Over the past year, many of us have become almost as used to Zoom as to the phone or the TV. It’s given us many benefits, but one of the more unusual is that it’s let us see ourselves in a way we likely never have before.
Have you ever been looking at yourself on Zoom, raised your hand (perhaps to point at something) and been thrown because the wrong hand has moved? That’s because, until now, you’ve probably only watched yourself in real time in a mirror. And, unlike a mirror, most people don’t have their Zoom image set to reverse.
Of course, you’ve seen yourself in photos or on video, but they aren’t live. The closest you’ve probably come to a live image is to catch a glimpse of yourself on a CCTV display. Most of us don’t linger over those, though.
It’s Zoom (or similar platforms) that has got us used to seeing ourselves as we really are — and to it looking wrong.
What Can We Learn from the Zoom Image?
There are far-reaching philosophical ideas that could be drawn from this (the accepted false image versus the rejected real image) and at another time I’d be interested in following these up. Here, though, I’m supposed to be talking about business, so what can we learn?
Well the first thing to ask is whether the image you’re presenting of your business is genuine? Come to that, does it need to be? Is it maybe better to project a front, set your Zoom image to reverse, so you can show the business at its best and avoid the inconvenient truths?
Well, maybe, but there are risks in trying to seem something you’re not. We all like authenticity, and we don’t take kindly to realising we’ve been fooled. And being phony in your business is likely to become obvious in the end — like the reverse image when you’ve forgotten you have a slogan on your tee-shirt.
Little Changes, Big Effects
In fact, the way you’re stuck looking, maybe even to the extent that you’re used to it, can distort your brand. It’s correcting this distortion, not distorting it further, that marketing is very often about.
Just as the difference between the real image and the false image is subtle, it only takes a very small change to show the authenticity of your business. Changing a colour in your logo. Choosing this photo, rather than that one. And, of course, picking the exact words.
Words have power, and replacing one word with another could be that eureka moment for your reader, when suddenly they really get what your business is all about. Drop me a line if you want to know more about how harnessing the power of words came transform the comforting but misleading image into the real you.
Nick Blatchley
Copywriter and author, known as the Word Wizard, based in Hertfordshire. I’ve been writing since the age of four and writing for businesses since 2014: websites, blogs, books and social media, all in my clients’ own voices.
