Are you an expert in your field?
If so, then chances are you have the curse of knowledge.
And this curse could be seriously impacting upon the success of your marketing, especially when it comes to your writing.
What is the curse of knowledge?
The curse of knowledge occurs when you know a lot about a topic, making it hard to communicate info about that topic at a level that your prospects and customers can understand.
This happens because:
- You use too much jargon
- You go into too much detail
- You struggle to keep things simple
And the result? Your reader feels overwhelmed.
Your reader feels like they’re looking at a huge plate of lasagne when they’re not even hungry!
Yes, it’s no secret that sharing your expertise helps build trust with your prospect and customers, but how do you do so without going too deep?
Answer: You need to fight the curse of knowledge!
4 steps to overcoming the curse of knowledge
- Be aware of the curse (great start!)
- Be guided by your readers questions (more on this below)
- Get a second opinion (before sending that email or publishing that article)
- Write for a 10 year old audience (keep it simple!)
Forget about what you know.
What you know isn’t important (it’s part of the curse!)
Instead, think about what questions your prospects and customers ask you on a daily or weekly basis. Think about the problems they have, and the challenges they face.
- What was the last question you received from a customer via email?
- What seems to always come up in conversations with prospects?
- What do you find yourself having to explain over and over again?
The answers to these questions are clues about what your audience want to know about, so use them to decide what topics you’ll cover in your email marketing and/or next blog article.
“Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” – Steve Jobs
