Elge, this is quite good.

To whom? I want to challenge your target here: What does a "confused" service professional look like to you?

How would you go about targeting a confused one versus a not-confused one?

Who and what? eMarketing Strategist, internet marketing consultant. That's clear. Got it.

Benefit? Who will guide you through creating an efficient and effective internet marketing plan that will get you more clients.

OK, that clearly is a benefit. I wonder if you doing most of the work is a better benefit, such as: "Who will develop and execute a business-building Internet presence for you."

Supporting claims? These are good and would be stronger with specific examples of some of your clients' successes based on your help.

I wonder how valuable a confused professional would find #2.

3 tells me that you are targeting small business owners (missing from your target)

I'm intrigued by #4 and wonder if you can give teeth to it like, "If you don't succeed, I don't get paid."

Joe

Mark, what a generous thing to say! Thank you.

@seattlelawgirl uses Twitter, I think, to business-building effects.

I would encourage you to use it too.

Follow me at @joehageonline. And you can subscribe to my Web site because I publish far more there than I do here.

Thanks again for the wonderful compliment.

Joe Hage

Phyllis, that is really quite good.

You obviously know who you are targeting, what you are offering, how they will benefit, and why they should believe you.

Well done!

Sure, let's talk!

Joe

How actively are you reading articles these days?

I'm surprised by the relatively low click through on my recent article.

Joshua, here's the article your question inspired.

Give it a read and let me know if it changes your initial take at your positioning statement.

Aaron, your closing made me laugh.

I have to refer you back to my real estate marketing article because this is what I learned from your statement: you work in Seattle you do real estate I can trust you to get me the most you have a degree, you know the market, you have a "proven track record"

Doesn't really tell me much more than "Aaron is a Seattle real estate guy."

Why are you different? Why should I choose you over another real estate guy? Does your "Realtor" designation "buy" you anything?

Kaya Singer just left a comment on my blog.

She wrote, "I am impressed that you could notice that someone quit following you. Without getting a notification you would have to think about looking. I am not sure I’d even remember who to look for!"

I replied, "Actually, Kaya, I cheat.

There is a free application at http://useqwitter.com. It provides a daily notice to let you know who stopped following you.

I use it for two reasons: One, I want to know if someone I care about stops following me. (In those cases, I might ask why they left.) Two, I like to get a sense of when someone leaves. It may indicate that the last thing I posted was offensive in some way."

I've been on Twitter for three months now.

One of my struggles was figuring out the etiquette of following.

Here's what I concluded.

Joshua, I have many thoughts on yours.

So many, in fact, I just wrote an article about it. I'll wait until it's published so I can refer to it.

Joe

Hmmm. Interesting idea.

I'll have to think about that. Joe

Thanks, Bruce.

You "filled in the blanks" perfectly and that gives me a good place to start.

To whom? I get that you are focusing on NY- and NJ-based companies. Presumably you have a strong technology and manufacturing portfolio to leverage. Both are good.

It's the "craving" part that loses me a bit. I see what you are going for but I don't see how you would use the statement as a targeting tool.

That is, the positioning statement is YOUR blueprint (and not copy). So you're telling yourself that you're going to target companies that target effective connections.

I'm not sure how that narrows the playing field for you. How would you segment your market - "those who crave" and "those who don't"?

The who and what work fine. I don't know your market well enough (perhaps others can chime in here) but I wonder if "graphic designer and writer" is a better frame of reference than "small marketing agency."

Talking out loud, I'm wondering if your sweet spot is 1-10 person companies. I wonder if the notion of "you're small and want to keep your expenses down and get me focusing on your account in a way that larger agencies never would" could work for you.

Benefit? Energize your online and traditional marketing mix seems vague to me. It suggests to me that your answer to Question #1 is "there are people out there looking for a way to give their materials more zip."

Is that the insight?

Supporting claims? You've been doing it for 20 years. That is good. Is there something concrete you can offer about your results? Some metrics? Solid testimonials? A link to your portfolio?

Give some thought to Question #2 as well. Presumably you are stealing share from some other graphic designer. Why should I switch?

You got me on a "rambling night." I hope these concepts challenge you to zero in on your unique selling proposition.

Joe