Episode Summary
Positioning isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s the blueprint that keeps your brand from blending in with everyone else and your team from pulling in different directions. Tiffany, Jimmy, and Ellie dig into what positioning really means, why it has to come before tactics, and how to move forward if “picking a niche” feels overwhelming. They each share practical tips with memorable analogies — from clothes to the Bat-Signal — and wrap it up with four key steps to writing your positioning statement.
Key Takeaways:
Positioning means finding your voice and look so you don’t sound like every other brand, and the right people recognize you instantly.
- Teams often want to jump straight into tactics like ads, newsletters, or a new website without agreeing on who they’re targeting and how they want to be seen. That lack of alignment creates constant re-decisions and confusion across teams.
- Without positioning, brands are building a house without blueprints. You may finish it, but it won’t truly fit your needs — and you’ll probably face a remodel later. It also creates mixed signals across the organization, with different teams pointing to a different version of “north.”
- There’s no single way to define your positioning. One firm we work with leaned into a more tech-focused brand feel because many of its clients came from that industry. Another reflected the outdoorsy lifestyle of its community by weaving in hiking and kayaking imagery into its visuals and voice. Both approaches resonated, because each made prospective clients feel like the brand spoke their language.
- We also dug into the surprises and the things people often get wrong about positioning:
- Subtle can still stand out: Positioning doesn’t have to be loud or heavy-handed. Brands can be both subtle and distinct without plastering labels everywhere.
- Speaking to everyone misses the mark: If you try to reach everybody, you end up speaking to nobody. Without clear positioning, teams keep shifting their voice, colors, and priorities, which makes it harder to move forward with clarity.
- Your signal may already be showing: Sometimes positioning begins with the clients you already attract. Looking at patterns in your current client base can reveal what your brand is signaling today.
- A true niche isn’t just “wealthy people.” Strong positioning digs deeper into shared values, philosophies, or even location and industry patterns that make your audience unique.
Don’t Miss the ONE Thing You Should Go Do First!
- Take the time to write your positioning statement. Keep it simple, but be sure it covers four essentials:
- Who your audience is
- What your product is
- What makes you different
- The core benefit your audience receives
Links & Resources
- Previous Episode 2: How To Get Personal In Newsletter Without Being Too Personal
- How to Stand Out Through the Power of Niche Marketing
- Tips for Effective Branding and Website Strategies for Financial Services
- Website Redesigns: The Process Behind Building Websites for Financial Services Companies
Join Us!
- Don’t miss what’s next! Subscribe to our monthly newsletter for practical resources tied to each episode — including Ellie’s four-point checklist, templates, and other tools to help you put these ideas into action.
Transcript
Tiffany Silverberg (00:00):
All right, you guys.
Ellie Alexander (00:01):
Ready? As ever.
Jimmy Lim (00:02):
Yep. Last-minute check.
Tiffany Silverberg (00:17):
What are the things we need to have in place before we move forward?
Jimmy Lim (00:20):
Superman. Wonder Woman is not going to look at it and go, oh, they're calling me.
Tiffany Silverberg (00:24):
It's like building a house without the blueprints. You're getting the knock on the door. Where are the leads? Where are the leads? And so I feel like what we just talked about is exactly what you can bring back to leadership.
Hey everyone. Welcome back to the Out & About Podcast where we break down all things marketing and financial services and what we're seeing working and not working. So once again, whether you've been in that marketing seat for decades or put on the marketing hat just recently when you started this new role, we're here to support you. So today I have the dream team. Really, our whole team is the dream team, but this is in the back of my mind. I was going to say we are the dream team, the director's team, and we have a lot of fun together. We literally just sat and chatted for 30 minutes and recorded it. So we have Jimmy back with us again, and we have Ellie Alexander joining us. Ellie, do you want to introduce yourself for your first time on the Out and About Podcast?
Ellie Alexander (01:25):
Yes. So yeah, I'm Ellie Alexander. I'm the design director, so pretty self-explanatory, but I'm all things like visual brand, typography, imagery, logos, color palettes, websites, flyers, you name it, all of those things. I've been in the industry for over 15 years — I don't want to count how many; it's somewhere around there. I'm in the Minneapolis area and I'm happy to be here.
Jimmy Lim (01:47):
Yay. Can we take a moment to introduce our setup? We have new microphones, everyone.
Tiffany Silverberg (01:56):
To the new microphones that are here to support. If you're watching on video, we're trying to keep them in the camera. I know that was part of why we chatted for so long. We were testing them out like kids with new toys.
Jimmy Lim (02:10):
Anyone up for pen clicking sounds?
Tiffany Silverberg (02:15):
Yes. We have changed the format of the podcast and you can now just relax for the next 30 minutes while we make sounds. Hopefully you can hear us better. We didn't even realize how echo-y we were until we took it to the production team and they were like, hello, what is happening? So we have mics now and hopefully you can hear us and can't overhear us. We've been testing with all the adjustments, so hopefully I'm not yelling too much.
