How to Develop Your Marketing Message - April Roundup

Patrick McFadden • April 27, 2022

Our theme for the month of April at Indispensable Marketing was “Marketing Message.”


You know what I say, “you must refocus your message on problems not solutions”


Matching your message to your ideal client is pretty much everything when it comes to marketing these days.


Think about you – you’ve got about a couple of seconds to get and keep someone’s attention and you can’t waste that precious time with a message that doesn’t focus on what clients want more than anything - their problems understood and solved.


Experience tells me that for some of you this is going to be a challenge, because the cold, hard truth is that nobody cares about you or what you sell (and nobody will ever care as much about what you’re selling as you do). While your business may be incredible, all your customers and prospects care about is what they believe they will get, achieve, relieve, dodge, or acquire based on buying what you sell, and they’ll go with the business that promised them that.β €


So, your job as owner and CEO of a small business is to understand the problems people are trying to solve and match your messages to those very specific problems.


The company that can articulate the problem best, wins! It may not even be the company with the best service, but this is marketing, and marketing is often about perception.β €


These posts aim to help you, your team, and your marketing service providers better understand how to develop a marketing message that attracts your ideal client.


Want us to develop your marketing message for you?

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How to Develop Your Marketing Message Posts

Stop Marketing What You Provide and Start Marketing What You Solve

Hard Truth! It’s lazy to assume that your customer wants the core service you provide whether that is accounting, consulting, landscaping, plumbing, coaching, training, etc.) Instead, speak with them to learn what they believe they will get, achieve, dodge, or acquire based on buying what you sell.β €


Why Your Customers Don't Care About Your Services

The headline of this snippet isn’t meant to sound harsh as it likely sounds, hear me out. Your small business has a service, you’ve targeted your pitch, and now you are ready to share your business with the world. There are just so many benefits that you can’t wait to share them with everybody you see.


You Need To Fully Understand What It Is You Do That Is Both Wanted and Valued

My message to owners and CEOs of small businesses has been quite clear: You cannot create a business that is unique to every client. The key to any good marketing strategy is to market to the ideal client within your target market that wants and values what it is you do that is both remarkable and unique. β €


Focus On The Real Problems You Solve

If you're in the home service contractor or home service provider space, you think that the thing that you do - the kitchen remodeling, the bathroom renovation, unclogging the toilet, or fixing the wiring in the wall is the thing that you get hired to do. β €


How To Determine The Problems You Really Solve

That's the question I get most when explaining that client's don't really want what you sell, they want a problem that they value solved. It's a great question to answer because every small business owner and CEO that I meet wants to make the thing they sell as the problem they solve. So the way that I tell small businesses to determine the real problem they solve is to ask their existing clients.


The Small Business That Can Articulate The Problem Best, Wins

Let’s say you own a tree service business. Your potential customers will automatically assume that you know how to take down trees. But that doesn’t really address the problem the potential customer has.


Communicate Your Solutions In Simple Terms

There is a somewhat famous Albert Einstein quote that goes: “Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.” This 100% applies to how I view and approach marketing, and more specifically your marketing messages.


How To Uncover The Problems Other Small Businesses Aren't Willing To Say They Solve

This is my advice for the CEOs and business owners of small businesses thinking about differentiating from other players in your space. That might mean as a Plumbing Contractor you talk about how you arrive on time and clean up after the job ...


How to Create a Marketing Message That Attracts Clients

Every business has competitors. No business will ever be the only option available to a client or customer. So every brand has to do some work to differentiate themselves from the competition.


You've Got To Eliminate Your Expectation Messaging

πŸ₯±πŸ₯±πŸ₯±Most businesses focus on messaging like “great service”, "hiring knowledgeable staff", "fair pricing" or a “quality product.” πŸ₯±πŸ₯±πŸ₯± As I've mentioned before this is "expectation messaging", anyone who is paying for a service expects those things mentioned above.

The Messaging Mistake Most Small Businesses Make

🎁Most businesses focus on messaging like “great service”, "hiring knowledgeable staff", "fair pricing" or a “quality product.” 🎁 As I've mentioned before this is "expectation messaging", anyone who is paying for a service expects those things mentioned above.


