Use And, But, and Therefore in Your Writing
If you’re struggling to convey your business message, just remember that it’s as simple as using AND, BUT, and THEREFORE in your writing—seriously! These three simple but powerful words are all you need to convey the dramatic story that will help your customers understand the positive way your business can affect their life.
Many people think they can’t write. They think it’s too difficult to get all the ideas that are crowding around in their head and put them out on paper or in a Word document. They just can’t write it in a coherent, cohesive way.
If that sounds like you, it might be that you’re overcomplicating it. You’re trying to get too many ideas out of you at once instead of focusing on one simple idea at a time. Focusing on one idea at a time is especially important in marketing because people want a message that’s short and straightforward.
The Elevator Pitch
Think about it this way: Remember the last time you saw a great movie or read a great book? Then somebody asked you what it was about. You could launch into a 10-minute summary about all the major plot points, your favorite characters, and even some of the themes that really resonated with you. But you know that anyone asking you, “Hey, what was that movie about?” doesn’t want to hear all of that. They want a one-sentence summary—what some people would call your elevator pitch because it’s simplified enough to be relayed to an important person in a short time if you’d share an elevator ride together.
“Well, that’s great,” you’re probably thinking. “But my business model isn’t the same thing as a blockbuster film. I can’t simplify its message down to a one-sentence summary.”
Your business message has much more in common with a blockbuster movie than you might think. That’s why you can create an elevator pitch for both using the same method. In this case, that method is the “And, But, Therefore” model, or the ABT model for short. This narrative template was developed by a filmmaker named Randy Olsen, and it has served pretty much storytellers in all kinds of media for about 10 years.
Use the ABT Method
The ABT method is the simplest way of telling a story, and you’re going to use it to tell the story of your business. Not necessarily the story of how your business came to be founded. No, this is the story of how your business changes the lives of its customers. Use the words ABOUT, BUT, and THEREFORE to draw connections between different points.
Start with AND
In an AND sentence, you’re establishing the status quo. How do things exist before there’s any real impetus for change? If you’re in the business of dog walking, think of who your target customer is. It’s obviously a dog person—somebody who has a dog and wants to do what’s best for the dog. (See how we used and right there?) Just like that, you have an established status quo.
Add the BUT
Now it’s time for conflict. This person has a dog and wants what’s best for their dog. So what’s the problem? This person isn’t home to let their dog out throughout the day for bathroom breaks and exercise. This is a point introduced nicely by the word but: “You love your dog and want what’s best for them, but you can’t be home to walk him or play with him all the time.”
Now introduce the THEREFORE
What’s the answer to the problem? When you bring in a THEREFORE clause, you’re giving a solution to the problem you just set up. In the case of this business statement, it could be “Therefore, you need a dog walker.”
Put it all together
And there you go—you have a business story being told. “You love your dog and want what’s best for him, but you can’t be home with him all day. Therefore, you need a dog walker.” Now that’s not the most interesting way to say it, so you can always embellish with vivid details: “Your dog is like one of your own kids and you just want him to live his best life, but you can’t skip work to just stay home and play fetch all day. So count on Doug’s Dog Walking Service to bring excitement to doggo’s day even when you’re not there!” You’ve got a situation, a conflict, and a resolution—that’s a full story, one that will resonate with your audience.