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 have shown that it can work is a big confidence booster.
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.")
The "we" line is used all over the place for web design shops. My question is does it become valid if you regularly use sub-contractors and/or interns?
I recently did a video interview with an Icelandic freelance web designer and just posted a small excerpt, of which the main topic was honesty and authenticity in business (he spoke specifically of the "we" talk).
Not sure I agree with this. My startup (Frogmetrics, YC S07) hasn't tried to sound big or small. Our site focuses on the service we provide, in concrete language with a clean design. We don't try to sound bigger than we are, but we also don't play up our smallness with a bunch of cute catchphrases either. We've been pretty successful so far at getting big customers, and I think we'd have done less well with a more "startup authentic" aesthetic.
I think the better lesson is to tailor your messaging to your target buyer. If you're selling to a level III coder at a big company, put the message in a form (s)he will like.
"tailor your messaging to your target buyer" -- I think this is the key insight here!
Personally, I like the approach of avoiding allusions to size on your main site, using the expected language of your customer, and not trying to hide it in your personal communications. It's OK if the company blog unveils how tiny you are, anyone looking there is already interested beyond your size.
Keeping it simple and honest always sounded like a good idea, but the fact that people have shown that it can work is a big confidence booster.