The Secret To Developing a Powerful Positioning Message

Without question the most important marketing strategy you can use is positioning. Now out of all the marketing strategies this one can mean many things to many people but for the sake of this LinkedIn post what I mean is this:


Using Your Customer’s Exact Words is the Best Message to Convert Ideal Prospects into Paying Clients

That’s why the world’s best marketers always start with a diagnosis that includes listening and/or talking to your customers. People make most of their purchase decisions to either avoid pain or experience some gain. If you can tap into these emotions, you can grow your business.


Most Important Element of Any Radio or Advertising Campaign: The Message

We’re currently helping a client with constructing and executing a well-thought-out radio campaign.

While doing this I thought it would be helpful to share an indispensable element needed for the radio or any advertising medium: a strategy based message.


Why You Must Focus Your Message on Problems, Not Services

Your customers don’t know how to solve their problems, but they usually know what their problems are. So creating a list of problems you solve for clients should be very high on your strategic list. If you’re having trouble thinking about your client’s problems, think a bit about the things they tell you.


Messaging Is The Great Equalizer For Small Business Owners

Often when developing the marketing strategy for a client there comes a point after we’ve developed an ideal customer profile, we need to talk to them!


Create Your Messaging Around What Clients Want

Nobody wants the products, services, subscriptions, or solutions your business sells, they want their problems solved. Rather than spending time talking about your own years in business and what you do, it’s more important to connect with a potential client about the challenges they are facing.


How to Get the Attention of The Right People

You want to know what most people pay attention to ... solving their problems. People are bombarded with marketing, attention is scarce, and competition for hears and eyeballs is fierce. So, if you’re marketing without a strategy—with a key component of that strategy knowing the precise problems of your ideal customer—you’ve got a serious challenge.


Marketing Message Examples

Appliance Repair Marketing Example

Tree Service Company Marketing Message Example

Local Service Business Message Example


Contact Your Marketing Consultant at Indispensable Marketing

If you’re a small service based business that needs help with messaging for your business or your business’s online presence on Google and other search engines, at Indispensable Marketing we can help. We offer marketing strategy consulting, marketing audits, monthly marketing packages, consultations, exploratory calls or monthly local SEO servicesContact us for more information.


