Al Ries and Jack Trout invented the term positioning. They then wrote a book with that title. In it, they say positioning is a hook in your prospect’s brain from which you can hang your product.
Fine. That’s once you’ve got an established position.
But how do you get that hook in your prospect’s brain? Throwing a clothes hanger at somebody’s head will only make it bounce off.
What you need instead is a spear. Something with a very small, very sharp point, which can pierce your prospect’s thick defenses (his skull) and lodge in the soft gray matter inside.
When people talk about positioning, they often talk about taking control of a part of the market. “We want to be the Apple of dog nail clippers.” Meaning, we only want a sliver of that market that’s willing to spend like crazy.
That’s one way to do positioning.
This is the flip side. Instead of thinking about cutting down your market… think about cutting down your product and its functionality.
Once upon a time, Perry Marshall was an experienced and capable online marketer. But that’s a floppy, blunt object, incapable of piercing any skull.
So Perry dropped all his copywriting knowledge… funnel building knowledge… positioning knowledge… and became “The AdWords Guy.” At least to people who had never heard of him before. His business exploded, way beyond his previous success.
Because it can be easier to sell a fragment of the thing rather than the whole. At the same price. Or even for more.
Many people rebel at this. No wonder. Our minds work additively. If you have A plus B plus C, then that’s worth at least as much as A alone, right?
Not in positioning.
Positioning math is more like blackjack. You know how the game goes. You keep getting cards, trying to get as close as possible to 21. But if you ever go over, you’re BUST. You lose.
Same thing with positioning. Keep adding ideas to your position, and you will go BUST. You will lose. And you don’t need to go over 21 ideas either.
So swallow your pride — or fight your client’s pride. The dealer will offer to deal you more cards. Wave him off. One, sharp, deadly idea. No more.
And now a confession:
I used to have a daily email newsletter on copywriting, marketing, and persuasion. No more. From now on, it’s a newsletter on positioning. For today only. Click here to subscribe.