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Sound big or sound authentic?

Sound big or sound authentic?

  • Sound big, it makes you professional

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Sound authentic, people like humans not companies

    Votes: 3 30.0%
  • Mixture of both?

    Votes: 7 70.0%

  • Total voters
    10

Singularity73

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Hey everyone,
Just a quick question. If you're the only person behind your business, do you use words like "we" and "our" to sound big and professional? Or do you be real and use words like "I", "my", etc.

I keep questioning this all the time, my business is in educational technology and all the competitors are proper companies with teams of developers and then there's just me! When I started I used "we" to sound big but then changed to "I". I'm thinking about putting a story on an "about us" page of my site which explains how it started and exposes that there is just me behind it but not sure yet. (People might get put off by a 19 year old running something alone).

I think MJ might have addressed this briefly in one of his books, where he made it sound big but responded to customer service quickly and authentically so the customer felt it was an actual person, so not directly exposing himself. I may be wrong but I remember something like that. Now that I think about it more, I think he also said about putting a face to your brand to humanize it, so maybe this is a good idea after all.

I'm curious to see what others are doing still.
 
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Singularity73

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Sound authentic and deliver big.



My very first dev gig was at 16. Only a couple hundred bucks, but that didn't stop me.
Cool, yeah I'm not sure what made me think that. I guess just that most businesses appear to have a team behind them so that's what people are used to.
 

B_Mac

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Sound big to suppliers so they take you serious (some may not want to deal with new, small businesses)

For your customers, be (not just sound) authentic. Have a genuine interest in them and how you’re making their life better by providing them your service or product.

For competitors, I follow Jeff Bezos’ advice. Make the customer say wow, and the rest will take care of itself
 
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Singularity73

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Sound big to suppliers so they take you serious (some may not want to deal with new, small businesses)

For your customers, be (not just sound) authentic. Have a genuine interest in them and how you’re making their life better by providing them your service or product.

For competitors, I follow Jeff Bezos’ advice. Make the customer say wow, and the rest will take care of itself
Great advice, thanks!
 

Merging Left

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I tend to say "we" naturally. It really doesn't make you sound big. "We" can literally be two of you.

Put an About Us, and what has driven you to create this company. You don't need to mention your age unless it's somehow relevant to your product. You don't need to say you started this company your first year of college, or in high school, or whatever. Saying why you created the company, what your mission is, and why you're the right person to do it is more than enough.

Beyond that, follow the other advice in this thread. If you're wow'ing your customers, they aren't going to even think to ask how old you are.
 

MoreVolume

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Sounding big, no question
When it comes to attracting new dollars, you need to have as much credibility as possible. All that one man band stuff sounds sweet, but if you're trying to operate on a high level, then it will get you nowhwere
 
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Scot

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Sound authentic to your consumers, sound big to your vendors and competition.
 

CDNY

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It's better to be upfront and honest with everyone you're working with and for. In my experience, clients are more comfortable with smaller businesses because they expect more personable, prompt service from them. It's not beneficial to lie or exaggerate to potential partners, employees or vendors either as this can lead to massive headaches down the road. Sounding/looking big can sometimes have its advantages, but nothing is more embarrassing than when you get found out so why even risk it.
 

Saystim

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I will go with the word "we" as every business is set up with the combined efforts of the members working in a company. It has a more potential to describe your business with an impact on the other person. I use it in my daily life as well. Am I doing right?
 
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