Being vague is costing you money

I recently launched a free 21-day email course called, The $1000 New Business Challenge.

The idea is pretty simple: Give people one small action each day to start their first business or side hustle, and share the steps needed to make $1,000.

Last week, a founder in the challenge reached out to show me his new coaching business storefront. At the top was this broad tagline:

"I help leaders learn to lead with impact, master their craft, and drive success."

My first thought: This just isn't specific enough.

• Who, specifically, do you help?
• What, specifically, do you help them do?
• How, specifically, do you help them do it?

I understand why people present their offers in overarching, non-specific ways. Because I've been there. We're afraid of missing out on a potential client. Afraid of being "too niche." Afraid someone might think, "That's not for me."

But guess what — A non-specific tagline makes it impossible for potential clients to see themselves in your offer. When you try to speak to everyone, you end up speaking to no one.

The Power of Specificity

When I started consulting in 2019, my tagline across my social media pages and website was "I help SaaS companies grow their revenue."

Looking back, you can see why this approach wasn’t great:

• "SaaS companies" could mean anything from two-person startups to huge companies like Salesforce.
• "Grow their revenue" is meaningless without context. Grow from what, and to what?
• It didn’t say anything about how I’d deliver that result.

The result was that anyone in SaaS could look at that and wonder, "Am I the person or company this is for?"

Over time, I refined my target and tagline as I figured out who I could help, who I liked working with the most, and where my expertise was most valuable.

"I help early-stage SaaS companies in the healthcare space scale from $1M to $10M with proven growth playbooks."

See the difference?

My updated tagline and website included all the important information:

• Clear company stage (early-stage)
• Specific industry (healthcare)
• Exact revenue range ($1M to $10M)
• Concrete solution (proven growth playbooks)

And suddenly, 90% of people who visited my website could disqualify themselves quickly, and we didn’t waste time on discovery calls that went nowhere.

But the 10% that were a good fit? I won almost every deal. Before I knew it, I was working with ideal clients who I could really help. The best part? It was fun, and I enjoyed the work.

That's the power of specificity. It's not necessarily about excluding people. It’s about attracting the right ones.

Two Questions That Change Everything

Want to figure out if your offer is specific enough? Ask yourself these simple questions:

1. Can people easily tell exactly who this is for?
2. Can people easily tell exactly what they'll achieve?

Let's break down the founder's tagline that I talked about at the beginning of this issue:

"I help leaders learn to lead with impact, master their craft, and drive success."

Who is it for? "Leaders" could mean the CEO of IBM, a middle manager at a tech company, a leading author, or a local flower shop owner.

What will they achieve? "Lead with impact" and "drive success" could mean anything from getting a raise, hiring better people, improving team morale, or setting up the HR department. What does “success” actually mean here?

The real magic happens when you get ruthlessly specific.

Your perfect clients should read your offer and think, "This person is talking to me." And everyone else should think, "This isn't for me.”

That's exactly what you want.

So here’s what I said to the guy who’s launching his coaching business:

-----

Hey [REDACTED],

Here is some feedback:

When you write your tagline, ask yourself these questions:

1. Can people easily tell exactly who this is for?

2. Can people easily tell exactly what they'll achieve by working with me?

For example:

1. Who: Leaders - What does leaders mean? The CEO of IBM? A middle manager at a tech company? A leading author? The owner of a local flower shop? Those people are all very different.

2. What: Lead with impact, master their craft, and drive success - what does that mean exactly? What will they get? A raise? A new job? Better at coaching their salespeople? Make sharper knives (that's mastering a craft), fire under-performers? Hire better people?

I ask these questions not to make you feel silly (you shouldn't - this is the MOST common issue people have), but to encourage you to think "niche".

For example, when I started my consulting business back in 2019, I told people "I help SaaS companies grow their revenue." SO broad.

Over time, and with lots of thinking, coaching, talking, etc. I arrived at exactly WHO I helped, and exactly WHAT I helped them do:

I help early-stage SaaS companies in the healthcare space scale from $1M to $10M with proven growth playbooks.

90% of people who viewed that page had a company that didn't fit. They could easily disqualify themselves. But the 10% that fit? I won nearly every single deal.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Justin

The Bottom Line

Stop trying to appeal to everyone. Because the wider you cast your net, the fewer fish you'll catch.

Instead, be so specific that it almost feels uncomfortable.

Because when the right person finds you, they'll feel like you're reading their mind.

And remember, you don’t need a thousand customers to get started. You just need one and then a few more. And you’ll learn and grow from there, just like I did.

If you want even more help narrowing in on your niche, and following my frameworks for building an online business, consider The Creator MBA.

It's helped 5,000+ people build online businesses that work for them, not the other way around. Inside, you'll get:

- My systems for content that converts
- The templates I use to grow & monetize
- How to build multiple income streams
- The tools I use to run everything

I hope today's issue helps you get specific about who you help, what you help them do, and how you help them do it.

That's all for today.

See you next Saturday.