Basics4 min read
Your voice is a business asset
People buy from the bakery that sounds like the bakery. When your posts sound like a marketing agency and your counter sounds like you, customers feel the seam.
Write down how you actually talk
Record yourself describing your best product to a friend. Transcribe it. That's your voice: the word choices, the warmth, what you don't say. Most businesses have a voice. Almost none have it written down, which is why it evaporates the moment someone else writes a post.
Three rules beat thirty
A usable voice guide fits on an index card: "Warm, unfussy, quietly proud. We say 'bread', never 'artisanal offerings'. We never use exclamation marks." Three sharp rules that anyone (a new hire, an agency, an AI) can actually follow beat a brand book nobody opens.
Then enforce it everywhere: posts, replies, ads, the answering machine. Consistency is what turns a voice into recognition.
The takeaway: spend one hour writing three voice rules on a card. Everything you publish gets better the same day.