Voice and values

Governs every piece of copy: landing page, emails, social, sales materials.

Voice

We are: honest, authentic, inspirational, simple, clear, humble, friendly.

We are NEVER: manipulative, flashy, guilt-tripping, preachy, salesy.

NO DASHES in copy output. Avoid em-dashes and hyphen-dashes as stylistic punctuation. Use commas, periods, colons, or rewrite the sentence.
Use contractions. "We're," "you're," "don't," "it's," "they've." They keep the voice conversational and close to how the farmer actually talks. Reach for the unfolded form only when the sentence needs formal weight.
Units: "ft²" over "sq. ft." Cleaner and more modern when referencing greenhouse or field area. Applies to English copy; French copy uses "pi²".
Concision is great, but not at the cost of clarity. Don't trim meaning for brevity.
Great narrative line beats clever phrases. Copy should flow as a story, not a list of claims.
The more story-driven, the better. Lead with real situations, real farmers, real moments. Features come last, if at all.
Voice from the pitch deck is the reference. Example Guillaume endorsed: "Farming is beautiful. But life is richer when you still have energy for the people in it."

The farmer is the hero. Orisha is not the hero. Orisha is the guide and tool that helps the farmer live their mission.
Go positive. Be aspirational and inspiring. Not through hype, through real possibility.

No claims. Everybody is different. Don't generalize results.
Use story and real farmer results instead of claims or stats.
No guarantees on the course. The course is not a promise machine.
Orisha product guarantees are possible but ask Guillaume first before making one in copy.

Light touch only, and only when it's genuinely helpful to the reader. Example: "cohort starts May 15 if you want to join this round."
Never pushy. No fake countdowns. No "only 3 spots left" unless literally true and relevant.

OK to use when the farmer has given consent to being quoted by name on the surface we're publishing to (landing page, brand site, emails, social). No consent, no public quote. Track consent in the farmer's internal brief.
Don't put words in farmers' mouths. Don't paraphrase into claims they didn't make.
If reframing or inferring, edge it: "I think this is what she meant…" or similar softener. Never assert on their behalf.

Respectfully. We're here to be helpful.
Relevance is the job. If we aren't relevant to a given farmer, we're adding to their burden. Maximize relevance per mental calorie spent.
Segment cleverly rather than pushing harder. The right message to the right farmer beats louder messages to everyone.
Easy unsubscribe, always. Never make it hard to leave.
It is our job to be relevant to the farmer, not the farmer's job to filter us.
Every touchpoint earns its place. No empty welcome emails, no empty thank-you pages. If the job is to confirm an action worked, say so and tell the reader what's coming next. Empty acknowledgments waste the moment when the reader is most attentive. See Email sequences for how this applies to email.

What makes copy land:

Honesty. No overclaiming, no dressing up.
Contrasts. Tension between what is and what could be. Pain vs. possibility. Hard truth vs. hope.
About them, not us. Their lifestyle, their reality. Product is backstage.
Inspirational but lucid. Paint the better future, but stay humble about what we can and cannot do. Transparent about the process to that future. Don't promise the impossible.
Emotional insight, not technical insight. We're illuminating something they feel but haven't put into words.
Specific without boring details. Ground it in real scenes, but don't drift into trivia.
Narrow and deep over broad and shallow. Only what's relevant to market gardeners. Focused is more powerful than comprehensive.

What makes copy cringe:

The test: after reading it, does the farmer feel seen and understood, with a clearer picture of what's possible? If not, rewrite.

Before drafting, ask: who am I writing to, and what do they need right now? If the answer is fuzzy, segment first.
After drafting, reread and cut anything that feels salesy, preachy, or like it's trying to impress.
If a line could appear in a generic SaaS email, rewrite it or delete it.
Always surface drafts to Guillaume for approval before they ship.