Direct sellers often have trouble finding unique and yet accurate ways to describe their products. Since I work across companies, I get to hear representatives from lots of companies describe their products and their opportunities. What lots of them don’t realize is that they sound just like their competitors.

If you don’t believe me, conduct a little experiment. Write down the words and phrases you use to describe your products. Now go to three competitors’ websites and check them out. Any bets as to how many of your “key” descriptors are being used by them? Let’s try a double or nothing bet. Write down the important things you have to say when trying to get someone to join you in your business. Yep, you will find them in use by others as well.

I once tried to have a discussion with a friend about this. Her unflappable answer was, “But I’m being honest. ________ is just trying to sell you something.” She couldn’t see that if I was to have the conversation with her competitor, the competitor would be telling me the same thing. Neither one of these people is lying, they have just been caught by a marketer’s folly. You want to find bigger, better, and universal superlatives that will make your product more appealing that somebody else’s. This is folly. There is always a better word. I think there is a way around this trap.

Start from a different place and you will end up at a different destination. Start with your potential customers, not your products. Your words, on your blog or website or marketing materials, are often the start of a virtual relationship. What are your customers looking to find? What are their problems? Their needs? What is the core of your expertise they need to believe? Start by building a relationship, and the rest will follow without all of the hyperbole.