I’ve read several posts over the last month that talk about finding one word that sums you and your business up. And there’s the whole long copy vs. short copy debate rekindled.

In his book, "Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear," Frank Lutz writes:

It is no accident that the most unforgettable catchphrases of the past fifty years contain only a single- or at most two-syllable words. And when they initially haven’t been so simple, someone inevitably has stepped in to shorten them.

Just ask the makers of Macintosh ("Mac") computer. And when was the last time you used the words "International Business Machines" rather than "IBM"? Federal Express is now officially "FedEx," Kentucky Fried Chicken is now "KFC," Oil of Olay is just "Olay," and Dairy Queen now refers to itself as "DQ."

What if you asked your clients this question: "What’s the ONE word you would use that best describes what we do well?"

John Jantsch suggests:

Is it fast, attentive, welcoming, creative, cheap, cool, techie, smart, caring? One word is tough, but you need to get there. One simple word that sums up how you are different. If you can do that, and it’s a word that means a lot to a lot, your marketing job will be significantly easier.

Pamela Slim on her Escape Cubicle Nation blog gives some one-word descriptions of a few well-known Internet business people, in her post "Can a Single Word Define Your Brand?"

So we gotta ask: what word do you think your clients would use to sum you up?

And, what one word would you suggest as a possibility for The Blog Squad?

All comments welcome!

The point is, if you can distill your essence into one or two words, you can construct your marketing around that word. Brevity is golden.