"I" or "We"

Here's a question--if you're making a site for your business, and you're the sole proprietor, should you use "I" or "we" when referring to the business? For example, would it be "We provide the following services..." or "I provide the following services..."?

I feel like "We" makes it sound more official, and leaves the door open for more employees down the line, but it might irk customers to discover that they're dealing with one individual when they thought they were signing up with a larger company.

Thoughts?
Tom

 

'We' always sounds more professional - as if it's a team effort and you value your employees input. Using 'we' also gives the impression that you are bigger, more established, more trustworthy and better to do business with than you actually might be.

 

I would use "We", as your site indirectly is affected by a lot of people

 

Yes, go with we it sounds much more professional.

 

Well, myself I'ld use "We" too, but it depends on which type of business you run I think.

"I" is rather informal sometimes too; and therefor it's always better to use it only on non-business sites.
Businesses like HYIPs and Forex' sites will always use "We". But if you have by example a business in selling one or a few particuliar ebooks, "I" could have a psychological effect which makes users buy it faster.

So, in fact, it depends on type of business, I think

 

Use "we" if you are communicating on behalf of your company. Using "I" will make it sound like a personal matter.

 

Use "we." You always want to sound professional when working with potential clients.

 

use we unless you specifically say elsewhere that its a one-man show.

i always refer to my company in the third person: pangea enterprises is...., not we, or i.

 

I would use "we" even if there is only one of you working.
The one of you working, usually wears many hats in the business
such as: administration, sales and marketing, production.
So, "we" is not that inaccurate anyway.

Toronto Painters

 

Better to use "We". When you say "I provide the following services..." I will assume that you are one person company and working from home=not reliable...

 

"we" for companys and services "i" for blogs and opinions

 

definitely go with "we" unless its a personal site

 

"We" for sure. For example, when responding to an email solicitation, to reply with something like "Our editorial policy......." sounds much more professional than "My editorial policy......"

 

always use "WE". it is better to make it sounds as a third party person. I is too personal. Unless you are a freelancer, always use "WE".

 

Funny - I've always use "I" or "My" - and it has worked really well. And it doesn't need to look bad. Instead of saying "Our editorial policy..." you can say "The editorial policy..." or "Website's editorial policy..."

Instead of saying "We provide services..." you can say "Services: doing, thinking, planning" and then continue "Benefits of Doing service".

It might actually look bad when people say "we" when there's only one guy behind the business, and you cannot find list of people who make the "we"...

Honesty is the best policy, and using "I/me" has other benefits: even if it might sound smaller than "we", it may create personal feeling. I have a blog and the blog readers start to know me more and more, and there are people who like to do business with "me". I don't plan to change that (until I hire someone )

One more point: this makes you unique. Everybody else is saying "we" when there's only one guy behind the steering wheel... maybe you can position yourself somehow better when there's only one realiable guy operating the business?

 

actually i am the owner of the little business that i run.
but it's my team that dose all the work, so i prefer "we" always.

 

An interesting literary convention in various royal societies throughout history has been the use of the "plural of majesty". An individual king, for example, would say, "Our judgment of the matter is....."

We? I? Really, it's just a personal choice. "We" is unquestionably the one that sounds more professional, if that is your intent.