Run sheet · 1-2 weeks
Fix positioning that sounds like everyone else
“The product is good but the words could belong to any competitor.”
Anyone whose homepage could have a rival's logo dropped on it and still read fine.
You end up withA clear answer to why anyone would pass this on.
You end up withA wedge statement, including who it deliberately annoys.
You end up withA rewritten hero line and LinkedIn About that say the same thing.
You end up withA pre-ship check so the safe version doesn't creep back in.
You're done when
- A stranger can repeat your wedge after reading the homepage once.
- Someone in the category disagrees with you out loud.
- The homepage, the page bio and the sales call all use the same sentence.
It's not working if
- Everyone likes it and nobody remembers it.
- You needed a paragraph to explain the one-liner.
- The wedge lives on the homepage and nowhere else.
Everything you'll copy in this track
Steal this · The share test
Before you publish, answer these. Any "no" means rewrite. 1. Who is the person sharing this, and what does sharing it say about them? 2. What exact sentence would they type above it? 3. Is there one specific detail only an insider would know? 4. Does the post feed the next one, or does it die on arrival? 5. Could a competitor post the same thing? If yes, it isn't yours.
Steal this · Wedge statement
Fill this in. One sentence each, no adjectives. Everyone in [category] assumes: ______________ We think that's wrong because: ______________ So we do this instead: ______________ Which means [buyer] finally gets: ______________ The people who won't like this: ______________ Test: read the last line out loud. If nobody would object, the wedge is too safe.
Steal this · Voice rules (one page)
We sound like: ______________ We never sound like: ______________ Words we use: ______________ Words we ban: ______________ How we open: ______________ How we handle bad news: say what happened, what we're doing, when we'll update. Before publishing, cut: - every adjective doing no work - every sentence you'd never say out loud - the first paragraph (it's almost always throat-clearing)
Steal this · Pre-ship check
Run this before anything public. One "no" is enough to stop. [ ] Would we send this to the sharpest person we know? [ ] Does it say something, or does it only avoid saying something wrong? [ ] Is there one specific, checkable detail in it? [ ] Did anyone in the room disagree? (If nobody did, ask again in private.) [ ] What's the honest worst read of this? Can we live with it?
Run it yourself with the sheet above.
Or I run this track with you - same steps, I do the work.
Positioning & messaging rewrite