The first rule of advertising: It’s about them, not you.

I read this phrase in a marketing book a number of years ago, and unfortunately, I don’t remember the name of the book or the author. But, of all the pieces of advertising advice that I’ve accumulated over the years, this is the most direct and universally useful.

It’s about them, not you.

In my 30+ years of helping people advertise their businesses; one of the most recurring issues is the owner providing reasons for customers to buy based upon the owner’s perspective. This is both completely understandable, and completely wrong.

When an entrepreneur throws his or her life into an effort to create a product or service to sell, it’s all-consuming. Not only is your investment and income on the line, but you tend to live your business every waking hour of the day. So, when you explain what you sell to potential customers, it’s only fitting that you describe all the things you do to make your product valuable.

What you should be doing is describing the benefits of your product from your customer’s point of view. Will it make your customer feel better, look better, richer or happier? How hard you work, your experience, how much you’ve sold, your education: none of that matters in an ad. It might matter later in the sales process, but not at the point of first contact, which is your ad.

It’s about them, not you is a great phrase to measure your ad copy against. It’s easy to be distracted by clever double meanings and playful ideas. But, if they don’t pass this test, don’t use them. Be fanatic about connecting more directly with your customers’ real needs and you’ll be rewarded with more effective advertising.