Field Guides / Positioning

How do I write the one line that says who I help?

Write it as a message equation: "We help [niche] get [result] through [offer]." The niche is a buyer you can find by job title, the result is the outcome they care about in their words, and the offer is the specific video service that gets it. Test the line with a few clients first (three is a suggested starting number), then build the top of your homepage around it.

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Why do most video business websites fail to say who they help?

Most video business websites fail to say who they help because they list every service the business offers, so the copy speaks to no one market and gets ignored by all of them. The goal of your marketing is for your ideal prospect to read it and think "hey, that's me."

A prospect who lands on your site has three options. They can buy from you, buy from a competitor, or do nothing. Doing nothing is the most likely, and sales people call it status quo bias. The pain has to feel bigger than the effort of changing, and a confusing page makes the effort feel bigger. If you confuse them, you lose them.

I once pulled up a production company's website at random to show a group what this looks like. It was creative, and it was confusing: four different buttons, a video to play, two pictures to click and two more videos. I didn't know where to click first, so I didn't click anything.

The person who hires video inside a business is also protecting their job. If they hire you and it goes wrong, they wear it. They want a safe pair of hands who will deliver what they asked for, on time, and turn up looking smart. I tell members that sales is the penalty you pay for poor marketing: when the page is clear and carries proof that you deliver, the sales conversation is much easier.

How to write the message equation: the method, step by step

The message equation is one sentence in three slots: who you help, the result they get, and the offer that gets it. Fill the slots in order, because each one depends on the last.

1. Fill the niche slot with a person you can find. Ask who the one person is who hires videographers in your market, and what their job title is. The job title matters later, because it's what you search for on LinkedIn. The niche can be a market vertical or a style of filming, as long as someone reads it and recognises themselves. If you haven't chosen the market yet, do that first with How to choose a niche for your video business. If your own background points at a market (an industry you came from, a region you live in), How to use your own story to position your video business covers that angle.
2. Fill the result slot with their outcome, in their words. The result is what changes for the buyer, not what you make. The best source is your clients themselves: interview a few, record and transcribe the calls, and pull out the pains, wants and needs. Their phrases go in this slot.
3. Fill the offer slot with the specific service or method. This is how you get them the result. A specific method can also create curiosity. When I taught this, my own equation ended with the name of the framework we coached, and the framework's name was there to make people ask what it was.
4. Read it out loud and cut it back. The line has to be clear on who it serves, what the outcome is and how you deliver it. If you can't say it clearly yourself, your market will be confused by it. Cut until you can say it in one breath without explaining any of the words.
5. Use the same line everywhere the buyer meets you. Once it's tested, the line goes at the top of your homepage, into your LinkedIn profile, into your Google Business Profile, and into the first message you send a new connection.

What should the top of my homepage say?

The top of your homepage should carry the message equation as the headline and sub-line, a trusted-by strip of client logos above the fold, proof that you deliver, and one call to action.

The trusted-by strip matters because the first job of the page is to build trust, and nothing builds trust faster than the clients you've already worked with. It has to sit above the fold, visible on a laptop without scrolling. Then one button. The member sites I've used as examples all ask for a single next step: book a discovery call, or request a quote.

The logo count is a suggestion. Use the clients the buyer will recognise.

A worked example: two homepages broken into the equation

Two production company homepages I've used when teaching this show the equation working in different shapes. I've described them rather than quoted them, so the businesses stay anonymous.

Production company A splits one sentence across three lines. A small pre-headline carries the niche (regional businesses, with one flattering adjective). The large headline carries the result: competing well beyond their region. The sub-line carries the offer, strategic video with a human feel. The button asks for a discovery call, and a logo strip sits directly under the hero.

Production company B puts the result in the headline as three short phrases: training staff, hiring and new business. The sub-line carries the whole equation in one sentence, listing the three industries it serves and ending on strategic video production. The button asks for a quote, and the trusted-by line above the fold gives a count of the client businesses behind the logos.

Neither line puts a job title on the page. A homepage can describe the market, while the job title drives your outreach and your test.

How do I check the line works before I put it on the site?

Check the line by showing it to a few clients who fit the niche (three is a suggested starting number) and asking them to say back who it's for, what they'd get and how. The test only checks whether a reader understands the line and can find the button.

If you haven't yet tested whether the market itself is right, the hypothesis script in How to choose a niche for your video business comes first.

When every client can say all three slots back in roughly your words and find the button, the line is ready for the site.

The mistakes that undo it

Three mistakes come from doing the work in the wrong order or sending people to the wrong page.

• Writing from assumptions. In the process I teach, the equation comes after the research: who hires, what they say about their problem in interviews, and evidence they already use video. Skip that and the slots get filled with guesses.
• Building the website first. The website copy comes after the line is settled and tested, and it draws on what clients said in those interviews. A site built first is written before you have their words.
• Sending a specific prospect to a general page. If your outreach is to one market, send them to a landing page: one page with one message for that market and no navigation, rather than a homepage that has to speak to everyone.

The rule of thumb for the message equation

Your message equation should be one sentence that someone in your market can repeat back after a single read. When I've taught landing pages I've put the headline at 80 per cent of the work, so this sentence deserves more of your time than anything else on the page.

Hold yourself accountable

Which of these have you taken on or put in place recently?

• Your message equation is written down as one sentence with all three slots filled.
• You've shown the line to at least one client and heard them say it back.
• Your homepage headline carries the line.
• Your LinkedIn profile and your first message to a new connection use the same line.

Your one move this week

What's the one thing you can commit to implementing this week? If you're not sure, start here.

Write your message equation in the copy block above, then open your homepage on a laptop and check it against the hero checklist. Note which of the five items are missing.

One thing executed every week creates 50 strategic moves a year.

Related tools and guides. How to choose a niche for your video business (choose the market before you write the line), How to use your own story to position your video business, How to qualify a video lead before you pitch, How to write a follow-up email that gets a reply.