3 Ways To Promote Your Personality On Your Website by @CathyGoodwin

by Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D. | Featured Contributor 

You’ve probably heard, over and over, that people buy your services only if they know you as a person. They want to be assured there’s a three-dimensional person behind the website.

That’s why so many marketing experts will encourage you to share some personal information, especially about your pets, spouse and children. They will also encourage you to share your “how I got to be here” story, warts and all.

But what you really communicate with your website is your personality… the nonverbal hard-to-define qualities you’d communicate when you meet your audience in person. Instead of facial expression, body language and posture, you communicate via your website layout, images, colors and – most important – conversational style.

Your personality is what answers the question, “What are you like to work with? Will I dread each client meeting? Will you be responsive to calls and special requests?”

Here are 3 ways you can promote your personality on your website:

(1) Use personality to differentiate your services, especially in some categories. In particular, when you must choose a provider, and when all providers are presumed to meet a certain level of competence, your clients make choices based on personality.

For example, you probably need a CPA to handle your taxes if you are a business owner or professional. CPAs vary in terms of aggressiveness in taking tax deductions. That’s the kind of information you get by word of mouth and referrals.

However, personality plays a starring role even in B2B marketing. One of my clients, a very personable CPA, told me, “A lot of my clients come to me because they’re tired of dealing with a CPA who’s a jerk. My clients like me and I keep them for years.”

(2) Avoid communicating personality directly. Clients won’t respond well to tag lines like, “the CPA with a sense of humor.”

Write to showcase your personality: Lose the formulas and cookie cutters and let your style shine through. Pay attention to the rhythm of your sentences, the words you use and the structure of your sentences.

Compare:

“Yes, you *can* learn to create a damn good sales letter in just six weeks!”

with

“In just six weeks, your sparkling sales letter will be attracting more clients than you imagined.”

or even

“My marketing coach wouldn’t tell me her age and she absolutely wasn’t about to share her sales letter secrets either …”

(3) Choose a design that reflects your personality.

I once talked to a coach who told me she decorated her home in the same colors as her website … or maybe it was the other way around. You don’t need to go that far, but you can pay attention to website design elements that communicate personality.

For instance:

Are you using serif type (such as Times Roman) or san-serif (such as Arial)? Serif type cab come across as more conservative.

Are you using bold, bright colors in the red and yellow family,or staying with calm, soothing pastels?

Do you have a pleasingly busy design to communicate action and motion, or a bare, bright website that suggests freedom and openness?

Finally, create an upbeat website personality seems congruent with your business and your brand. Prospects become uncomfortable when you send mixed messages. They respond to confident people who seem to be enjoying their work … which you are!

How does your website show your own personality? What ONE thing can you add to use your personality to send a stronger message?

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Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., is a copywriter who helps solo-preneurs develop websites fast, so you establish a professional, authentic presence that attracts clients – your kind of clients! — without going crazy from overwhelm or draining your bank account with surprise fees. Visit Cathy’s website.

Cathy Goodwin