I dare you. That’s your UVP.

I call it your DNA. Because it replicates again and again and becomes your work. (Turn it on its head for clients, and it becomes a tagline.)

It’s the hardest thing. I did a short documentary once, about my aikido friends. Do you know what the toughest question was? What’s the movie about. When I started mumbling, I knew I was in trouble.

Nail that, and you have a shot. You graduate to the realm of execution Minecraft. No guarantees there, either, but at least you get to play.

Yes, you got that right. Without a good UVP and a good tagline, you don’t even get to play. You’re in the sidelines, hoping to score with no ball coming your way. There’s no ball in the sidelines.

Can you figure out what these guys do?

Can you be as crisp about your business or your idea (if you’re treading in start-up)? No worries if it’s not fancy or smart. You don’t need it, samurai’s honour.

And if you can’t, grab pen and pad and scribble a bit.

I help X with Y, where X is the client you can’t have enough of till the end of time and Y is the thing you would regret most not doing if the world came to an end tonight. That work.

(If it’s not that intense, it’s not the end of the world, I promise. I mean, I don’t think it’s coming tonight. Just work with what you’ve got going.)

Unload all that and look at it. Have you just blurted out some giant frog? Are you strangely proud or relieved? Scared out of your wits or still very, very confused?

By the way, this is not hard for start-ups only. It’s hard for everyone. Because your business evolves and you understand your client better or differently, and that needs to show in how you name your game.

That’s what the DNA says: it gives shape and form to your game. The tagline communicates that same shape and form to your client.

Your tagline is your DNA in clientspeak.

And if you can’t figure it out on your own and look for a translation bureau, that’s what I do.

“I help women tune-up for health beyond 40” or “I help innovators build unicorns” are the beginning of a matrix. The tip of the iceberg. The portal to a world of words that put you in the limelight for your business’s true love: your clients.

I love going there with you. I help thought leaders and innovators like you word out their product. Crisply.