Looking To 2020: Positioning

This is the second of three ideas to consider in your 2020 plans: positioning.

Marketers like to throw around the word positioning, but what does it mean exactly?

Try this: positioning is an organized effort to differentiate your firm (and yourself) and influence how your target audience perceives you.

So let’s break that down.

Organized effort. Are you strategically and consistently working to build your reputation and brand?

Differentiate. Do you look/act/sound like your competitors (be honest now) or have you clearly articulated a unique niche?

Influence. Are you using strategy and tactics designed to influence the clients and buyers within your niche?

Target Audience. Have you CLEARLY defined your sweet-spot target, all the way down to creating client profiles (avatars) to guide your efforts?

The challenge of positioning is that it requires an articulated strategy. And staking your claim on one niche feels tantamount to risking your business and reputation.

But there’s the thing.

Positioning yourself and your firm is the SINGLE most important thing you’ll do in your business.

It sets the stage for how—and with whom—you’ll spend your time.

Done well, it will influence, over and over again, the right clients, buyers and centers of influence to seek you out.

Your work gets easier, not harder.

So if your positioning isn’t working for you, there’s no time like now to get it right.