Quick tip: Think outside the list

In an earlier tip, I described how to write better lists.

But sometimes a list isn’t the best approach.

Sometimes redoing a disorganized list as sentences makes it work better.

I admit, this doesn’t happen every day.

But here’s an example from the real world to show you what I mean.

One of my B2B clients listed their customers like this:

Princeton University, U.S. Army, IBM, Red Cross, Random House, A-AArdvark Auto Insurance, Cape Seville Wines, Gargoyle Restoration

But what was this list saying? How was it organized?

• By the importance of the client?
• By the date of the contract?
• By the size of the contract?

This list looked like it was thrown together by different people at different times without much thought… and that showed.

Here’s how I fixed it

My client wanted me to simply paste this list into their white paper under About the Company. But I wanted to make it more sensible first.

So I tried these clients in alphabetical order:

A-AArdvark Auto Insurance, Cape Seville Wines, Gargoyle Restoration, IBM, Princeton University, Random House, Red Cross, U.S. Army

Hmmmm. An obvious problem: The names at the start were local companies no one else knew. The names at the end were the most impressive.

And the alphabetical list started with the silliest name of all.

I mean, I like aardvarks as much as the next guy.

But A-AAdvark Auto Insurance was obviously named to get to the top of any alphabetical list.

In fact, the aardvark is a popular mascot. Many cities have two or three businesses named after him!

In the days before Google, when the Yellow Pages ruled supreme, aardvarks got their companies to the very front of the book and helped bring in customers.

Anyway, I had to work a little more to finalize that list.

So I cut the unknowns, showcased the big names, and mentioned the vertical niches in a second part of the sentence:

Our clients include Princeton University, Red Cross, U.S. Army, and enterprises such as IBM and Random House… plus many other firms in everything from architecture to wine-making.

That impressive list covered both the public and private sectors. And it specifically touched on architecture, education, the military, publishing, social services, tech, and wine-making.

If I had a business in any of those areas, I would find that list pretty reassuring.

Yet this list is not based on any ordering principle; it’s a creative sequence arranged according to its own logic.

See how you sometimes have to think outside the list to communicate what a company needs in a sensible way?

For more handy tips like this, get my free newsletter.