As a solo maker do you write I or We? 🤔
I’m in the middle of creating my first product as a solo maker and I noticed I keep thinking if I should use the singular or plural first person in my copies.
Since it’s just me it makes sense to write singular, but sometimes I feel that “we” or “us” gives a little more credibility to the whole thing.
Is customer trust something I should take into account for this specific topic? Does making it clear that this is a one-person business creates a greater sense of connection with the customers?
I’m curious to how other builders have approached this situation. What are your thoughts and experiences? ✌️
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Jason Fried wrote about this. Early in his bootstrapping days, he used “we” and it didn’t work for him the way he wanted it to. As he describes it, being more real and letting people know it was just him was a game changer for him mentally. I don’t think there’s harm in using “we” but I think honesty and transparency goes a long way in the bootstrapping world.
That's a great example.
Use we if you wanna look professional; use I if you wanna capitalize on the fact that you're early in your journey.
When you're still early, best to use I and use the fact that it's a 1-man show to your advantage. You can bring a lvl of intimacy that big guys can't.
In fact, they often try to emulate that by using ad campaigns revolving around a single character.
If you do a good job, your customers will root for you.
That's a great point. Really like the way you put it. I'll take that into consideration when writing.
I usually use "we" but I want to transition to "I" but I'm not sure how. It feels weird to present a product and start using "I" in all the copy since it feels too personal and most people reading it might be wondering "who is this person"?
That said, I do want to transition to using more personal pronouns because I think it's import to let people know that my product is an indie product made by a single dev. I think it will make people feel more connected and have a bit more empathy and maybe support it more if they know it's a lone developer working on it.
Part of making it feel more personal, I think, is to inject some more copy that introduces me, who I am, and why I'm making the product.
I hear you. That's my point when thinking about this.
I'll do some research to try to find some examples and benchmarks, if you have any good examples please share too.
I do think that both can coexist. Since solo makers are becoming more common I think it's getting more normal to see "I" in product communications. I just don't know if that's the same opinion outside our niche.
I'll see if I can find some good examples. I remember coming across at least a couple of landing pages where the creator made it clear they were a one-person company. I think it works well for e-books where the author is really selling themselves and their experience to you.
I have a Discord link on the website for my app and I've had a couple people join it and immediately post comments where it was clear they thought there was a team behind the product. On the one hand, that's flattering that they thought it took several people to make this thing that I made myself, but it also feels like if they knew that there was an individual behind it, there's a chance for a better connection between them and me. Specifically, I do actually want people to post feedback and suggestions on the product and feel like they're involved. To me, it brings great joy to have that type of connection with my users.
Like others commenting here, I started out by using "we" because I thought people would take it more seriously. However, some pretty early feedback suggested that wasn't a good approach, especially since there was nothing on the site explaining who the "we" were, and that you should capitalise on the intimacy and personal service a one person operation can bring. I subsequently saw the blog post "Founders: Don't hide behind a 'we'" at https://plausible.io/blog/dont-hide-behind-a-we confirming this approach.
That's so cool michaell. Thanks for sharing the article, I just read it and really liked it. It's addressing exactly the question I had in mind.
Both.
When "the company" is speaking, I use "we", for example on the website.
When I am speaking for the company, I use "I", for example in the newsletter.
I try to use I as much as I can. My target audience is fellow indie makers, so I feel it's more transparent this way. But I can see if you are targeting an audience that might be cautious of a solo run business (unfortunately still the case in many places), you might want to use WE instead to make it look like a bigger team is behind it.
Keep it personal and human. Say I.
I write I. But it's easier for me as I make information products such as ebooks and newsletters, which are easier to associate with an individual writer or author.
I used to use both, but since a few months I switched to 'I/me' 100%. I want to be more transparent and real for myself and my projects.
How this has treated me?
Good. Humans start treating you like you and your project are human.
I think in the beginning you should use "I" as you're only a 1 person team anyway. Second as you said, by using I, you're suggesting to people that you're personal and if there's anything they need help with, you're there to help them, not some customer service rep.
The owner taking things into his own hands and making things happening builds a stronger connection to customers.
Embrace the I! Don't pretend you're bigger than you are. "I" can be great.
The way I see it, lying is part of the spectrum of violence.
Yes, it's justifiable if it saves lives or has similarly profound effects, but in general you should just stick with the truth.
I can see there have been a few answers already but I figured I'd chime in because I think my way of putting it is slightly different than what has been said already.
I've spent a lot of time thinking about this and I think I'm just starting to figured out this dilemma. I use "we" when I'm writing on behalf of the business. The business itself has a voice even if its me writing it. The website, social accounts registered on behalf of the business (like the business twitter), and the business email should be using the businesses voice and use "we".
Use "I" whenever you get the chance to speak on behalf of yourself. The exception is when you're speaking on behalf of the business and yourself, in that case you can use "we".
"We" not only adds a level of professionalism, it also helps convey that you're talking about the business itself in addition to you. Your business could hire people, fire people, have 1 or 100 employees but it still stays an entity of its own. With that said, your business contains people too, even if its just one, so don't be hidden completely. When you get the chance also engage with people on a personal level and drop the "we".
I've been going back and forth on this we/I business for a while too. I tend to follow this rule:
if I'm writing a copy that's going to be read by first time customers/viewers, I use "We". It does sound more legit.
if I'm writing an opinion for an audience familiar with me/the product, I use "I".
That being said, if you are building a personal brand (i.e. built around you as a professional), then use "I".
Here's something else to consider:
I tend to do a bit of both depending on the situation, not sure if that's right or not.
On the main landing page, I refer as "we" but when writing about progress on a blog post, Twitter or here for example, then I put "I".
I also have the same struggle/question.
Currently I tend to mix both, I used a lot of "I" but I am slowly switching towards "we" otherwise the copy seems too informal.
I think it depends on the product or service you're offering. If it's strongly linked with you personally (consulting, video content etc) I'd use "I" but if you're offering focuses more on the product (SaaS or Ecommerce for example) then I would use "we". Either way I'd try to be consistent with whichever one you settle on. Good luck with your first launch!
Great insight John. I'm building a SaaS product, a Woocommerce Slack Bot. So it fits more into "we". I'll probably go in this direction.
I think I'll write the product related copies using "we" and when I want to talk personally to the customer or tell the story of the company use "I".
If you need help with the copy, I'd be happy to help.
Sounds about right! Good luck with the launch.
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