08/25/2026
WOULD YOU INVITE YOUR CUSTOMERS OVER TO WATCH YOUR VACATION MOVIES?
Remember home vacation movies?
You'd come back from vacation with hours of footage and invite friends and relatives over to watch.
You thought they were fascinating.
Your guests were quietly calculating how early they could leave without being rude.
Why?
Because it was YOUR vacation.
Now consider how many businesses advertise.
“We've been family-owned for 40 years.”
“We pride ourselves on quality.”
“We have friendly, knowledgeable professionals.”
“We're committed to exceptional customer service.”
“We offer the highest quality at competitive prices.”
Congratulations.
You just invited your prospects over to watch your vacation movies.
None of those statements is necessarily bad.
They're simply about the subject that interests you considerably more than it interests your customer:
YOU.
Worse, they're usually undocumented claims.
You say you're knowledgeable.
According to whom?
You say you're trustworthy.
What evidence did you give me?
You say you provide superior quality.
Compared with what?
We've been writing advertising this way for generations.
Maybe that's the problem.
These clichés have been repeated so often that they sound like advertising, so businesses continue copying them from one another.
But repetition doesn't turn a cliché into a strategy.
Try something different.
Instead of telling me you're an HVAC expert, teach me the three things I should know before replacing my system.
Instead of telling me you're an honest roofer, show me how an unethical roofer can unnecessarily increase the price of my job.
Instead of claiming your windows are higher quality, teach me how to recognize the difference myself.
Now you've made the advertising about something endlessly fascinating to me:
ME.
My problem.
My money.
My fear of making a mistake.
My decision.
And while you're helping me understand all of that, something wonderful happens.
You don't have to tell me you're knowledgeable.
Educate me, and you'
