One Message at a Time

The Basic Idea: You don't raise $4 million in venture capital and get your daughter a job in the same pitch. Again and again in my social media ghostwriting practice, I’ve proven the wisdom of sharing only one message at a time. Tell a story to bring it to life. Then stop. If you have something else of value to share, save it for another day.

Explanation: "What do you want to achieve when you meet with your boss?" the coach asked her client, who looked confused at the question. "Well," he said. "I'm not so happy about my job. I'm a bit bored, to be honest. And it's been ten months since my last raise. I think Bill and Sarah both make more money than me, even though they are younger. Is that fair? Also, it's hard for me to work past six at night, I have bowling league twice a week."

If you were this coach, what would you tell your client?

I'd say you need to pick ONE message and focus on it.

Whether I am writing an article, pitching a new client, or trying to offer my kids advice, I always follow a simple rule: one message at a time.

Most people don't do this.

Read 20 articles on LinkedIn, HuffPost, personal blogs, or elsewhere... and you'll probably come across 50 or 60 messages.

The more messages you offer at one time, the lower the odds that any of them will be effective.

To follow my rule, you have to focus. You have to decide in advance: what do I want?

Do you want to inspire or inform? Persuade or reassure? Get more money or more respect? The list goes on and on.

Just because you pick one option today doesn't mean you abandon everything else. It just means you will focus on one thing you want until you get it, and then you can focus on something else.

Example: I could have discussed two ways to communicate better on this page. I didn’t.