| name | business-copy |
| description | Rules for writing any user-facing business copy — landing pages, marketing sites, lifecycle/onboarding/sales emails, pricing pages, upgrade prompts, app-store listings, sales collateral. Use whenever writing or reviewing copy a customer or prospect will read. |
Writing business copy
Write for one busy reader who is mid-problem, skeptical, and one tab away
from leaving. Project instructions (CLAUDE.md) override this skill where
they conflict — e.g. a project's naming or AI-disclosure rules.
Voice
- You, not we. The reader is the subject of nearly every sentence.
"We/us/our" only when genuinely speaking as the company, team, or
founder (about pages, guarantees, apologies). Flip "We provide X" into
"You get X", "Ever had X problem?", "Want Y result?"
- Conversational, not stiff. Contractions, plain words, short
sentences. Read it aloud — if you wouldn't say it to a customer at a
trade show, rewrite it.
- Humor is welcome. Dry and knowing beats wacky. One joke that proves
you know the reader's world is worth three safe paragraphs.
Substance
- Benefits before features. Lead with what the reader can do or feel;
the mechanism is the supporting clause. "Send the package the same
afternoon (one-click compile)" — never the reverse.
- What it is and who it's for. A stranger should be able to answer
both within seconds of landing.
- Negative copy works. Name the pain the reader already has — that's
what creates urgency. Make it vivid: use metaphors, describe what the
pain looks and feels like, exaggerate freely — then draw the comparison
back to the product. The one rule: the pain must be real and relevant.
Never manufacture fear.
- Don't solve tomorrow's problems. Skip copy (and asks) aimed at
problems the customer doesn't have yet or steps they're ten moves away
from. Break everything into smaller, simpler asks — 1–2 steps at a time.
- Know the next step. Every page and email has ONE next-most-important
action, and the CTA is that action — not a menu.
- No information overload. Attention spans are at an all-time low.
Cut before you add; if everything is emphasized, nothing is.
Trust
- Support copy with trust signals. Humans hate to be first and hate to
be alone. In rough order of power: customer testimonials and case
studies; review-site ratings (G2, Capterra, TrustPilot); customer
logos; hard numbers (customers served, years in business, volume
processed, revenue generated); certifications; press coverage;
guarantees (free trial, no card required, cancel anytime, money-back).
- Never fabricate proof. Only verified-real, approved signals. No
proof yet? Lean on the about story, guarantees, and domain fluency —
copy that proves you know the reader's world is itself a trust signal.
- The about page is a trust signal. It tells people a real person or
team is behind the curtain and that help exists. First-person, specific.
Voice of customer (VOC)
- Ask why they signed up — and say what you'll do with the answer
("hit reply — I read every one, and it decides what gets built next").
Route replies to a real, read inbox, never a noreply address.
- Feed what you learn back into the copy: the customer's own words for
their pain beat anything you invent.
Review checklist
Before shipping any copy:
- Is the reader the subject of most sentences? (Search for "we".)
- Does each section lead with a benefit, not a mechanism?
- Would a stranger know what it is and who it's for?
- Is real pain named vividly — and is it pain this reader actually has?
- Is every trust signal verified-real?
- Exactly one clear next step per page/email?
- Anything cuttable without losing the sale? Cut it.
- Did you check the project's own copy rules (naming, disclosure, tone)?