Jimmy Lim (02:42):
Progress.
Tiffany Silverberg (02:44):
I know. I'm so excited. So like I said, I feel like this is the dream team, even though honestly our entire team is, and anyone we have in this room — this virtual room — is amazing, but I get really excited when it's the three of us because that always means we're doing something fun. We're making something. We've been very busy here at Out & About recently onboarding and helping clients re-strategize for their Q4 and into the new year and all kinds of stuff. So the three of us have gotten to meet a lot lately, which has been really fun. So we're excited to take that energy and bring it to you all. Today we're going to talk about a very broad topic that we can spend an hour on. No hours. Literally, they teach whole classes on this topic and we're going to talk about it in 20 minutes. So that'll be interesting.
(03:32):
We're going to talk about positioning and we love positioning. I think it's a big part of what we do really at Out & About is helping clients just kind of figure out where they stand and how to communicate that better. Of course, I sit in the content seat a little more, so when I say communicate and messaging, that's usually the words I'm using. But I know it comes from design, it comes from all the work that Jimmy does and user journeys and the whole thing. But do we want to just talk? Do we want to quickly before we say what we're saying yes to — I love all that good stuff. Before we go there, do we want to talk about what positioning is? Do we want to just define it?
Ellie Alexander (04:18):
I think we could and how it applies to our three areas?
Tiffany Silverberg (04:21):
Yeah. Because it’s such a huge topic. I think I tend to think kind of in metaphors sometimes. So when I think about positioning, I think about it literally. It's literally setting up the company in the marketplace. Where are we putting it in the broad map of all the marketplace and what's the angle? But Jimmy, you said you've been teaching this on a college level recently, I know. So how do you define positioning?
Jimmy Lim (04:51):
I feel the sudden pressure. I would say, okay, maybe not the academic kind of description. I really find positioning is just finding your voice, finding your look, kind of like us growing up. We're always kind of finding our voice, our look, how does it represent me? Values. And then it's so important, right? Because when we have that, when we find our voice, that unique voice, then we don't sound like everybody else and then we can then amplify that and people who like us will see that voice, that look, and come to us. So that's how I kind of define positioning. Don't be like everybody else.
Ellie Alexander (05:37):
Yeah. The analogy I like to use when I talk about positioning just in terms of visual design — like you, Tiffany, I love a good analogy — is literally the clothes you wear. What's the clothes, your brands? What are the clothes your company wears because that's how you present yourself to the world. It can change a little bit in different situations, but everyone has their unique style and it does say certain things about them. I tend to be very vanilla and basic, as you can see by my beige and white, and that's who I am, and I'm okay with it. Jimmy has a much more, oh my gosh, I always say manic and it's colorful. It has more personality than mine does.
Jimmy Lim (06:12):
I think that's so true though. Yeah, sometimes you see something and you go, oh, that's really Ellie, or that's really right when that person's positioning or that person's voice or brand or look, it's so strong. You see something and you go, oh, that's so Ellie, that's so Apple. That's so something else.
Ellie Alexander (06:34):
And if you just think about how you look at people when you are out in the world. If you see someone in a store and they're wearing a three-piece suit, you do make different assumptions about what they do for a living, what kind of money they make, what they value, what it might be like to talk to them versus if you see someone in sweatpants and a t-shirt. Not that either is better or worse, but you make different assumptions about those people and how you present yourself reflects your authentic self. Like you were saying to me. Then you also attract the right people. Then those people gravitate toward you because they go, oh, I have something in common with them. I like what they're doing.
Jimmy Lim (07:08):
I like the vibe. That's my tribe. Like what they say, right? Your vibes attract your tribe.
Tiffany Silverberg (07:15):
Yeah. Well, and it's all about — we're going to get into this — but it's not just following the trends. So when you're talking about the styling, I was thinking back to our teenage years where we try to label ourselves, oh, I'm in that crowd, so I just dress like them, and then it's coming out of that. Then you start to go, well, I actually like this look. It doesn't really matter what everyone else is doing. So I think that's the tipping point too.
Jimmy Lim (07:42):
Oh yeah, right. Just to add to that, it's also the confidence. Like you said, you kind of find your voice and you go, actually, I don't really need to look like them. I'm happy with this look, with this and with that, you get that confidence.
Tiffany Silverberg (07:57):
Absolutely.
Jimmy Lim (07:58):
Yeah.
Tiffany Silverberg (07:59):
Okay. So as we always start out, what are we saying yes to when it comes to positioning?
Jimmy Lim (08:06):
I can go first.
Tiffany Silverberg (08:07):
Yeah, let's do it.
