Smart Marketing for Small Businesses

Smart Marketing for Small Businesses from The Write Effect Unlimited, Inc.

Monday, August 23, 2010

How to Clear Up the Confusion

As a native Midwesterner, I was brought up speaking what's often called "Fargo-speak."

In my sheltered Minn-ie-SODA neighborhood, "Wal, ya no"was the preamble to every thought, and "yah" and "shure" liberally punctuated the end of sentences like periods.

So it was with great confusion that as a teen working atMcDonalds one summer evening in 1976, I made the acquaintance of a genuine Cajun-speaking customer.

"Yew be shure nuf perty lil gerl," he drawled, the words droppingout his mouth like slurry.

"Pardon?" I asked.

"Eye say yew, yew be shure nuf perty, lil gerl," he repeated.

"Excuse me?"

"Waz wrong wit chew? Yew hawd no hee-in or sumpin?" he snarled, irritated.

Scarlet-cheeked, I called my manager up to the front counter to interpret for me. It was humiliating to realize that as a relatively intelligent young woman, I was unable to understand someone who was speaking my native tongue, albeit sloppily...but still.

Sometimes business-speak can sound like that, especially if your particular business is not marketing or advertising, but something completely foreign to those industries, like landscaping, window washing, metal sculpting or scrapbooking.

Someone talking to you about "frequency" or "touch", "SEO" or "landing page conversions" can sound just like my Cajun man—"Waz wrong witchew? Yew hawd no hee-in or sumpin?"

What terminology confuses you? What marketing-speak have you heard, but have been too embarrassed to ask someone to define? Now's your chance. Send on your questions and I'll post a response that will help cut through the slurry and clear things up!

Photo Credit: Simon Howden http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=404

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