The most persuasive sentence most websites will not write

Almost no business website says who it is not for. The ones that do get better enquiries and fewer of them, and the people who stay tend to arrive already half convinced.

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Naming who you are not for removes mismatched enquiries at no cost and signals confidence to the right ones. Write it as a description of fit rather than a judgement of people: the situations where somebody else would serve them better, the scale below which the work does not make sense, and what you deliberately do not do.

Why it works

Two things happen at once when a reader meets this kind of statement. The wrong ones quietly leave, which costs you nothing and saves everybody an awkward call. And the right ones feel recognised, because a business that knows precisely who it serves is a business that has done this many times.

It also reads as honesty, which is rarer than it should be. A page that only ever says yes gives a careful buyer nothing to trust.

How to write it without sounding arrogant

The distinction is between describing fit and passing judgement. We are not for people who want cheap work sounds like contempt. Below a certain size, a local generalist will serve you better and faster than we can is helpful.

Frame it as being about the work rather than the person, and where you can, point them somewhere useful. A reader who is turned away kindly and given a direction often comes back later when their situation changes.

  • Describe the situation, not the type of person.
  • Explain why the fit is poor, in one clause.
  • Point them toward a better option where you can.
  • Keep it short: two or three sentences, not a manifesto.
  • Never make it sound like a boast about being expensive.

What to name

Most businesses have three or four genuine mismatches, and naming them covers nearly all the wasted conversations.

Work below a scale where your process does not make sense. Situations needing a speciality you do not have. Timeframes you cannot meet. Ways of working you have learned do not suit you, such as projects with no single decision-maker.

Where it belongs on the site

It works best on the pages where somebody is deciding whether to enquire: the main service pages and anything about cost. That is the moment the information is useful rather than defensive.

A short section near the end of a service page, headed plainly, does the job. Burying it on an about page achieves nothing, because the people it is meant for never reach it.

The related habit: saying what you do not do

Alongside who, there is what. Businesses often imply they do everything, out of a fear of losing work, and end up with enquiries for services they do not want and cannot do well.

Being clear about the boundaries of your work has the same effect as being clear about the customer: fewer, better enquiries, and considerably less time spent explaining.

Expect it to feel uncomfortable

Almost every owner hesitates before publishing this, and the hesitation is about the enquiries they imagine losing. In practice the ones lost are the ones that were wasting time, and the change in enquiry quality is usually noticeable within a couple of months.

If it feels too risky, start with one sentence on one service page and watch what happens. That is a reversible experiment, and it usually settles the argument.

How Licheo writes it

The copywriter agent includes fit as part of the page rather than as an afterthought, framed as a description of the work rather than a judgement of the reader.

We apply it to ourselves as well. There are businesses we are not the right choice for, and saying so on a first call is faster and fairer than discovering it three weeks in.

Part of a larger guide

This page is one part of Better clients, not more. The other parts:

Questions people ask

Should I really say who I am not for?
Yes, and it is one of the cheapest improvements available. The enquiries you lose are the ones that were wasting time, and the right readers take it as a sign that you know your work well.
How do I write it without sounding rude?
Describe the situation rather than the person, explain why the fit is poor in one clause, and point them somewhere better where you can. Frame it as being about the work, never about the reader's budget or judgement.
Where should it go on my website?
On the pages where somebody decides whether to enquire: main service pages and cost information. An about page is too late, because the people it is meant for will not get that far.
Will I lose good customers this way?
Occasionally somebody who was borderline will self-select out, and more often somebody borderline reads it, sees themselves on the right side, and enquires with more confidence than they would have had.
What if I am not sure who I am not for?
Look at the jobs you regretted. The common features of those are usually your answer, and they are far more reliable than any theory about market positioning.

Filter before the phone rings

The agents write fit into your pages, so the wrong enquiries stop arriving and the right ones arrive more confident.

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