251: Simply Put—Reducing Friction on Sales Pages and in Business Communication with Ben Guttmann

Free Time with Jenny Blake

Just because you use pretty words that sound nice doesn’t mean they are effective. Although we know what we do because we do it all the time; it’s hard to separate that from what your audience wants and experiences. Thankfully, today’s guest is here to help.

Ben Guttmann is a marketing and communications expert and author of Simply Put: Why Clear Messages Win — and How to Design Them.

We discuss why business owners often muck up their sales pages (what I call invitation letters), how to reduce friction when attracting clients and customers, and the toll that writing too much takes on the receiver.

More About Ben: Ben is former co-founder and managing partner at Digital Natives Group, an award-winning agency that worked with the NFL, I Love NY, Comcast NBCUniversal, Hachette Book Group, The Nature Conservancy, and other major clients. He’s an experienced marketing executive and educator on a mission to get leaders to more effectively connect by simplifying their message. Currently, Ben teaches digital marketing at Baruch College in New York City and consults with a range of thought leaders, venture-backed startups, and other brands.

🌟 3 Key Takeaways

• It’s most effective to communicate to one person, rather than imagining an ambiguous thousand (or ten thousand).
• Strong communication is not about how many (or few) words you use; it’s about reducing friction, or offramps, from your message.
• “This and that” versus “this so that”: Test the cohesiveness of your message by replacing and with so.

📝 Permission

Not to spend money on paid advertising. Focus on making your business more referable instead.

✅ Do (or Delegate) This Next

Look at one of the most important pages of your website. If each word costs you $10, how many can you cut? What about $1,000? If you had to distill your message down to a road sign, what would it look like?

🔗 Resources Mentioned

• Ben on the web, IG, Twitter, LinkedIn
• Articles: NYT—My Delirious Trip to the Heart of Swiftiedom
• Meme: I aint reading all that

📚 Books Mentioned

• Simply Put: Why Clear Messages Win―and How to Design Them
• Free Time: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business
• Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One
• Life After College

🎧 Related Episodes

• The Tim Ferriss Show: Managing Procrastination, Predicting the Future, and Finding Happiness with Tim Urban
• Reply All: Email Debt Forgiveness Day
• Free Time: 181: Be Irreplaceable with My Creative Coach Jay Acunzo
• 227: 🎁 The Best Gifting Strategies and Biggest Mistakes with John Ruhlin
• Pivot: 70: Build a Referral Engine with John Jantsch

🌟Enjoying the show? The best way to thank us is by leaving a rating or review

✍️ Check out Jenny’s personal business essays on Substack, Rolling in D🤦🏻‍♀️h

❤️ Join our private BFF community for Heart-Based Business owners

💌 Subscribe to the Time Well Spent newsletter for access to the Free Time Toolkit

💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Free Time listener survey

☎️ Submit a voice question or comment: http://itsfreetime.com/ask

🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to podcasts

📝 Check out full show notes and share with friends: https://itsfreetime.com/episodes/251

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices