to-understand english speaking tech support person.

My partner instantly blurted out:

‘Instant Support from Someone Whose Name Really Is ‘Bob’”

All of that summed up in one cute headline. Most importantly though, it strikes to the heart of the issue – people are frustrated at being relegated to a third-party tech support person reading a script on another contintent. They want to speak with someone who is from their hemisphere that speaks their language. Not that there is anything wrong with using a third-party to provide support – it’s just that this model has been so poorly deployed and abused that it carries with it the perception of complete frustration and pointlessness. With one clever statement, we’ve captured the frustration of the reader and made our sympathy clear. This single act tells the reader “We know what you hate, and we promise to not do it”. It doesn’t take paragraphs to make this clear, in fact, the meaning is lost with too much elaboration.

The Take-away

If you find yourself clearing room for more text, ensure that you aren’t over-expressing your zeal for what you do. We love what we do, and we know we will be the best solution for the client, but ‘using more words’ isn’t the answer. The only way into the brains of our ever-impatiently-clicking clients is through the path of brevity – someone once said it was the soul of wit.