Less Is More

"Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles."

Steve Jobs

We've been told since childhood that quality matters more than quantity. But we still don't seem to deliver messages, copy, or content based on that principle.

It feels like content is appreciated more - or ranks higher on the internet - if it's longer and more substantial. As if the volume of content you receive somehow proves the value proposition.

But more words and more pages don't make your value any clearer to your audience. They drown it. They make it harder to find What's In It For Them buried inside a 12-page e-book, a 4-part blog series, or a 90-minute webinar.

If you're so valuable, just tell us why. Get to the point. Don't make us search for it and don't make us read so much.

Is the incentive for long-form content greater? Are we throwing the entire kitchen sink at our audience hoping something sticks? Are we unsure what's truly important to say, so we say it all hoping nothing gets missed?

That's insane.

Wouldn't it be more effective - and bring better outcomes - if we just told our audience how we help them: quickly, efficiently, without giving them homework?

Of course, different content has different goals. Figure out what you want to achieve, find what motivates your audience, and explain it forward clearly and concisely. Make it short. I don't have all day.

Once you have it ready, edit it once, edit twice, and edit some more - until it's sharp, short where it needs to be, and focused.

In the end, you can blow more air into that cheese puff, but it's still that same cheese puff...just with more air.