Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I have a question that relates to how I set up the website, and I wasn`t sure where to post it, so I figure here is as good a place as any. I was wondering how to refer to myself on my website. I run a single person company, R Cubed Jewelry at http://www.rcubedjewelry.com, and I don`t really know whether to refer to myself in the singular or my company in the plural, which, at least to me seems more professional. That said, then there are spaces like on my FAQ page where the questions are more personal or refer to me as an artist rather than the company as a whole, where it seems to make more sense to use the singular. AHHH! What are your thoughts on this? I`d appreciate it if you could look at the site for that, to see if this is a reasonable solution. General thoughts also greatly appreciated. Thanks!

For instance, on the front page:

Welcome to R Cubed Jewelry, your source for individualized, handcrafted jewelry in sterling silver and gold with precious and semi-precious stones, owned and solely run by Rebecca (Bekka) Ross Russell. I have been studying jewelry and metalwork for seven years, and take great pride in creating truly unique pieces for each client. I work to provide you with a balance between wearable and art jewelry, staples and splurges, the everyday and the extraordinary.

OR

Welcome to R Cubed Jewelry, your source for individualized, handcrafted jewelry in sterling silver and gold with precious and semi-precious stones, owned and solely run by Rebecca (Bekka) Ross Russell. Bekka has been studying jewelry and metalwork for seven years, and takes great pride in creating truly unique pieces for each client. R Cubed Jewelry strives to provide you with a balance between wearable and art jewelry, staples and splurges, the everyday and the extraordinary.

From what I`ve read, first person is usually better because it`s more personal, but in my case, the business and page are so small that intimacy isn`t my problem, professionalism is. And if I DO use first person, there`s the darn I/We thing. Hrmph.

Standard style is to use the editorial "we" when referring to yourself professionally. You can use "I" for personal contact, as with friends, or in some cases, a 1-on-1 customer situation. The "we" offers some buffering, and allows you to gracefully exit a situation, make demands, and so forth.

When you refer to yourself literally, use your professional name. For example:

Great, thanks, I`m rewriting the homepage copy along those lines now. As for the FAQ page, I feel like it`s appropriate to use "I" still, since they`re questions directly to the artist. Does that make sense to you? I really appreciate your help, I`m clearly very new at this!

Who says using "we" is standard?  Just because many people do it doesn`t mean it is "standard style" in business.

I, for one, am put off by individuals who refer to themselves as we.  If your company is more than one person, use we.  If your company is only one person, use I.  It is as simple as that.  These are communication basics that we learned in grade school.

But your argument is that "we" makes it sound more professional.  So one person can`t be professional?  If you`re going for credibility, then do it with credentials, not the illusion of more than one person doing business.

I believe this is especially true for a single artist in business.  Customers buy the work because they like the artist`s work, not because they like the company`s work.  See the difference?  If you want to foster word-of-mouth from your customers, be clear about who is making it.  People like to say they bought a piece of jewelry from a specific artist online.  They will talk about you.  If you confuse the fact that there may or may not be `imaginary employees` working with you, this will muddle how your customers talk about you.

There`s nothing wrong with projecting a single person business.

Alright, here is my compromise solution so far. I am avoiding "I" OR "We" in the first page introduction, and keeping it third person. All of the other pages I`ve rewritten to avoid personal pronouns except "you." The FAQ page, since it is written in a Q and A, impersonal format, I`ve used "I" on. I feel like the front page text is a little clunky, but this is all I could think of. Reasonable? Anyone have better ideas?

I think you should want to be personal, not avoid it.  Here`s a phrase from your copy, "... takes great pride in creating truly unique pieces for each client."  That sounds like a very personal experience working with you.  Capitalize on that!  As a sole proprietor, one of your greatest strengths is being able to offer personal service.  I don`t understand why you have a hesitation with trying to connect with your customers on a more direct level.  You can keep the third person viewpoint but I think you`ll find better success addressing readers directly.

In my opinion, go ahead and say "I".  But remember though, when writing marketing copy, you should really be speaking about your customers, not yourself.  "You" is the more powerful word.

Most style manuals and journalistic systems that I`ve seen. And yes, a "style" is exactly that...a style. It`s not a mandate, law, or rule. :-D

However, there`s a reason the editorial "we" has a strong following, and it`s because it reads better, offers plausible deniability, hedges the legal statements, and implies a larger organization than one person.

Anyone is free to say whatever they want, in whatever fashion, for the most part. But some content comes across less "something" than other content.

As for using "I" or "We," it should be standard across the entire site, so no, I wouldn`t use "I" in the FAQ. I don`t agree with using FAQs in the first place, but that`s a separate issue. If you must use one, then stick with third-person references to "Bekka," and third-person "we" when speaking about the company.

Hey Bekka.  It looks like Craig and I somewhat disagree about the I/we language.  So I just wanted to say I hope we`re not confusing the issue for you.  There really is no right or wrong approach, just personal preferences.  Go with your gut feeling.

However I do agree with Craig that it should be consistent across the entire site.  That`s a good point.

Here`s another approach, because this topic has come up a couple of times previously. Let`s set aside the issue of widespread stylistic procedure for the moment.

What`s the best way to get a sales process moving along to an actual sale? Most people would agree that it`s to focus on the customer, their needs, their problems, and to offer a solution. There`s a bit more to it, but I`d like to highlight the "direction" of the information movement. Basically, the whole process should be customer oriented.

If there`s a controversy between the use of pronouns---the "I" or "we"---then you can remove them entirely. Here`s an example, where the first paragraph is written using "I," the second with "we," and the third removes them almost entirely:
The third instance is entirely objective, removing the "subjective" completely and totally "other-directed." Each of the three examples moves outward a "notch" from a personal, subjective interaction, to an almost clinical but loose association.

When and how we use pronouns in writing determine the level of direct and personal connection with the reader. A newspaper article isn`t supposed to include a viewpoint from the "teller" of the story, so it uses almost no pronouns. But because there does have to be a POV (point of view) in some situations, the writers try to make it as objective as possible with "we." To use "I" would mean interjecting personal opinion, making it more editorial than news reporting.

You could write your entire Web site without any pronouns at all, other than those referring to the customer. Then, on the "About Us" page, which specifically means a personal bio or autobiography, change the POV. At that point, if there`s only one person ("I"), the company appears differently than if it`s an organization ("we").

A fourth way to write the same idea is to slide downward in quality by moving in a direction of "passive voice:"
The problem with passive voice is that it`s so detached, the reader has to struggle to remember why they should be interested. There`s little "call to action" implicit in any of the wording. This type of writing tends to be attractive to coroporate employees, trying to appear authoritative and worth their large salaries. :-)