🎧 Listen to the podcast version of this email here.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been doing some proper tidying up of my brands.
I started this as JoeriCreates. A bit of experimenting. A bit of figuring things out in public.
Over time it evolved, and recently I decided to rename it The Solo Sauce because now I have a much sharper idea of who I’m trying to reach and what I’m actually helping with:
I help experienced solo professionals stand out, get found & win better clients through clear, strategic content.
Language might change, but that is the direction.
Once that became clear, the next step was making sure it looked consistent everywhere.
Same name. Same handles. Same language. Same signal across platforms. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s already much tighter than it was.
And here’s what I learned while reworking all of this.
Because of my years of experience and the variety of things I have undertaken - and you might recognise this in yourself - my offer had become blurry.
I can help in many ways and there’s a natural tendency to bring all of that to the table at once.
Thirty years ago this made you impressive, yet today it makes you harder to place and thus easier to ignore.
People scan fast. They don’t study you. They don’t decode nuance. They need to understand what you do within seconds or they move on.
Depth can absolutely win, but first you have to get noticed.
And to get noticed, you need to be sharp. Not a bit of everything.
While I was reworking this brand, I was also playing with language. Testing propositions. Listening to feedback. Seeing what resonates and what falls flat.
Btw, thank you to those of you who’ve replied or shared feedback. I really appreciate it.
I changed logos. Secured consistent names. Aligned domains. Built funnels. Split things properly.
The Solo Sauce lives in its own world. The Magic Sauce, my innovation agency, lives in another.
Same person. Different propositions. Separate homes.
Putting it all on one page would have turned it into one big blurry mess.
Once the first piece became clear, the rest became a whole lot easier. Still labour-intensive and time-consuming, but easier.
I suddenly knew how to describe the YouTube channel. The newsletter. The podcast. The landing pages. And the dynamics between them.
Everything had a direction and it is all part of a flywheel.
Clarity reduces friction.
So if you’re feeling invisible right now, here are three upgrades you can make in a couple of focused hours.
Spread it over a week if you need to. Just sit down with a cup of tea and get it done. It will make everything else lighter, trust me.
1️⃣ Get clear on what you do
Write one clear positioning statement.
Not a five-minute waffle. Not a services overview brochure. One clear positioning.
Use this structure:
“I help X do Y, so that they can achieve Z. I do that through A & B.”
Example: "I help midlife crisis men get ready for their first Iron Man, so they show up confident and prepared on race day. I do that through personal coaching and structured video training.”
If you can’t make it that specific, that’s your real problem. Fix this, and the rest becomes much easier.
2️⃣ Make that clarity visible immediately
As someone who has spent years helping people think outside the box, I can tell you: we think in boxes.
Wherever someone first encounters you, it should be obvious within seconds what box to put you in.
Website headline. LinkedIn header. Instagram bio. YouTube banner. Email signature.
It doesn’t matter where they land. What matters is that they don’t have to investigate to understand you.
Most people decorate their first impression through nice visuals, big words and vague statements.
I think I used to have "I am a disruptive innovation catalyst", whatever that meant.
What you need is obviousness.
When someone lands on your page, they should immediately think, “Ah, I get it".
3️⃣ Repeat the same signal everywhere
Be unmistakably consistent, but no need for copy-paste identical either.
If one platform says you help founders build authority through video, another says you specialise in innovation strategy, and your website talks about creative facilitation, people don’t know what to remember.
You can have range, but your positioning cannot feel like a 7-page menu in a cheap restaurant.
The best stores are recognisable the moment you walk in. The layout may change from Shanghai to Sydney, but the experience doesn’t. You instantly know where you are and what they sell.
Sharp, consistent signal beats variety.
As my dad always said
"A little bit of everything is usually a lot of nothing."
You don’t need to be a one-trick pony, but if you want to stand out, get noticed, and actually have people find you, make it easy for them to put you in a box that works in your favour.
Once you’re in a conversation, you can absolutely expand and offer more. You can bring in the rest of your experience.
But putting your entire arsenal of possible solutions on display upfront just confuses people.
So before you try to be louder, try being sharper.
Make it a great day
