Cheap is Expensive

I have been reviewing a lot of web sites looking for potential clients. Some are good. But there is also a lot of room for improvement.

The companies I am looking at have been around for a couple of years. They are high tech, generally in the field of alternate energy. And yes, they are small with only a few employees. It shows up not only in the Dun & Bradstreet data, but also on their website, if they have bothered to have one.

The writing is poor. Sometimes it takes two or three readings of a sentence to figure out what they are trying to say verses what they are actually saying. They haven’t learned that complex, difficult topics are best explained in simple, straight-forward text.

It doesn’t have to all be said in one sentence when three will do. Two or three simpler sentences, with modifiers in their correct places, can pack more punch. Like a building, good communication is done in bits and pieces, each contributing to the others.

Copywriting involves different structures depending on its intended use. What works for one audience will not work for another. Writing for the consumer is not the same as writing for another business or shareholder. Writing a grant is not the same as writing about the latest diet supplement.

That should be obvious. But good writing, no matter the intension, must be clear, concise, and without trite phrases or convolutions that throw the reader off.

And that takes time and practice.

Building a company also requires knowing when to call in help, even temporary help, to craft the special support the company needs to progress. Do-it-yourself is cheap. It is also expensive. It can be much more expensive than what is saved doing it yourself.

Cheap is expensive.

I learned that with plumbing, heating systems, carpentry, and web design.
Judging by my looking at so many web sites, there are a lot of people doing business today who still have not learned the lesson.