3 builders who never spoke to each other

Commit positioning to one sentence you can check

Before any page gets written, settle on a single line naming the buyer, the stage they are at and the concrete result you produce, and reject anything pitched at the altitude of a mission statement. The sentence then works as a filter, since copy, channel choice and even which requests you accept all resolve against it. Keeping several audiences alive at once is exactly what makes the wording impossible to finish.

The method

1. 01

   Commit the choice to a single sentence naming the audience, the stage they're at, and why you specifically can help them.

2. 02

   Compress your positioning into one filled-in sentence naming who you help, what they achieve, the outcome that unlocks, and the medium you use, then treat it as the filter for future work.

3. 03

   Before anything else, write down one narrow tangible problem you can fix, not a mission statement.

4. 04

   Fix on one persona, ideally one you belong to yourself, since it decides the wording of the copy and tells you which communities to go to.

What it returned

• The suggested template picks designers at the beginning of their careers, on the grounds that the writer had just come through his own first two years.

• Justin's version says he helps geeks make good things on the web and get them noticed so they can earn more and enjoy it, and that he does it through writing, speaking, video and podcasts.

• Welsh contrasts helping people live better lives, which he calls too vague to target, with helping mothers working in tech get their work and life into balance.

Sources

• How to choose an audience for your blogJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · How do you choose an audience? · undated
• Do you even want to be "a bootstrapper?"Justin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Crafting your personal mission · undated
• So you want to start a side hustle? Do these 4 things first.Justin Welsh · justinwelsh.me · Priority 1: What specific problem do you solve? · 2024-06-22
• 10 lessons learned launching 7 SaaS and generating $200k+ total revenuesLuca Restagno · solopreneurtofreedom.com · Clear persona in mind · 2024-01-18