Help, don’t sell. Talk, don’t yell. Show, don’t tell.

If you want a simple mantra to help shape your approach to communication with your audience, why not try this one?

A valuable mantra for your communication and marketing

Help don’t sell, talk don’t yell, show don’t tell is a phrase that came out of writing the Valuable Content Marketing book with Sharon Tanton. With thousands of words in front of us we wanted a way of summing up our approach simply. How could we make people understand quickly what they needed to do to make their content connect?

‘Help don’t sell, talk don’t yell, show don’t tell’ was fuelled by lots of coffee and red pen. We liked it because it is simple – anything with less words in is good by us. We liked it because it rhymes – good to help you remember it. But most of all we liked it because it is so true. It’s the essence of all good marketing and communication, if you want your message to land.

Help don’t sell

If you want to make an impact online it’s what your business needs to do. Remember the web is where we go for answers, and we’re all sick and tired of being sold to. If you help, people will trust and like you. In fact, time and time again we find evidence that the more you help, the less you ‘sell’ (through your newsletters, your website, your blogs, your social media posts), the more you end up ‘selling’.

Talk don’t yell

The web is a social place. No-one has time for people who scream self-promotion and never listen, but we all like people who put our needs first, who talk with us, one-to-one. Make your communication a conversation with your audience, not a monologue.

Show don’t tell

And there’s no point in creating a website that says ‘we are great.’ Far better, and far more effective to demonstrate your greatness through your actions. Tell great stories, do great stuff, and be judged by that.

So when it comes to your communication remember this natty little valuable mantra: help don’t sell, talk don’t yell, show don’t tell.