Why is it so hard to get the message right?

You’ve got a lot to say about your business. At first, that seems like a good problem. But how do you narrow it down? How do you know what’s really going to work?

If only something could make this easy. Books and blogs? Too many, and they often conflict. Focus groups? Expensive, and artificial anyway. A/B testing? Tells us what’s better, but not what’s best.

Seems like the only way to know for sure is to put a message out there and see what happens. And then you risk a failure you can’t take back. No wonder it’s so hard to commit!

You too can be confident and effective. I promise.

Hey. I’m Sheperd. I’ve seen smart people struggle with messaging for 35 years. As a writer, creative leader, and agency owner, my livelihood has always depended on getting the message right. So that’s what I did. For the Fortune 100… for the moms-and-pops… and for everybody in between.

At this point in my career, I’ve realized what feels most rewarding to me: helping people understand what makes a message work… and what makes a message work against you. My research indicates that marketers who are confident and effective already know this. Once you do too, you’ll trust your decisions more — whether you’re doing the message yourself, or having it done for you.

One thing I want you to know for sure: Message matters most. My research proves it.

Get help with Message Strategy.

Understanding Message Strategy is the key. And I’m here to help.

For products and services

Positioning, branding, messaging, writing.
Briefs and execution.

For company and culture

Vision, mission, values, standards, keys to success.
Philosophy and leadership.

What makes marketers confident and effective? My research tells you.

This question is not one I was asking, to be honest. I just happened to discover the answer to it — when I commissioned a nationwide study on the role of the message in modern marketing. It’s called Message Mentality™: What marketing leaders think, feel, and do about message strategy.

In this research, I learned that there are three kinds of marketers. Which one are you? What makes you that way? Is it possible to change? Find out.

Here’s what happens when you get the message right.

108% increase in online course completions.
130.25% increase in visitors clicking to open an account.
226% increase in click-to-open rate YOY.
Up to 50,000 views a day.
#1 position on Google for primary keyword.
1 million incremental dollars in fundraising.

Source

And here’s what happens when you Don’t.

You throw good money after bad by promoting an ineffective message.
You lose confidence in the idea that you have something audiences need.
You watch competitors eat your lunch, when you know you’re a smarter solution.
You have to fight to convince customers to hire you, instead of having customers fight to work with you.
You risk inflating those “short CMO tenure” statistics.

How ’bout we avoid all that nastiness?
I’ll teach you how.

Let’s make your message work.

I love helping people get their message right. How can I help you?

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©2025 Sheperd Simmons. “Message Strategy Experts,” “Position X,” and “Single Slide Strategy” are registered trademarks — and “Counterpart Brief,” “Journey GPS,” and “Message Mentality” are trademarks — of Counterpart Communication Design, LLC. All rights reserved.

Help with what to say and how to say it.