The Power of Clear Copy, or Why You Should Cut the Crap

Howdy Hackers,

I posted on here a while back with my "productized" product design consultancy, and things have certainly taken off since then (pushing $16,000 this month). Largely thanks to Indie Hackers and the tips I've internalized over the years of lurking.

One of things I pride myself in, being a Dutchman, is the inability to deal with the usual nonsense that comes with modern business practices, and how they've bled into software development and design. There's something to be said for radical candor at times, yet most products out there seem to think that alluding to features and deliberate vagueness is the more practical route.

As you can tell from glancing at Incomparable's landing page, we've allowed this Dutch honesty to be embedded into our messaging as well. It's down-to-earth, direct, and transparent. Here's who we are, and who we're not. Here's what we can do, and what we can't. Transparency, without the crap.

The thing is, we haven't always done this, nor practiced what we preach when it came to writing copy. It's a relatively recent change. The impact of this change however, has been significant. And, like any good data-obsesses founder, I've tried to track it over the 24 inbound calls and client interactions we've had since changing to this new model of communication.

• 19 out of 24 calls mentioned the clarity in our product offering and copy.
• 17 calls mentioned the helpfulness of the direct listing of strengths and weaknesses to help decide whether there's a product fit.
• Every. single. call. allowed me to skip the usual pitch deck because they were familiar with our process already due to it being clearly laid out.

Now, I understand this is a tiny dataset, and largely anecdotal. But I do believe there's merit to taking a look at your landing page and marketing material and try to see just how clear (or unclear) your copy and communication methods actually are.

• Can you tell within the first 5 sentences what your product or service offers?
• Is it clear what it does not offer? There's no need to do everything, as has been the downfall of many a software company.
• What is your actual tone of voice, and is it consistent? I've noticed many landing pages sound downright braggy, but can't back it up with clear data or customer feedback.
• If you copy is tongue-in-cheek, does the visual style match this? You can't clown around if your product looks like Teams.

Clarity isn’t just a buzzword here. It's how we stand out and build trust, before the first face-to-face touchpoint. Honesty and transparency are what sets us apart against vagues promises and hollo words. So maybe take a moment, revisit your page, and ask yourself: "Does it speak the truth?"

A clear message isn’t just about what you say—it's about the story you tell and the connections you build. Keep refining, keep iterating, and keep it real.