Why Your Offer Isn’t Selling: Signs You’re Too Close to Your Messaging
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Wondering why your offer isn’t selling? As entrepreneurs, we spend a lot of time in our own heads. Most of us work alone at our kitchen tables or a local cafe, getting a lot of one-way input (looking at you, Reels and webinars!). It leads to us feeling like we’re constantly behind or off-course, then tweaking things on repeat.
The result: We can get too close to our own messaging. So close we can’t see where it’s unclear, confusing, or just not connecting with our audience.
If your offers aren’t selling the way you want, it’s time to zoom out and look at your messaging with fresh eyes.
Four Signs You’re Too Close to Your Messaging
When you tweak your copy, messaging, or content over and over, it loses its core ‘thread’.
Here are a few signs that you’ve lost the plot on your core message:
You’re talking to yourself, not your audience.
Using jargon, clever phrasing, or insider language might feel natural to you, but if your clients don’t talk that way, they won’t connect with it.You’re emotionally attached to every word.
If cutting a sentence feels like cutting off a limb, you might be more in love with what you wrote than what your client needs to hear.You ramble when asked what you do.
If your “elevator pitch” could outlast a ride up the Burj Khalifa, then you’ve lost your clarity (and your ideal client got out at floor 4).You’re endlessly tweaking your sales page.
Editing your copy for the 84th time isn’t perfectionism, it’s procrastination dressed up as productivity.
How to Step Back and Regain Messaging Clarity
Get fresh eyes. Ask someone you trust—or better yet, hire a copywriter (hi 👋)—to review your copy. They’ll spot in seconds what you’ve been staring at for weeks.
Revisit your client research. Go back to your intake forms, surveys, and offboarding notes. Pull the actual words your clients use, and let those guide your messaging.
Try the 80/8 Rule. Hand your copy to an 80-year-old and an 8-year-old. If they can’t quickly explain what you do, rewrite it.
Do the Sticky Note Test. Write your offer’s core message on a sticky note. Show it to someone else. If it’s not crystal clear to them, it won’t be clear to your audience either.
Clear Beats Clever Every Time
Here’s the tough-love truth: if people can’t instantly understand what you do and why it matters, they won’t buy. Strong messaging sounds natural, confident, and easy to follow. When you hit that sweet spot, your offers stop getting ignored and start getting snapped up.
👉 Next up: we’re diving into a How to Write Sales Pages Series—starting with how to structure your above-the-fold section so it actually converts.
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