Want a clear homepage? Step 1: think.

Take the cork off your truth

So, last week we talked about the great translation problem.

And the brass tacks difference between FEATURES and BENNIES.

Or benefits, for those of you in the peanut gallery.

So, you want your homepage to speak in terms of the benefits, results, and outcomes you help your client get. Become. Or achieve.

Now, say you’re clear on the top 3 results you help your clients get. Say you’ve already brainstormed a list of 30 ways you help people improve, heal, or enrich their lives.

And if you haven’t made this “top 30 list” in awhile—or ever—here’s your invitation: please do this before you write your homepage. Or talk to anyone. Or write anything. This is ground zero for getting clear.

Can you go do that right after you read this?

And then, to make sure you’re not writing in language that just you and your invisible twin (who grew up next to you in the closet of your head) understand… show that list to someone else. Preferably someone who geeks out on marketing. And then ask them to put a check next to any results that people are willing to pay for.

Then look back over everything with checks, and pick the top 3 results you help people get.

If you don’t have someone like that in your life, pretend. And think about joining one of my upcoming production labs to get some support.

Now, a simple way to turn your results into snazzy, hot copy is to turn ‘em into a “pull question.” The basic formula here is: “Want XYZ?” or “Ready to ABC?”

And then, you can turn that question a “headline.”

I put these in quotes, because when you roll with Stella, you’re going to learn the lingo. There are no wallflowers in Stella’s neighborhood. We’re all Recovering Perfectionists here. And we’re all taking what we learn and putting it into action.

For an example of a “pull question” that’s ALSO a “headline,” see my homepage.

Want more clients, referrals, and joy?

See how that “pulls” a certain kind of potential client? The results I help my clients get are client-based (and therefore, money-based)… but I also promise more joy (and therefore, fun + play + simplicity), too.

Notice, too, that there’s a “pull question”… followed with my take on how to get it:

Quit Marketing and Learn to Tell the Truth.

In classroom teaching, we call this the “hook.” You’ve got to get people’s attention. Questions can work. Bold, simple statements can work. Flying in the face of expectations can work, too.

In this example, most people think that if you want more clients + referrals, you need to market more.

So I’m messing with expectations on this one.

Because my message is: marketing won’t save your butt.

(In fact, if I see one more business owner following the “marketing coloring book” without putting any of their heart or true voice into it, I may put my eye out with my mechanical pencil).

Taking the cork off your truth—and studying how to express it in a way that makes other people care + want to get more of it—WILL save your butt. And more.

But back to the lesson at hand. If you’re working on your homepage right now, tinker with the results you get in a “pull question” style headline. Then answer it with YOUR distinction. Something that YOU say all the time… or THINK all the time… that flies in the face of conventional wisdom.

If you wanna play, post the headline of your homepage here in comments, and let the workshopping begin. Or, if you’re a bluebird, fly on over to http://twitter.com/stellaorange and post it there.

Many thanks to Brent Schneeman for the Flickr Photostream of Things That Pop.