How Do I Tell Customers Who I Am Not For?

How do I tell customers who I am not for?

Plainly, on your website, in a sentence you would actually say out loud.

I know that sounds like turning away business. It is the opposite, and it took me an embarrassingly long time to believe it.

Why would anybody do this on purpose?

Because "we work with businesses of all sizes" tells a customer nothing, and it tells a search engine and AI even less.

When you refuse to say who you are not for, you are asking to be compared on the only thing left, which is price. That is the whole mechanism. Vague businesses get sorted by cost, because cost is the only thing anybody can actually compare.

Say a job is not right for you and something useful happens. You have drawn your own boundaries. Now a customer can tell in ten seconds whether they belong, and so can the machine deciding what to say about you.

Has this ever cost you work?

Not once that I can point to.

I have lost plenty of afternoons to calls I should have skipped. Those calls were pleasant, and they went nowhere, and both of us knew it about nine minutes in.

What I have never had is somebody who was a genuinely good fit read a plain sentence about who we are not for and decide against us. Good-fit customers read that kind of thing and feel relief, because it means you are not going to say yes to everything and figure it out later.

What does this actually look like on a page?

Keep it short and keep it kind. Rememberyou are saving somebody time.

A few ideas that work:

"If you need this live by Friday, we are not your shop. Our builds run about six weeks."

"We do not do social media management. Websites only."

"If the budget is under a thousand dollars, a template builder is genuinely a better answer than we are, and I will tell you which one."

These cost nothing and buys an enormous amount of trust. You are allowed to recommend somebody else. People remember it.

Where does it go?

Somewhere a person will actually hit it. Near the bottom of your services page, inside your pricing page, or as a FAQ with a direct question like "who is this not right for."

An FAQ is the easiest place to start, because the question format gives you cover to be blunt without sounding like you are scolding anybody.

Do not bury it, and do not put it in a graphic. It needs to be real text on the page for AI and Google to read it.

What if I genuinely do serve everybody?

You probably do not, and that is fine.

Try it from the other direction. Think about the last job you enjoyed and did well, and the last one you wish you had passed on. The difference between those two is usually your answer, and it is usually more specific than you would have guessed.

If it truly is everybody, then say who you are BEST for instead. Best is not a wall, it is a signal, and it does most of the same work.

Frequently asked questions

Will this make me look arrogant?

Only if you write it that way. "We are not for you" sounds arrogant. "If you need it next week, we are not the right shop" sounds like somebody being straight with you.

Should I name competitors I would send people to?

If you have someone you genuinely trust for the work you do not take, yes. It costs you nothing on jobs you were not going to take, and people remember who told them the truth.

What if my business is new and I need every customer?

Then start with who you are BEST for and leave the "not for" part until you have enough work to be choosy. Just do not write "all businesses" in the meantime.

Does this actually help with search?

It helps with the newer kind. An AI answering "who should I hire for X" is looking for fit signals, and thiese are fit signals. Vague pages give it nothing to work with.

How specific is too specific?

Hard to overdo it. Most businesses land far too broad, not too narrow.

Let us talk it through

If you cannot decide what your boundaries are, that is a good conversation to have out loud. Call me at 979-217-1544 or reach out through our contact page.

And so I am practicing what I am preaching here: if what you want is the cheapest website, that is not us and never has been!

Tom Bruch has built websites since 1998 and is the owner of Aggieland Website Design.