✅ Voice and Positioning Link to heading
This step turns your offer into language you can reuse everywhere: homepage, outreach, and follow‑up conversations. It is not about clever copy. It is about consistency.
Most early sites stall because the words feel interchangeable. The same sentence could describe ten other products. Voice and positioning fix that. They make the offer feel specific, believable, and ready for a stranger.
If the words feel generic, the offer will feel generic. If the words feel honest and specific, the offer will feel real.
🧭 Where This Fits in the Series Link to heading
You already did the hard part in Step 1: the problem, customer, offer, and tagline. Now you make them sound like a single, coherent message you can reuse.
Think of this as the bridge between the idea and the page. Without it, every paragraph you write later will be a fresh rewrite. With it, the writing becomes assembly instead of invention.
Here is the chain:
- Offer is the truth.
- Tagline is the compression test.
- Voice and positioning is how those pieces show up in sentences a stranger can understand.
If this step feels fuzzy, it is usually because the offer is still fuzzy. Go back and sharpen Step 1 before you keep going.
🧱 1) Define Your Voice (3–5 Traits) Link to heading
Your voice is how you sound to the reader. It should match the kind of people you want to reach and the kind of work you want to do.
Voice is not a slogan. It is the pattern of choices you make in every sentence: short vs. long, direct vs. playful, confident vs. cautious. Pick traits that create those choices.
Pick traits you can actually write in. Avoid generic labels like “professional” or “friendly.”
Examples that work for this series:
- Direct
- Practical
- Calm
- Skeptical of hype
- Focused on outcomes
Quick test: can you write three sentences in that voice without feeling fake? If not, pick different traits.
🧭 2) Write a Positioning Statement (2–3 Sentences) Link to heading
Your positioning statement is the clearest version of what you do and for whom. It should be plain, literal, and easy to repeat.
Good positioning makes the offer feel like it already exists. Weak positioning sounds like a pitch. If you read it and feel the urge to add more adjectives, you are probably missing clarity, not flair.
Use this structure:
- Who it is for
- What problem it solves
- What outcome it creates
Example template: “This is for [customer]. It helps them [solve problem] so they can [outcome].”
If you cannot say it in two or three sentences, you do not have positioning yet. You have a list of features.
🧩 3) Write a “We Are / We Are Not” List Link to heading
This list protects your offer from drift. It also makes it easier to say “no” later.
It is also a filter for future ideas. If a feature or request does not fit the “we are” side, it gets cut. That clarity is worth more than extra scope.
Write 3–6 bullets for each side. Keep them concrete.
Example: We are:
- For developers who want a simple pre‑launch path
- Focused on signal over polish
- Clear about tradeoffs and constraints
We are not:
- A full product build guide
- A growth‑at‑all‑costs playbook
- A legal or tax authority
If you can’t fill out the “we are not” side, your offer is still too broad.
🧱 4) Define Three Message Pillars Link to heading
Message pillars are the short themes you repeat across your site. They keep your copy consistent and stop you from inventing new angles on every page.
Each pillar should tie back to a real constraint or anxiety and be simple enough to explain in one sentence. If a pillar needs a paragraph, it is probably two pillars.
Example pillars:
- Clarity over complexity (simple steps, clear outputs)
- Early signal over polish (cheap tests before big investment)
- Practical delivery (shippable, timeboxed, no fluff)
You will use these pillars later to write your hero, proof, FAQ, and CTA sections.
🧪 5) Quick Fit Check Link to heading
Read the positioning statement out loud. Then compare it to your tagline.
If it sounds like something any startup could say, it is too vague. If it sounds like something only you could say, you are close.
If the tagline feels sharper than the positioning, tighten the positioning. If the voice feels fake, rewrite the voice traits and try again.
This is the step where the wording needs to feel inevitable.
✅ Output Checklist Link to heading
- Voice traits (3–5)
- Positioning statement (2–3 sentences)
- “We are / we are not” list
- Three message pillars
Next up: domain strategy — choosing a name and domain that reinforce the offer.