Academy / Find your customer and your message
Lesson 3 of 5 · 5 min
Your message in one sentence
Quick recallA yoga studio sells a 45 minute beginner class. What does the customer buy?Think of your answer, then open.
Touching their toes again without a warm-up. Name the after. The class length is the detail that comes second.
If you need a paragraph to say what you do, your posts will too. One sentence a stranger understands is the base for your bio, first lines and offers.
The pattern
I help [who] get [the result they want] without [what they fear or dislike].
Take "who" from lesson 1, the result from the "wish" group in lesson 2, and the "without" from the "doubt" group. Change any word you would not say at the counter.
- Yoga studio: "We help desk workers in Denver stop feeling stiff, in classes where nobody expects you to be flexible."
- Hair salon: "We help women with curly hair get a cut that looks good on day three, without a two hour blow-dry."
- Business coach: "I help freelance designers raise their prices without losing the clients they like."
Three ways it goes wrong
- Too wide. "We help people live better lives."
- About you. "A team of certified professionals with 15 years of experience." That is proof, for the next lesson.
- Too many results. Pick the one customers mention most.
Do it
- Write three versions with the pattern and read them out loud.
- Ask someone who does not know your business: "Who is this for, and what do they get?" If they get both right, it works.
- Press the button below and paste your sentence into the brief before Generate draft.
Quick check · 3 questions
Check what stuck
Which is the stronger one sentence message?
Show the answer
We help desk workers in Denver stop feeling stiff, in classes where nobody expects you to be flexible. Years and certificates are proof. The message says who you help and with what.
Your sentence lists four results. What do you do?
Show the answer
Keep the one your customers mention most. Too many results and none of them sticks. Pick the one from your list of customer phrases.
How do you test the sentence?
Show the answer
Ask someone who does not know your business who it is for and what they get. If a stranger answers both without asking you anything, it works.
In this course
- 1Who you sell toWhy "everyone" is the hardest customer to write for, how to pick one real person, and the five things to know about them. · 5 min
- 2What they want, in their wordsWhere to find the words your customers use, the difference between what you sell and what they buy, and a list of phrases to reuse. · 5 min
- 3Your message in one sentenceA simple pattern for the sentence that says who you help, with what and why you, five worked examples, and a test to know it works. · 5 min
- 4Proof and the doubts people haveThe kinds of proof a small business already has, the five doubts that stop people from booking, and a post that answers one of them. · 6 min
- 5A voice that sounds like youDescribe how you sound in a few words and a few rules, then put the whole course into the brand voice in Postfjord so every draft starts from it. · 6 min