Market Positioning

Ask What Customers Want That They Can't Find Anywhere

There's always a huge opportunity to create a new category you can completely own by asking what customers are looking for that they can't find in existing products

Double Your Dating — A Brand Name Built for Memory

Double Your Dating uses anapestic meter, alliteration with all d's, and when combined with the pen name David D'Angelo creates an impossible to forget brand system

Mass Nicheification Drives Demand for Micro-Specialists

The mass 'nicheification' of the economy has created demand for modern gurus who specialize in solving very specific, granular problems in emerging micro-niches

Seven Plus or Minus Two — How Mental Categories Fill Up

Human minds can only remember about seven plus or minus two pieces of information in any category - once a mental category is full, no new items get added

Design Is Where Company Meets Customer

Design is the interface where your company, products, and marketing meet the customer - it's the critical touchpoint that determines customer experience

Create a Category and Position Yourself as the Originator

Don't just create a product or service - create an entire category and position yourself as the originator to attract premium partnerships and clients

Make Each Product Its Own Category to Block Competitors

Create competitive barriers by making each product its own category so competitors must compete with entire categories rather than individual products

First in Category Beats Better Product Every Time

It's better to be first in a category than to have a better product - people choose the first thing they remember, not necessarily the better option

ClickBank Shows Top-Performing Information Products Right Now

ClickBank marketplace shows you the top performing information products that are selling the most and converting the best right now in any category

Matching Expertise to Customer Highest Value for Self-Selling Products

When you match your expertise to the customer's highest value point, you create a product that sells itself without requiring extensive marketing

Laser Precision Targeting Beats Broad Appeal

Target specific niches with laser precision rather than trying to appeal to everyone - this creates deeper connection and higher conversion rates

Precision Niche Targeting Requires Intentional Detailed Execution

Target your niche with precision by being conscious, intentional, and doing all the details right—not just putting a little bit of time into it

Apple Treats the iPod as Software in Beautiful Hardware

Apple views itself as a software company that makes hardware, treating the iPod as 'wonderful piece of software wrapped in beautiful hardware'

The Archetypal Power Behind the Name David

The name David was strategically chosen because David was the little guy who made it against the big guy, adding archetypal power to the brand

Neutrogena's Narrow Niche That Won a Category

Neutrogena became #1 in their categories by starting with the narrow message of 'use every couple weeks to wash off residue from other soaps'

Differentiation Requires Doing Something Fundamentally Different

Differentiation in the market requires doing something fundamentally different from what everyone else is doing, not just minor improvements

Premium Prices Attract Clients With More Skin in the Game

When you charge premium prices, you attract a different caliber of client who has more skin in the game and greater commitment to results

Creating the Dating Advice for Men Category from Scratch

Eben created the "dating advice for men" category by focusing on getting dates rather than relationships, generating millions in revenue

Position for Where Your Industry Heads in 10 Years

For personal positioning, look at where your industry is heading in 10 years and position yourself as the expert in that emerging niche

Few Perceived Options Does Not Mean No Options Exist

Few perceived options doesn't mean there literally are no options—it means from the customer's perspective they have limited choices

Creating Each Product as Its Own Defensible Category

Transform your product strategy from a product line to a product curriculum by creating each product as its own defensible category

Deep Customer Avatar Understanding Eliminates Competition

Deep customer avatar understanding including emotional hot buttons eliminates competition by becoming the only perceived option

Win with Niche Selection Before You Market

Win beforehand with proper niche selection because it's very hard to make up for a poor niche choice later with good marketing

Start Different by Addressing Unmet Needs Rather Than Fighting Competitors

Instead of trying to differentiate yourself from competitors, focus on starting different by addressing unmet customer needs

Narrow Niche Power in Virtual Business Models

Virtual business models allow you to narrow your niche dramatically, making it far more powerful than traditional businesses

Drill Into Sub-Niches to Dominate a Category

Drill down to find sub-niches where your specific knowledge creates unique solutions and allows you to dominate a category

Integrated Experiences Beat Single Products

Competitive advantage comes from integrating diverse elements into high-value customer experiences, not single products

Narrowing to Highest-Leverage Focus Within Your Field

Continuously narrow your focus to find the highest leverage area within your chosen field, then go deeper repeatedly

Any Two Skills Combined Create Unique Positioning

Any two skills can be combined for unique positioning - even seemingly unrelated ones like cooking and productivity

Escape Price Competition by Reframing Around Life Goals

Escape price-based competition by repositioning around the customer's bigger life goals and long-term outcomes

Being First in the Customer's Mind Creates Automatic Differentiation

Being first to deliver a specific result or outcome in the customer's mind creates automatic differentiation

Teaching What You Learn Immediately Accelerates Your Own Learning

Price testing can reveal that higher prices actually increase both sales volume and revenue simultaneously

Find the Overlap Between Customer Needs and Your Passion

Find the overlap between unmet customer needs and your personal passions for optimal business positioning

Starting with Content Positions You as Instructor Not Leader

Starting with content immediately positions you as just an instructor, not a transformational leader

Customers Want the Result Not the Service They Ask For

Focus on what customers actually want (the result) rather than what they say they want (the service)

Target Prospects With Few Perceived Options

Target prospects who have few or no perceived options to avoid competing in oversaturated markets

Telling Someone No Makes Their Respect Go Up

When you tell someone you don't want to work with them, their respect for you goes up, not down

Style and Taste Become the Primary Skill in an AI Era

Style and taste development becomes the primary skill as AI handles technical visual execution

Narrow Focus to Create Category Leadership

Narrow your focus to create category leadership rather than expanding to serve everyone

Confusing Company Names Kill Conversions

A confusing company name creates the wrong customer expectations and hurts conversions

Position Your Product as the Original Leader in Your Niche

Position your product and company as the original and the leader in your niche

Your Company Name Is the Most Important Marketing Decision

Your company name is the most important marketing decision you will ever make

Specific Customer Fears Become Powerful Headlines

Specific customer fears become powerful headlines and product positioning

What Homebuyers Really Want Beyond the Interest Rate

they're not really looking for a low rate that's not really what they want they want something else they're trying to buy a home they're trying to set up their life they're trying to start a family

Put Yourself in the Customer's Shoes

try to think like a customer try to imagine what it's like to be in their shoes try to put yourself back in that place imagine the emotions that they're feeling

Design Is Where Your Company Interfaces With the Customer

design is that it's almost like that that place where your company and your products and your marketing interface with the customer that's where design lives

Start Different So You Never Need to Differentiate

I think a better strategy than differentiation is to start different. So you don't need to go through differentiation. You're already different.

Niches Are Needs Not Products and Not Customers

Niches are needs. Instead of thinking of your niche as your product or as your customer, think of your niche as the need that your customer has.

Owning a Sub-Niche Category No One Else Dominates

you can create a new category even a niche within another niche a category that you own and that you dominate

Design the Form to Facilitate the Function

you start with the function and then you design the thing to facilitate the function

The Product Is an Obstacle Between Customer and What They Want

Your product is actually an obstacle between your customer and what they want.

If You Love Software, Make Your Own Hardware

if you love software you make your own Hardware