What's your positioning statement?

Mark, I'm trying to dissect what you said and I still have questions. Am I headed in the right direction?

To whom? To well-intentioned businesspeople looking to make a real difference in the world,

Who? Heart of Business is the

What? I'm not sure... consultancy? that...

What's your primary benefit? Can help you actually make money doing what you know is right and good because...

Supporting claims? I'm not sure... why should we believe you? Are you going to charge us money (presumably)? If I'm not making money already, can I afford to hire a consultant at this time?

Think it through out loud and maybe other Bizniks can chime in to help.

Joe

Valerie, nice start. I think you need work on the "last blank," the supporting claims.

To whom? Small business owners and solopreneurs in the greater Seattle area.

Good! You can go even further and specify what is common among the solopreneurs that you are targeting. Do they have stable work/life relationships? Do they already have a plan? Are they first-time entrepreneurs or seasoned ones? Do they focus in a set of industries (service only, product only) which correspond to your interests and strengths?

Who and what Valerie Farris is the lawyer who can help you create a plan for your business and your life. Perfect.

Benefit? That can bring you peace of mind and security.

Supporting claims? This part's a little weak especially becuase your benefit is so subjective. It's good that you do this every day and that you are passionate, but that doesn't convince me that you have a "unique understanding" of my needs. Heck, you haven't even "met me" (your prospect) yet.

How about testimonials, how long you've been doing this, the measurable results you've achieved, how many clients you've served. It would be hard, I think, for your statement to find the audience that "completely gets" what exactly you are going to do for them.

Joe

Krista, very nicely done!

To whom? Engaged couples and newlyweds of the Pacific Northwest. Great.

Who and what? NWweddingplace.com is the Northwest's best wedding resource website. This is good; I get it. It can be even stronger, say, "the most comprehensive wedding resource available in the Pacific Northwest."

Benefit? That helps NW couples plan their dream weddings and successful marriages. The "dream weddings" part I get. How you help them plan "successful marriages" feels like an over promise, which can undermine the trust you are looking to build.

Supporting claims? Because we offer comprehensive information on vendors in every single NW city in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Included among the vendors: photographers, florists, x, y, and z.

You also provide free resources & downloads, expert articles, online shopping, and gift ideas.

Now this part is interesting but feels over-reaching to me: Unlike other wedding planning sites, you provide "love and marriage advice." I'm thinking that your offering of "the most comprehensive..." is reason enough to attract PNW fiancees.

Do you think the "love and marriage advice" will attract users who otherwise would not have come to your site? If not, then I might leave that part off, and have them pleasantly surprised when they show up and see all the "extras" you offer.

Joe

Kaya, you have it. You have a firm grasp of the who/what/wheres.

Have I got this right?

To whom? To small/micro service or small retail businesses owners who may be in over their heads? I take this from your sentence, "People begin businesses and don't realize it will be so hard and so much work."

Who and what? Kaya Singer (check) is the consultant(?) counselor(?) ... do you use one of these terms?

Benefit? That can improve your bottom line by helping you focus on what's important and by giving you tools to help you overcome your obstacles to success.

Supporting claims? Because I am a successful small business owner and seasoned corporate trainer. I've been doing this successfully for 25 years, for literally thousands of business owners, many of whom would be delighted to take your call to share the before-and-after results of working with me.

That's it for tonight...

Joe

Mark,

Well, I can say one thing: now that you've written the statement, I (and I suspect others) not only have a better sense of what you do, I'm intrigued by what you do.

As I wrote in Strong positioning paves the way to good copy, you have plenty of room here to tell your prospects the hows and whys.

• What brought you into this line of work?
• Are you / is your program spiritual in nature?
• Why your method versus "more traditional" methods?
• (I personally am curious about your business model, having visited your site and seeing how much content you give away for free.)

To address your earlier question, "the what" which I refer to as the "frame of reference," is extremely important.

You may see a subtle difference between counselor and consultant and training/development resource but I see them as three distinctly different things.

Language is very powerful and, yes, while a positioning statement is a blueprint for you, it does have a way of shaping the way you talk about your business.

When I hear consultant, I think of top-rated firms McKinsey and Bain.

When I hear counselor, I think religious or therapeutic.

When I hear training/development, I think of executive coaching or corporate training programs.

Similar but different. Each puts your offering in a different place for me ~ and I suspect others.

Nice job!

Valerie, good job. The supporting statement is much better.

Re-reading your benefit, I'm thinking I want to see the word "legal" in there somewhere. An attorney is going to help me with legal advice, right?.

If I don't perceive that I need legal advice, I'm thinking I won't call you, yet your stated benefit is "creating a plan for me."

Am I missing something?

P.S. A shout out for Biznik David Billings. He made the avatar I'm sporting today. Is "fun" part of your brand proposition? Maybe David can help!

Dawn,

I might say, "because AUTOGRAF, with a loyal following built over thirty years, is so sure your hair will be x, y, and z that we include an unconditional 100% money back guarantee -- even if you use the whole bottle!"

Sounds good.

Dawn, are you still giving Bizniks free samples in exchange for testimonials? Sign me up!

Valerie, maybe I'm missing the primary benefit of working with you.

This will help: who should call you?

• Any small business owner in Seattle one who wants a plan that gives peace of mind?
• Any small business owner in Seattle one who wants a plan that involves legal advice that gives peace of mind?

Since your frame of reference is "attorney," I think most prospects would think it's the latter (involves legal advice).

Otherwise, why should these prospects choose you over someone who specializes in planning of all kinds?

---

As I write this, I'm thinking maybe your angle could be -- "plans really need to have a lawyer's perspective to give you complete peace of mind." Or, plans without a legal eye "aren't really complete" and it's great to work with someone like Valerie who ALSO has the advantage of having worked in/is passionate about small business.

So the 20 years' experience is the "also," a secondary reason to believe. The real reason to buy into your proposition is "a plan is incomplete without a legal perspective."

Is that it?

Tammy, better, and still some points can be clarified.

To whom? Two out of three work here.

(1) Who want to increase their company proforma. No, because who wouldn't want to do that ~ you haven't narrowed the focus with this concept.

(2+3) Who want to expand into new markets and Who want to build strong cohesive employee groups. OK, got it. So, these are the two groups YOU are going to spend your time attracting.

Who and what? Redmon & Associates, a provider of coaching solutions. Frames of reference are strongest when anyone "gets" what it means. I think "provider of coaching solutions" can work.

Maybe these are stronger? Redmon & Associates, 25-year veteran business coaches. Or Redmon & Associates, business coaches trained at 10 of the Fortune 100 companies.... I'm going for something that makes these business coaches impressive-at-a-glance.

Benefit? Can be much stronger. How about,

• Can increase your bottom line even in a down market.
• Can increase your bottom line using three easy-to-learn techniques.
• Can increase your productivity by training your staff to x, y, and z. Something that intrigues me to wonder how?

Supporting claims? Needs meat. "Because six months after Hage Incorporated met our team it landed the biggest deal in its company history using one of our techniques." There must be one outstanding story you can use for your support, and you can point to your testimonials page, etc.

Look what Lynn did here. Admittedly, hers is more like copy, but she took one customer interaction to illustrate why we should believe.

Take another crack?

Late day in the office and too tired to think. I'll take a look, Valerie and Tammy, over the weekend.

Joe