What if writing is a barrier for a business owner?
Change the format. Some people explain things brilliantly out loud and freeze when writing, and an unscripted phone video can be the most effective content a business produces.
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The workshop that changes lives
By giving each audience its own route from the homepage. A woodturner runs commercial manufacturing alongside training for military veterans and people with mental health difficulties: a corporate buyer needs capability, quality standards and lead times, while a veteran needs empathy and real stories. The existing site tried to do both and did neither well. The owner is dyslexic, so writing blog posts was a real barrier, and phone video of him talking in the workshop suited the business far better.
What did a woodturning business need its website to do?
Present two sides of one workshop without confusing either audience. The business, one of the 55 I audited, runs commercial manufacturing and training programmes for military veterans and people with mental health difficulties, using the same lathes for both. A corporate buyer looking for turned wooden components needs to see professional capability: quality standards, production capacity, lead times and finished work. A veteran considering the training needs empathy, community and stories from people who have been through it, in a different tone, imagery and language. The existing website tried to do both, so the commercial proposition was undermined by the social enterprise messaging and the social story was diluted by the product catalogue.
How was the site restructured for both audiences?
With clear entry routes. A commercial buyer sees one path from the homepage and someone interested in the training programme sees another: same domain, same brand, different journeys, each with the language, proof points and calls to action that make sense for that reader.
Why was video the right content format?
Because the owner is dyslexic, and writing a 500-word post about woodturning techniques was never going to happen. We talked about video instead: not polished or scripted, but him in the workshop on a phone, talking about what he does and why it matters. The stories he tells about the people who come through his workshop, veterans who found purpose again and people who discovered they could make something beautiful with their hands, are the best content the business could produce. They just needed capturing.
When does simple content work better than polished content?
When a real person talking is the point. A rough phone video of a craftsman in his own workshop connects with customers in a way a corporate video does not, and a veteran considering the programme sees a real person rather than a charity brochure. If content creation is a struggle, the format may be the problem: some people freeze when they write and come alive explaining things out loud.
Related evidence: 55 digital audits. Here’s what I found.. Earlier in this journey: The instrument maker targeting Japan.
Questions people ask
Does content have to be professionally produced to work?
No. A rough phone video of a real craftsman in a real workshop can connect with customers in a way a polished corporate video does not.
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