Here’s the thing about positioning. Positioning isn’t just the words you use on your website. It’s not messaging. It’s not copywriting. In fact, it has almost nothing to do with language at all! Positioning is a result of the strategic decisions you make about your business. It’s about what you do (or don’t do), what …
Two ways to think about positioning
[Listen to an expanded version of this post via Mindshare Radio.] You can think about positioning in a lot of ways. In many cases, the tighter you go, the easier it can be to sell what you offer. People are swimming in options, they want specific when they can get it. So there are two …
My best definition of positioning
Positioning is the place your company holds in the minds of your current and prospective customers on any given factors, relative to your competition. I had to pull this from one of my old conference talks because, frankly, I thought it came from the seminal book, Positioning, by Al Reis and Jack Trout. But it turns out, …
The problem with generalist positioning
There are a lot of problems with having purely generalist positioning. The main one, though, is that potential clients don’t know what you’re actually good at. So they’re left to figure that out for themselves—and there’s no way to tell what you’re actually good at until they work with you. But by then it’s too …
Positioning is the soil in your garden
Positioning is the soil in your garden. The more fertile it is, the more likely you are to grow plants. The better your positioning is, the more compelling you will be to your ideal audience. But good soil alone won’t produce vegetables, just like good positioning won’t get you clients automatically. Once you have the …
Four benefits of fractional CMO positioning
Yesterday, I wrote about the risk of fractional CMO positioning. As with many things, there is another side to the coin. In fact, there are several benefits of fractional CMO positioning. Here are just a few. 1. It positions you as a senior leader, which you are People with high stakes and high-value projects are …
The risk of fractional CMO positioning
One of the big risks of positioning yourself as a fractional CMO is, if you’re not careful, you’ll be treated like a part-time employee. The signs of this include: Becoming an order-taker instead of a sounding board Being asked for deliverables and execution work instead of advice Being expected to manage and drive projects forward Getting …
“Best” or “only” positioning
If you could claim one thing you currently do professionally that you’re the best in the world at, what would it be? Most likely, it would be something small and specific. It’s a big world, after all. Try to make it believable. And sure, maybe someone out there is actually better at it than you are, but …
Good positioning hurts
Good positioning hurts when you first try it on. And it should hurt, at least a little. Why? Because good positioning is tight and narrow. It’s specific. It solves particular problems for particular kinds of people. It should feel like you’re leaving a lot of opportunity on the table. And the reality is, you are. If …
The difference between Fractional CMO and Interim CMO
Fractional CMO positioning can be a great way to earn six figures with even a couple clients. But as you try to scale it, things can often… break down. Clients want more work done, responsibilities build up, you become more of a set of hands than an impartial expert, and eventually, you become part of …