Positioning is one of those words that has been broken by overuse. Brand agencies use it to mean a 40-page document. Marketing books use it to mean almost anything. For a small business it means something simple and very useful: the one or two sentences that tell the right customer who you're for, what you do better and why to choose you over the alternatives. Said well, those sentences make the website convert better, the proposals close faster and the everyday conversations easier.
This eBook treats positioning as a job, not an art form. We use the work from the previous eBook - the chosen customer, the profile sheet - and turn it into a positioning statement that the rest of the business can stand on. By the end you'll have a sentence on the wall and a way to test whether it's actually working.
What you'll take away from this eBook
A positioning statement in your own words, tested against the customer you chose in the previous eBook, with the differentiation and proof to back it up. Plus the test that tells you whether the sentence is working in the market or just sounds good on the wall.
Who this eBook is for
Owners whose website headline could fit a competitor in a different city. Owners who can't quickly answer the question "why should I choose you?". Owners about to redesign a homepage, write a proposal template or brief a freelancer on copy. Anyone whose business is good but quietly invisible.
Why this matters now
Customers spend less time deciding than they used to. The first sentence they read decides whether they read the second. A sharp positioning statement is the difference between being shortlisted and being skipped. It costs an afternoon to write and rewards every customer interaction afterwards.
How the rest of the eBook goes
Chapter one says what positioning really means at this scale. Chapter two walks the positioning statement formula. Chapter three handles differentiation without gimmicks. Chapter four adapts the sentence for local versus online businesses. Chapter five tests the sentence in the market.
One promise
By the end of this eBook the positioning statement is on the wall and the next page or proposal you write is built on it.
- 1.What Positioning Really Means - Strip the word back to what it actually does for a small business: making it easier to understand and easier to choose.
- 2.The Positioning Statement - The three-clause formula that turns the chosen customer and the differentiator into a single usable sentence.
- 3.Differentiation Without Gimmicks - Where real differentiation comes from in a small business and how to find yours without inventing one.
- 4.Positioning for Local and Online Businesses - How the positioning statement shifts depending on whether the business serves a local area or operates online.
- 5.Testing Your Positioning - Five cheap tests that tell you whether the positioning statement is actually working.
Introduction
A short note about why positioning has to come from inside the business.
Positioning written by an outsider tends to read like a brochure. Positioning written from inside the business, by the owner who hears every customer phone call, tends to read like the truth. The sentence in this eBook has to be in your voice, drawn from what your customers actually say, not lifted from a template. We give you the formula. The words have to come from you.
What you can expect from us
The formula, the worked examples and the test. Not the words.
What we expect from you
An hour of quiet, the customer profile from the previous eBook in front of you and the willingness to draft, throw away and redraft. The first sentence is rarely the right one. The third or fourth usually is.