Josh writes: "I keep writing ads but I'm not getting leads. I've hired people. Tried different headlines, different platforms. My team says the ads are good. But no leads."

The diagnosis: You're writing to everybody. Which means you're writing to nobody.

The market is always talking to you. View counts show people are seeing your ads. If they're not converting, the audience is telling you something. The question is whether you're listening.

The Visibility Trap: When you don't understand your customer, you manage with your gut. And your gut is often wrong. You lack data on who your customer actually is and what problem they're trying to solve.

8 billion narratives: Everyone walks around with a story in their head. Your job is to match your message to one of those stories.

The fishing metaphor: Pick one problem. Write to that problem. If nobody responds, that's not the bait they want. Try another problem. Keep fishing until something bites.

Scott's ATV story: Didn't know why people wanted land in one area. Discovered buyers wanted to ride ATVs. Started writing to that. More ATV people came. Applied the same approach in Nevada—asked a truck driver why he was looking for land. Used that intelligence. It compounds.

The fix—four questions before you write:

1. Who is this for?
2. What do they believe?
3. What are they afraid of?
4. What words do they use?

When you put those four elements into your copy, more people like that begin to respond.

Got a business question? Ask Scott here: scotttodd.net/ask