Podcast Summary: Simple SEO & Marketing — Ep 245

1 Easy Shift in Your Copy for Exponentially More Sales

Host: Faith Hanan
Date: October 31, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode of Simple SEO & Marketing, Faith Hanan explores a transformative shift in copywriting that can exponentially boost sales for Christian entrepreneurs and small business owners: simplifying and clarifying messaging. Through practical examples and relatable neuroscience insights, Faith demonstrates how clear beats “cute” or complicated, and how elegantly simple copy leads directly to higher conversions and more impact—all while remaining true to Christian principles.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Problem: Over-Complicated Messaging

[06:54]

• Most entrepreneurs overcomplicate their sales and website messaging in an attempt to sound expert or unique.
• This leads to unclear communication, causes confusion, and significantly hinders sales.
• Faith stresses: “Clear wins over cute every day of the week that ends in y.”

2. Why Simplicity in Messaging Works: The Brain Science

[09:10]

• Faith breaks down neuroscience concepts to explain why simple copy sells:

  • Processing Fluency: The easier it is for a brain to process a message, the more credible and trustworthy it feels to the recipient.
    • If your copy requires too much mental effort, people will ignore it.
  • Real-life scenario: When tired or casually scrolling, people prefer content they can digest instantly rather than dense, complex text.
    • “You need to be crafting copy and messaging that is so simple that somebody looking at it late at night when they're low on brain power can still understand how you help them and what it is that you do.” [13:01]

• Two Systems of Thinking (from Daniel Kahneman’s "Thinking, Fast and Slow"):

  • System 1: Fast, automatic, subconscious—handles familiar, easy decisions.
  • System 2: Slow, analytical, requires effort—used for complex tasks.
  • For quick action (like clicking "buy"), you want to appeal to System 1 with easy-to-process, straightforward messaging.
  • “If you can't break your process down into very simple overarching steps, then you're losing people because they're having to shift into System Two processing.” [17:18]

3. Supporting Evidence & Expert Studies

[19:50]

• Cites a 2003 UC San Diego study showing that simpler words and sentences increase comprehension and engagement.
• “People are hardwired to assume that simpler explanations are better no matter the person's level of intelligence.”
• Echoes Einstein: “If you can’t explain it to a five-year-old then you don’t truly understand it.”
• HubSpot 2024 Marketing Report: 73% of US consumers buy faster when the value proposition is immediately clear.
• Nielsen Norman Group (2023): Writing at an 8th-grade level increases comprehension by 20–30%.

4. Real-Life Case Study: Immediate Sales Boost

[22:05]

• Faith shares a client story: After clarifying above-the-fold website copy for a photographer, the client closed two or three of her highest-ticket sales in just a week.
• The change? Shifting from convoluted text to a crystal-clear, compelling value proposition.

5. Reflection & Practical Action Step

[24:40]

• Faith’s call to action: Take your current product’s conversion rate and imagine what doubling that could mean—just by refining your messaging.
• “It’s probably worth your time to just spend an hour or two working through your messaging… You could double your conversion rate just by making things clear.”

6. Encouragement & Christian Perspective

[08:24]

• Selling with clarity and honesty honors God—no sleaze or manipulative tactics required.
• Faith's “Sell More Without the Sleaze” philosophy: You can “do business the Jesus way,” focusing on service and truth, not pressure or hype.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Copy Simplicity:

  • “Clear wins over cute every day of the week that ends in y.” [07:23]
  • “You need to be crafting copy and messaging so simple that somebody looking at it late at night when they're low on brain power can still understand how you help them and what you do.” [13:01]

• On Buyer Psychology:

  • “When it’s hard to understand, people tend to think of it as not credible… they hesitate emotionally, mentally, or with their dollars and they just switch off.” [11:05]

• Relating to Christian Business Owners:

  • “As Christ followers, those kind of sales tactics that feel sleazy… don’t line up with the heart of God, and they don’t line up with what we’re called to do as Christian entrepreneurs.” [04:39]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:10 – Introduction; why Faith avoids sleazy sales and invites listeners to her upcoming bootcamp
• 06:54 – The central mistake: overcomplicated messaging
• 09:10 – The science of simplicity: processing fluency in the brain
• 13:01 – Why copy must work for people with “low brain power” (late-night readers)
• 16:10 – Kahneman’s two-system brain model and its marketing application
• 19:50 – Research and expert endorsements for clear copy
• 22:05 – Case study: photographer’s sales leap after one copy change
• 24:40 – Actionable tip: visualize the impact of raising your conversion rate
• 27:50 – Teaser for next episode: how to simplify your messaging
• Final wrap – Encouragement to join the bootcamp and practical closing

Recap & Next Steps

• Make your messaging as simple and clear as possible—complexity kills conversions.
• Use research-backed, Christ-centered strategies to sell with integrity and impact.
• Reflect on your own sales copy and conversion rates; small copy shifts can make massive differences.
• Next episode: actionable steps to simplify your messaging for even greater results.

For more resources, visit FaithHanan.com or sign up for the “Sell More Without the Sleaze” Bootcamp at faithhanan.com/more-sales.