Is Your Business Emotionally Unavailable?

One of the clearest signs of a commitment-phobic founder is a website hero section that refuses to mention a clear outcome.

It baffles me when someone genuinely expects a prospect to commit their time, trust, and hard-earned money to them, yet they refuse to commit to a clear result in return.

I started my career working on the children’s list at HarperCollins Publishers. 

So when I read Donald Miller’s Storybrand, I was immediately evangelical. In it, Miller takes the classic "Hero’s Journey" (the monomyth used in every blockbuster from Star Wars to Harry Potter) and translates that epic storytelling structure into a messaging strategy.

There is no room for "vague" in a great story.

The dragon is either dead or it isn’t. The Hunger Games are won or they’re not. Katniss Everdeen didn't volunteer as tribute to "optimise her family's long-term wellness strategy". She did it so her sister wouldn't die.

At Clevr Copy, my promise is to help my clients increase their website conversion. To make more money from your website without spending more money on your marketing.

It’s clear and it’s measurable.

Does saying it out loud and putting it in writing make me feel a bit stressed and under pressure. Yes. As it bloody well should. If not for that, why else would anyone work with me? 

Nobody wakes up in the morning and decides they'd like to work with Joe Blogs to “transform their HR outcomes”. They want to reduce their staff turnover. Or improve their business productivity. And they are going to buy from the business that most clearly articulates the path to get them there.

Look at your website’s hero section (the very first thing people see). Does it promise to kill a specific dragon, or is it just "exploring the possibility of a monster-free environment"?

• If your outcome is subjective, you’re underselling.

• If your outcome is invisible, you’re hiding.

If you can’t tell me exactly what your customer’s life looks like 10 minutes after they’ve used your service, you don’t have a business problem; you have a messaging problem.

And until you commit to an outcome, your prospects won't commit to you.