NOTE: The AI hosts are generated by NotebookLM and use the StraightUp newsletter as source material. Sometimes they get a little tipsy and go on tangents and like your uncle Al, when that happens there’s no way to know what comes next.

Welcome Patrons. 🥃

What do restaurant menus have to do with your offer? Turns out, a lot. I visited two very different restaurants this past week. The first was high-end, where the first person who greets you is the “wine person.” The second was a brewery that offered food, not bar food, like actual good food.

After the wine person left at the high-end restaurant, we were handed a bi-fold menu with two pages and a total of fifteen items. Fifteen. Ordering was easy. I found my meal and ordered. When we left, I was satisfied. I told others about my Ah Ha! experience the next day.

The brewery handed us an inch-and-a-half thick menu as we sat down. There were at least sixty items on the menu. Sixty. By the time I got to page three, I was overwhelmed. And every time someone mentioned what they were getting, I second-guessed my choice. When I left the brewery, I wondered why I didn’t just order pizza. When people asked how it was, I told them, Blah.

And this is precisely how your clients feel when your offer is bloated with too many options, features, and unnecessary extras: a blah experience. So today, we’ll talk through Blah vs Ah Ha! offers.

Overdeliver = Unapproachable

One of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make is overloading their offers. They put wayyyy too much into them, much of which is not necessary to achieve the client’s desired result.

But here’s the deal: more isn’t better when it comes to your offer.

Maybe you pour so much into your offer because:

• You’re worried the prospects won’t see the value.
• You feel like you need to justify your price by “stacking on” the value.

Either way, this thought process is usually more centered around YOU and your insecurities than your client’s needs.

The high-end restaurant offered a simple and clear menu with few items, and they didn’t apologize. But they certainly charged for it.

Overdelivering doesn’t make your offer irresistible; it makes it unapproachable.

The high-end restaurant provided an experience; you felt sophisticated, and your “worth” was elevated despite only having fifteen items on the menu. The experience was top-notch, and in the end, I left with a full belly and memories of a great evening.

The brewery provided an experience, too, in patience. As people sifted through the “War and Peace” menu, asked loads of questions, declined to order because they weren’t ready, and then changed their order after hearing someone else place theirs, I found myself saying, “I have no idea what I want. There’s too many choices.” So, I settled for a standby versus trying something new.

Which experience do you want your clients to have with your offer? As I mentioned, we tend to stuff our offers like a Thanksgiving turkey instead of choosing simplicity.

We do this for three common reasons:

Fear of Under-Delivering

You think if you don’t give them more, they won’t see the value in your offer, so you stack on the “value” like patties on a hamburger.

Proving Your Expertise

I see this often with the entrepreneurs I coach. This reason stems from a lack of self-confidence → Ouch. You assume you need to prove your worth to prospects by adding more when, in reality, you’re just justifying it for yourself.

“Just in Case” Syndrome

You add extras “just in case” they might want them. If you take nothing else from this newsletter, remember this, “just in case,” it costs you money.

Overloading Hurts Your Clients and You

Bloated offers hurt you in three distinct ways:

• Your brand’s reputation
• They complicate selling
• They Dilute your message

And, worse of all, you become less profitable.

They hurt your clients by creating:

Cognitive Overload

Your client doesn’t need a dissertation. They need simple steps to follow. When you overwhelm them with “extras,” they get confused and stall.

Diluted Outcomes

Too many options or steps in your offer doesn’t mean more value; it means YOU don’t know what to prioritize. As a result, your perceived value suffers.

Bad Brand Experience

When your clients feel confused or overwhelmed, they often end up frustrated, leaving them with a sour taste about the experience, and they leave your process feeling Blah.

You fix this by focusing on one simple, balanced offer and delivering ONLY what is needed, nothing more. Let me explain.

Simplify and Productize Your Offer

Ok. So, you think you’ve got a bloated offer and are wondering what to do. First, let’s be clear: simplifying doesn’t mean cutting corners—it means focusing on what matters most to your clients.

The goal is to create an offer that’s clear, concise, and easy to say yes to. By trimming the unnecessary stuff, you deliver better results faster.

Here are three steps to get you started.

1 Identify the Key Problem

Clients don’t hire you to solve all their problems. They hire you to solve one specific challenge they are facing. Figure out what that one problem is and focus on it like the last beer in the fridge.

2 Cut out the Noise

Take a hard look at your offer, is it built around the one key problem? Is everything you’re doing essential to solving the problem? Or are some things there to “justify the price?” When you identify it, trim it. Like distilling alcohol, the more you refine, the purer (and better) the outcome.

3 Package for Clarity

This part is more challenging, but consider turning your offer into a product. Not like a bundled “list of services,” but instead a clear, well-defined package that solves one problem exceptionally well.

The less is more analogy works here. Simplifying your offer isn’t about delivering less value; it’s about the right amount of value that’s not too overwhelming and offers better results. Your clients will love you for it because:

• They’ll feel confident knowing exactly what to expect.
• They’ll see results faster, reinforcing the value of working with you.
• They’ll focus on doing what’s needed (not sorting through unnecessary extras).

And here’s the best part:

Your new streamlined offer will be easier to sell because it’s easier to understand.

Time to Shine

If simplifying your offer sounds easier said than done, you’d be right. As Steve Jobs once said,

“Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.”

My clients would agree.

Step 4 of The Brand Messaging System™️ (BMS) is where we review your current offer or ideas for an offer and reframe them into something simple and clear, like the fifteen-item menu at a high-end restaurant.

The The Brand Messaging System™️ helps you:

Distill Your Message: Together, we’ll get to the core of your value, the essence of your brand, so you can communicate it clearly and confidently.

Craft an Irresistible Offer: No more overwhelming clients with options. We’ll create a simple, memorable, focused offer that addresses their biggest challenge.

Build a Messaging Playbook: I believe the best investment any business owner or founder can make for their business is to get clear on their message.

Your message is the thread that weaves your organization together. It becomes your brand’s north star, a guide to ensure your offer, marketing, sales, and communications stay clear, focused, and aligned.

END-OF-YEAR DEAL: I’m offering crazy special pricing for anyone who joins The Brand Messaging System™️ group program between now and the end of the year. I’m talking crazy. So, if you’ve thought about it, now is the time to join because the prices are going up next year. Schedule a call, and let’s find out if it’s right for you.

Last Call: Simplify for Success

Let’s recap:

• Focus your message and offer to solve one clear, core problem.
• Eliminate “just in case” extras that don’t move the needle.
• Package your offer for clarity, simplicity, and impact.

If your offer feels too big or complicated to you, it will be to prospects and customers. But the good news is, we can fix it. I’ll help you distill your expertise into something simple, compelling, and irresistible.

Just ask BMS alum Cassie:

“You just did in six weeks what we couldn’t do over two years and three agencies. I now know what I offer and how to articulate it confidently.”