April 30, 2025

Do as I say, not as I do?

Longtime friend-of-the-list Scott Gould wrote in with an engaging question about the main headline on my website:

Hey Jonathan

Huge congrats on this. Great to see you move your message from developers to freelancers

However, a question as you make this move! Do you consider this to fulfil your LFPS?

“I help freelancers, consultants, and other independent professionals make more and work less without hiring.”

Because to be honest, that reads like what you would’ve previously called “soggy” positioning, right?

Yours engagingly,

Scott

Fair question!

Technically, this headline doesn’t conform to the structure of a full LFPS, but it certainly implies one.

And yes, it is a little soggy. Specifically, it violates one of my core guidelines, which is:

No conjunctions in the target market!

That said, most of my advice about positioning is aimed at people who are just starting out with marketing.

Once you have gotten past the beginner level, you can tweak to reflect the reality of who you’re attracting.

For example, I periodically update my messaging to be more representative of the people I’m attracting organically, which is fundamentally different from starting broad and trying to attract everyone.

Or to put it another way:

Once the fire is burning, you can stop adding kindling :-)

Yours,

—J

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