The eighth and final eBook in the Foundations category. It turns the positioning statement into a working value proposition - the short block of words that runs across the homepage, the about page, the offer page, the proposal template, the social profiles, the ads and the elevator answer to "what do you do?".
Members ebook·5 chapters· 15 minute read
Chapter 5
Improving Weak Value Propositions
Diagnose and fix weak value propositions on pages and profiles you already have, one rewrite at a time.
Most small businesses don't need a wholesale rewrite of every page. They need to fix the openings - the homepage hero, the about page intro, the proposal template, the LinkedIn headline. Those four surfaces carry most of the conversion work. Fix them and the rest of the site improves by reflection.
This chapter walks the diagnosis - the four most common weak openings and what they signal - and gives you the rewrite recipe for each. None of the rewrites takes longer than an hour. The combined effect across four surfaces is usually visible within a fortnight.
By the end you'll have a list of the surfaces to rewrite, in priority order, with the recipe for each one.
The full chapter has the four weak-opening patterns, the rewrite recipes and the priority order for fixing them.
The four weak openings
Common weak openings - and what they signal
1. The brochure opening - "Founded in 2007, we are a leading..." (no customer present)
2. The category opening - "Plumbing services in Manchester" (no problem or promise)
3. The values opening - "Our values are integrity, quality and excellence" (no specifics)
4. The everyone opening - "For businesses of all sizes who want to grow" (no customer chosen)
The brochure opening - rewrite recipe
Move the company history off the homepage entirely. It belongs on the about page, in the second or third paragraph if at all. Replace the opening with the customer plus outcome from the value proposition formula. The history doesn't help a stranger decide. The customer-plus-outcome opening does.
The category opening - rewrite recipe
Add the situation and the promise. "Plumbing services in Manchester" becomes "Tired of weekend emergency calls from your rentals? We're the maintenance contract for Manchester landlords with five to twenty properties." Same category, with the customer and the promise added in the first line.
The values opening - rewrite recipe
Move the values list to a sub-page if you want to keep it. Replace the opening with the value proposition. Customers don't decide based on values statements - they assume reasonable values from competent businesses and decide based on whether you understand their problem. Free up the prime real estate.
The everyone opening - rewrite recipe
Pick the first target market from the previous eBook. Write the opening for that customer specifically. "For businesses of all sizes" becomes "For B2B software firms whose homepage isn't converting". The everyone opening costs the page its conversion - the targeted opening earns it back.
5. Social bios and email signatures - smallest individually, broad reach combined
What changes after the rewrites
Three things, usually within four to six weeks. Conversion on the homepage lifts because the right customers self-identify in the first line. Proposal close rate lifts because the opening primes the rest of the document. Wrong-fit enquiries drop because the everyone-opening was attracting them. None of the changes is dramatic on its own. Combined, they shift the economics of the business.
Maintenance after the rewrite
Re-read the four openings once a quarter, alongside the strategy template review. The customer might shift slightly. The differentiation might sharpen. The proof gets stronger as more case studies accumulate. Treat the openings as living copy - small edits keep them current. Wholesale rewrites are rare after the first big pass.
What to do this week
Diagnose your homepage hero against the four patterns. Apply the matching recipe. Publish the new version this week. Then schedule an hour next week for the proposal template opening.
The recurring principle this chapter sits on is review results and improve the system. The openings are the surfaces where review meets revenue. The next category, Starting and Validation, begins with How to Start a Small Business - the eBook that walks the early days when the value proposition is still being discovered.
The rest of this chapter walks through the practical steps, the templates and the checklists you need to put it into action. It includes worked examples, copy frameworks and the small decisions that make the difference between a plan that sits in a drive and one that gets used.
Inside you'll find a step-by-step playbook, a downloadable template, a checklist you can run this week and a short list of common mistakes to avoid before you start.
The full action plan, broken into weekly steps.
Ready-to-use scripts, templates and checklists.
Worked examples for different sized businesses.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them.
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