By Patrick McFadden May 2, 2025
Everyone is scaling outputs. Almost no one is scaling judgment.
By Patrick McFadden May 2, 2025
Ask anyone in tech where AI is headed, and they’ll tell you: “The next leap is reasoning.” “AI needs judgment.” “We need assistants that think, not just answer.” They’re right. But while everyone’s talking about it, almost no one is actually shipping it. So we did. We built Thinking OS™ —a system that doesn’t just help AI answer questions… It helps AI think like a strategist. It helps AI decide like an operator. It helps teams and platforms scale judgment, n ot just generate output. The Theory Isn’t New. The Implementation Is. The idea of layering strategic thinking and judgment into AI isn’t new in theory. The problem is, no one’s been able to implement it effectively at scale. Let’s look at the current landscape. 1. Big Tech Has the Muscle—But Not the Mind OpenAI / ChatGPT βœ… Strength: Best-in-class language generation ❌ Limitation: No built-in judgment or reasoning. You must provide the structure. Otherwise, it follows instructions, not strategy. Google DeepMind / Gemini βœ… Known for advanced decision-making (e.g., AlphaGo) ❌ But only in structured environments like games—not messy, real-world business scenarios. Anthropic (Claude), Meta (LLaMA), Microsoft Copilot βœ… Great at answering questions and following commands ❌ But they’re assistants, not advisors. They won’t reprioritize. They won’t challenge your assumptions. They don’t ask: “Is this the right move?” These tools are powerful—but they don’t think for outcomes the way a strategist or operator would. 2. Who’s Actually Building the Thinking Layer™? This is where it gets interesting—and thin. Startups and Indie Builders Some small teams are quietly: Creating custom GPTs that mimic how experts reason Layering in business context, priorities, and tradeoffs Embedding decision logic so AI can guide, not just execute But these efforts are: Highly manual Difficult to scale Fragmented and experimental Enterprise Experiments A few companies (Salesforce, HubSpot, and others) are exploring more “judgment-aware” AI copilots. These systems can: Flag inconsistencies Recommend next actions Occasionally surface priorities based on internal logic But most of it is still: In early R&D Custom-coded Unproven beyond narrow use cases That’s Why Thinking OS™ Is Different Instead of waiting for a lab to crack it, we built a modular thinking system that installs like infrastructure. Thinking OS™: Captures how real experts reason Embeds judgment into layers AI can use Deploys into tools like ChatGPT or enterprise systems Helps teams think together, consistently, at scale It’s not another assistant. It’s the missing layer that turns outputs into outcomes. So… Is This a New Innovation? Yes—in practice. Everyone says AI needs judgment. But judgment isn’t an idea. It’s a system. It requires: Persistent memory Contextual awareness Tradeoff evaluation Value-based decisions Strategy that evolves with goals Thinking OS™ delivers that. And unlike the R&D experiments in Big Tech, it’s built for: Operators Consultants Platform founders Growth-stage teams that need to scale decision quality, not just content creation If Someone Told You They’ve Built a Thinking + Judgment Layer™… They’ve built something only a handful of people in the world are even attempting. Because this isn’t just AI that speaks fluently. It’s AI that reasons, reflects , and chooses. And in a world that’s drowning in tools, judgment becomes the differentiator. That’s the OS We Built Thinking OS™ is not a prompt pack. It’s not a dashboard. It’s not a glorified chatbot. It’s a decision architecture you can license, embed, or deploy— To help your team, your platform, or your clients think better at scale. We’ve moved past content. We’re building cognition. Let’s talk.
By Patrick McFadden May 2, 2025
In every era of innovation, there’s a silent bottleneck—something obvious in hindsight, but elusive until the moment it clicks. In today’s AI-driven world, that bottleneck is clear: AI has speed. It has scale. But it doesn’t have judgment . It doesn’t really think . What’s Actually Missing From AI? When experts talk about the “thinking and judgment layer” as the next leap for AI, they’re calling out a hard truth: Modern AI systems are powerful pattern machines. But they’re missing the human layer—the one that reasons, weighs tradeoffs, and makes strategic decisions in context. Let’s break that down: 1. The Thinking Layer = Reasoning with Purpose This layer doesn’t just process inputs— it structures logic. It’s the ability to: Ask the right questions before acting Break down complexity into solvable parts Adjust direction mid-course when reality changes Think beyond “what was asked” to uncover “what really matters” Today’s AI responds. But it rarely reflects. Unless told exactly what to do, it won’t work through problems the way a strategist or operator would. 2. The Judgment Layer = Decision-Making in the Gray Judgment is the ability to: Prioritize what matters most Choose between imperfect options Make decisions when there’s no clear answer Apply values, experience, and vision—not just data It’s why a founder might not pursue a lucrative deal. Why a marketer might ignore the click-through rate. Why a strategist knows when the timing isn’t right. AI doesn’t do this well. Not yet. Because judgment requires more than data—it requires discernment . Why This Is the Bottleneck Holding Back AI AI can write. It can summarize. It can automate. But it still can’t: Diagnose the real problem behind the question Evaluate tradeoffs like a founder or operator would Recommend a path based on context, constraints, and conviction AI today is still reactive. It follows instructions. But it doesn’t lead. It doesn’t guide. It doesn’t own the outcome. And for those building serious systems—whether you’re running a company, launching a platform, or leading a team—this is the wall you eventually hit. That’s Why We Built Thinking OS™ We stopped waiting for AI to learn judgment on its own. Instead, we created a system that embeds it—by design. Thinking OS™ is an installable decision layer that captures how top founders, strategists, and operators think… …and makes that thinking repeatable , scalable , and usable inside teams, tools, and platforms. It’s not a framework. It’s not a chatbot. It’s not another playbook. It’s the layer that knows how to: Think through complex decisions Apply judgment when rules don’t help Guide others —human or AI—toward strategic outcomes This Is the Missing Infrastructure Thinking OS™ isn’t just about better answers. It’s about better thinking—made operational. And that’s what’s been missing in AI, consulting, leadership development, and platform design. If you’re trying to scale expertise, install judgment, or move from tactical to strategic… You don’t need a faster AI. You need a thinking layer that knows what to do—and why. We built it. Let’s talk.
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