websitebox/website/PLAN.md

WebsiteBox Marketing Site — Positioning & Plan

Brand Positioning

One-liner: Own your website. No platform can take it down.

Elevator pitch: WebsiteBox gives you a fully working WordPress website on your own server in 45 minutes. No coding required. No content policies to worry about. Fully auditable code — read every line before you buy. One-time purchase options instead of recurring platform fees.

Target Audiences (Priority Order)

1. Adult Content Creators

• Pain: Major platforms (Tumblr, Instagram, Patreon alt sites) routinely deplatform adult content. Even "adult-friendly" hosts have opaque TOS enforcement. Shared hosting providers can shut down accounts with no warning.
• Message: Your content is legal. Your hosting shouldn't be a liability. WebsiteBox deploys on VPS providers with explicit "legal content" policies. You own the server. Nobody can flip a switch.
• Proof: Age verification built in. BuyVM recommendation ($3.50/mo, explicit legal-content policy).

2. Journalists & Activists

• Pain: Hosted platforms can be pressured by governments or corporations. Data stored on third-party platforms is subject to subpoena/seizure at the platform level. Content moderation policies are opaque and inconsistently applied.
• Message: Your words on your server. No telemetry, no analytics, no third-party dependencies. Every line of code is auditable. Your data never leaves your server unless you explicitly send it somewhere.
• Proof: Fully auditable code, zero telemetry, all data in one visible directory.

3. Privacy-Conscious Individuals

• Pain: WordPress.com, Squarespace, Wix all collect user data, serve tracking scripts, and hold your content hostage behind their platform.
• Message: True privacy means true ownership. WebsiteBox doesn't phone home. No analytics. No tracking. No accounts to create with us. You download the code and run it yourself.
• Proof: No telemetry claim backed by auditable source code.

4. Free Speech Advocates / Independent Publishers

• Pain: Content moderation across platforms is inconsistent and expanding. "Acceptable use" policies shift without notice.
• Message: The only content policy is the law. Self-hosting means your site exists as long as your server is paid for.
• Proof: VPS-agnostic (works anywhere), content-permissive provider recommendations.

5. Non-Technical Creators Who Want Independence

• Pain: Feel locked into Squarespace/Wix because self-hosting seems hard. Don't want to learn Linux/Docker/nginx.
• Message: One command. 45 minutes. No coding. If you can copy-paste into a terminal, you can own your website.
• Proof: Step-by-step guide walks through every click.

Competitive Positioning

Alternative	WebsiteBox Advantage
WordPress.com	No content restrictions, no platform fees, you own the data
Squarespace / Wix	No vendor lock-in, no monthly platform tax, full WordPress ecosystem
Shared hosting (GoDaddy, etc.)	Better security defaults, no oversold servers, full root access
Manual server setup	45 min vs hours/days, security preconfigured, one-command deploys
Ghost / Other CMS	WordPress has 40%+ market share = more themes, plugins, tutorials

Messaging Framework

Primary Message

"Your website, your server, your rules."

Supporting Messages

1. One command to deploy — No DevOps degree required
2. Fully auditable code — Read every line before you buy. No black boxes.
3. Secure by default — SSL, firewall, backups, brute-force protection out of the box
4. Buy once, own forever — One-time purchase options vs competitors' recurring fees
5. No content police — Self-hosting means the only content policy is the law
6. WordPress inside — 40% of the web runs on it. Thousands of themes and plugins.

Pricing Strategy

WebsiteBox is a paid product with auditable code. It is NOT free and NOT branded as "open source." Buyers can read and verify every line of code before purchasing.

See PRICING.md for the detailed pricing reference.

Tier 1: Standard ($49 one-time) — placeholder price

• Full WebsiteBox deployment, all current features
• Buyers can audit the full source code
• No future updates included
• Community support via issue tracker
• Positioning: "Buy it, own it, run it forever"

Tier 2: Lifetime Updates ($149 one-time) — placeholder price

• Everything in Standard
• All future updates and improvements forever
• Security patches
• Priority issue responses
• Positioning: "Buy once, stay current forever"

Tier 3: Managed ($25/month) — placeholder price

• Everything in Lifetime Updates
• Setup assistance
• Ongoing technical support
• Server health monitoring
• Priority bug fixes
• Positioning: "We handle the technical side so you don't have to"

Additional costs (separate from WebsiteBox pricing):

• VPS hosting: $3.50-6/month
• Domain name: $1-12/year

Key messaging rules:

• Do NOT say "free" anywhere
• Do NOT say "open source"
• DO say "auditable code" / "read every line before you buy"
• DO emphasize one-time purchase vs competitors' recurring fees

Site Structure

Single-page scrolling site with these sections:

1. Hero — Headline, subheadline, CTA button
2. Problem — Why self-hosting matters (tabbed for different audiences)
3. How It Works — 3-4 step visual flow
4. What's Included — Feature grid
5. Cost — Transparent pricing breakdown
6. Who It's For — Audience cards
7. Security — Trust signals
8. FAQ — Common objections
9. Get Started — Final CTA with install command
10. Footer — Links, license, source code

Design Direction

• Clean, modern, minimal — Think Stripe/Linear aesthetic
• Dark-friendly — Dark backgrounds with accent colors (not corporate blue)
• Typography-forward — Large, clear type. No decorative clutter.
• Color palette: Dark charcoal/near-black background, white text, green or teal accent for CTAs
• No stock photos — Use icons, code snippets, terminal mockups
• Mobile-first — Many creators browse on phones

Questions / Uncertainties for Review

1. Managed hosting tier — Should the site advertise a managed option? Who would provide it? At what price point?
2. Support model — Is there a paid support offering, or is all support community-based (Git issues)?
3. Brand voice — The brief focuses on adult content as primary use case. Should the marketing site lead with that audience explicitly, or keep it as one of several use cases? (Current plan: keep it content-agnostic on the surface, but make the adult content use case clearly visible to those looking for it.)
4. Logo / brand assets — Does WebsiteBox have a logo? Should one be designed?
5. Analytics on the marketing site itself — Privacy-first product, but do we want analytics to measure conversion? If so, what tool? (Plausible? Self-hosted Umami?)
6. Domain for the marketing site — What domain will this live on? Is it the same as the Git server (constantprojects.xyz)?
7. Call-to-action destination — Should the CTA link to the guide.md hosted version, or directly to the install command?
8. Testimonials — Are there any beta users who could provide quotes?
9. Legal disclaimer — Should there be a disclaimer about content legality varying by jurisdiction?
10. Comparison page — Worth having a dedicated "WebsiteBox vs X" comparison, or keep it in the FAQ?