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 you’re good at, who you do it for, how you do it, and a variety of other business strategy-related factors.
In the book Positioning by Al Reiss and Jack Trout, they say that positioning is where you exist in the minds of your customers relative to the competition (paraphrasing).
So how do you create a clear-thinking business strategy that makes for a compelling position in the market?
It all starts with your promise. Your universal value proposition, as I call it. The thing you do that permeates every corner of your business.
That promise informs your content strategy, the services you provide, your messaging, prices, methodology, and so much more.
It’s the through-line. The thing that keeps you aligned in everything you do. It’s your north star.
Once you’re clear on that, you can look to see where you might fit relative to other options in the market.
You might have the same core promise for the same audience as someone else, but you decide to do things in a different—perhaps more opinionated—way.
That would inform your positioning in the minds of the market. But that’s not positioning. That’s business and marketing strategy.
Your promise shows up in everything you do. And that promise—delivered consistently—tells a story.
The market then picks up on that story in their minds. They begin to place you—often subconsciously—somewhere in their minds relative to the other players in the market.
That is your positioning. And sure, you can coax it by communicating more effectively about what your strategic promises are. But you can’t really position yourself directly.
Positioning is a byproduct of good business and marketing strategy.
If you chase the wrong thing, you might end up running in circles.
—Kevin
P.S. Here is a behind-the-scenes look at just SOME of the topics and questions happening in the membership this week:
- Reaching out to ideal clients and when/how to use it (Private Podcast)
- How to design a consulting service ladder (1:1 Mentorship DM + YouTube video)
- What to do when a lead prescribes their desired deliverables for a project (1:1 Mentorship DM)
- The difference between community and memberships (1:1 Mentorship DM)
- Selling to the consumer vs. selling to the financial buyer on a sales page (1:1 Mentorship DM)
- Should you use pricing and/or comparison pages on a consulting website? (1:1 Mentorship DM)
- What it means to “own the whole problem” with your value prop (1:1 Mentorship DM)
- What to do when you sell to two distinct audience verticals (1:1 Mentorship DM)
- The value of a defined methodology vs. maintaining flexibility (Group Call)
- Positioning and packaging expertise vs. hands work (Group Call)
- Designing, launching, and marketing a membership program (Group Call)
- Generalist vs. niching and hybrid advisory + done-for-you services (Group Call)
- The “expensive skills” people are learning to create more value for their clients (Group Call)
- Continuation options: what to do after the initial consulting term is up (Community)
- What software people use to manage their admin on the backend (Community)
- If you want to make more money, focus on creating this first (Private Podcast)
- Should you include variable fees on top of a retainer? (Community)
- How to scale your consulting practice once you max out on client time (Community)
If you’re a marketing consultant and are interested in topics like these, you can try the self-learner membership (no coaching/mentorship included) for $7 for 7 days using this link until Monday at midnight.
You’ll get ALL the resources, training, and even an invite to the Slack community to see if it’s for you. Here’s a link to the full library of content for a reference of what’s inside.
And if you try it and you aren’t into it, no hard feelings. Just cancel here before the end of your 7-day trial of the annual membership ends ($379/year).
P.P.S. Another reason to try now: the next live training is on Wednesday of next week and is on How to Design Membership, Community, and Subscription Programs.