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By Catherine Franz
Marketing expert and author, Geoffrey Moore,
has a useful fill-in-the-blank method for creating a theme and
positioning statement for your business. I prefer to use his same
system for creating clarity for myself in what I’m selling, creating
an elevator or introduction speech, and also material for my
website, brochures and business card.
Using this same method for each niche I have
also keeps me focused and on target for where I am going and what
comes first. I know it will do the same for you. As a public
speaker, I also like to use the same exercise to create a one-line
message for each workshop or engagement. This way the participants
and I start from the same page. I like to say it provides the tree
trunk that all the branches stem from.
This exercise is designed to be simple and
achievable in 15 minutes. However, if this seems somewhat
daunting, see if your beliefs are still in the clouds of wanting to
deliver too much to too many to soon. If this is the case, there is
a great book I recommend that will support you in narrowing down:
Niche and Grow Rich, by Jennifer and Peter Sander. This book
will support you understanding the market place you want to enter
and in narrowing your thoughts.
Exercise
For
___________________________
(Hints: Who is your target customer, your
niche? Is there a geographic relevance? If so, add it. Examples:
Seniors, women business owners, teens between 13 and 18. If a
specific geographic area: Writers in the Washington DC metro area.)
Who
___________________________
(Hints: This is where you qualify your target
customer and time of need. Examples: Who are obese. Who are 62
and older. Who own a business. Who are in high school and take
music.)
Our product/service
is ____________________________
(Hints: What is your product or the service?
Our product is a line of workshops. Our service is training. Our
service is executive coaching. Our service is training or
engineering or accounting.)
That provides
______________________________
(Hints: What are your key features of this
product/service? What are the major benefits of this product or
service? What are the tradeoffs? That provides shortcuts (software
training) at a discount/premium price. That contains no
chemicals. That contains no hidden costs. That contains no
markups. That contains life support.)
Unlike
____________________________________
(Hints: Who are your competitors? What are
the products not serving the needs of this particular niche? Unlike
other retail sellers, which have…. Unlike store-bought goods,
these…. Unlike other coaches…. Unlike other workshops….)
Our product/service
_______________________________
Pay This Forward
Once you have completed this exercise, whether
it is for your overall business theme or better yet a narrower one,
you can move this information forward into all your marketing
information.
Create a paragraph with this information, then
edit and refine the language so that it fits your customer’s reading
style. This is especially important if your style is different.
Each word you use has an energy attached to it. This energy either
detracts or attracts customers.
About the Author:
Catherine Franz is an International Master Business Coach, trainer,
speaker and author as well as a syndicated columnist, producer and
host of the "Let's Talk Marketing" radio show. She was also named
by the Washington Post as one of the top ten millionaire coaches.
Clients include business owners from New Zealand to Hawaii. Radio
show information:
http://www.LetsTalkMarketingShow.com
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