Jimmy Lim (08:09):
I would say I'm always saying yes to when speaking to different people from the same company of the same brand. And when they talk about the brand, it's like you're talking to the same person. They're all saying the same thing, and that always just makes my heart have this big yes. Because then they have gotten their identity, their positioning, everybody — you talk to them in separate rooms, on separate occasions, you get the same thing. I'm always saying yes to that.
Tiffany Silverberg (08:45):
I love it. Ellie?
Ellie Alexander (08:47):
Yeah, mine is don't water yourself down. It really is better to be too memorable than not memorable enough. And sometimes that's really hard because it's scary just thinking of you're making your company's website and it's easy to fall into making safe choices because you don't want anyone to go, oh, I don't like that. Or our instinct is often to do something safe to appease the whole. But what that usually ends up doing is that everybody finds it blah. So if you don't water yourself down, if you are proud of your brand's personality, your values, what you look like, what you sound like, even if it doesn't match every single person you're talking to, they will still find that more appealing than if it was just whitewashed and boring. So yeah, don't water yourself down. If anything, turn up the dial.
Tiffany Silverberg (09:39):
I love it. I love it. I feel like we could just go down a rabbit trail with all of these. We just need to record a podcast every day. Mine is saying yes to choosing an actual niche or target market or whatever word you want to use, but a real one. This is a whole hot take we can get into, and I will try not to call anyone out, but so often we work with clients, no, I won't even say clients. I'll just say I hear it out in our greater community world around financial services and people will talk about their niche, and it's just a segment of the population. It's not an actual target market, it's just wealthy people or people with money. It's like this really broad, I'm being really careful not to say the ones I actually want to say because I don't want to call anyone out. But if your target market is just a descriptor of people like half the population, that's not an actual niche. So that's what I'm saying is too, when we work with people, with clients who have an actual niche and they're really excited, and to Jimmy's point, everyone on the team is behind it. And to Ellie's point, they have the confidence to just go. Our whole team just starts singing. You could just hear the skies opening up because we get really excited. Our job gets really fun at that point.
Ellie Alexander (11:00):
Our jobs gets fun, our job gets easier, their job gets easier, and everything is more effective too.
Jimmy Lim (11:08):
And you kind of try it out, okay, it's this target market. I mean, not try it out. Of course you give your best but then you tweak, right? Well, here is the bit I share with the class when I teach: if you speak to everybody, you're speaking to nobody.
Ellie Alexander (11:29):
I wish you could see my notes. I literally have it in my notes. Same exact words.
Jimmy Lim (11:32):
Right? It's kind of like what you said Ellie about like, oh, if you try to be in the middle of the line, oh, let me please everybody, then yeah, if you try to speak to everybody, you're speaking to nobody because your message just doesn’t resonate.
Ellie Alexander (11:48):
It's just background noise. Then you're easily missed and easily forgotten, which is unfortunate.
Tiffany Silverberg (11:52):
And I feel when we have these conversations, I think sometimes it can go past people and they don't absorb it because — this is no offense to this word, obviously — but it sounds too academic like, okay, you're just saying that because it’s the marketing thing you're supposed to say, but hear us, people hear us loud and clear. We will fail along the way. Everyone will fail along the way. If we don't, we're not narrowed down. If we're not focused, everything will be off. Everything will get frustrating. So I think that actually leads us into the marketing problem we really want to unpack here. Positioning is the starting point and we can't move forward without it. But everyone wants to. Everyone's like, oh, I had this idea. I talked to my buddy. We want to run some ads, or we want to start some blogs, or we want to make a flyer or we want a website. Whatever it is. We just want to make the thing. But I think what we want to really narrow down here today is what are the things we need to have in place before we move forward? This is a difficult conversation, but what do we need to do before we start? So we kind of already talked about it, the target market or niche or ideal client or whatever you want to call it.
(13:20):
Any other things we want to add or do we want to dive deeper into that one as we just did?
Ellie Alexander (13:26):
I have something to add, but I think it might also be diving deeper, so I'm not sure.
Tiffany Silverberg (13:29):
Do both. Let's just go. Sure.
Ellie Alexander (13:31):
What you were saying just made me think of, you get excited to do an initiative. You get excited to run some ads or to start a newsletter, or even if it's much earlier on in, you're literally just starting your brand and you kind of just want to be like, let's go. Let's use this momentum. Let's get things done. Let's make a brand, let's make the website, whatever it might be. If you charge forward with that without first pausing and determining your company's positioning, it’s like building a house without the blueprints.
(13:58):
You're going to end up with a kitchen that's attached to a bathroom and a bedroom that's in the basement. You know what I mean? You'll end up with something, you'll have a product, but it's probably not going to fit your uses. It probably is not going to speak to the right people. It literally might break in various ways. A website might not be built very well if you rush into it too quickly and then you end up having to remodel it later after you've been like, okay, well shoot, we put the cart before the horse. Now we have to go back and do it over again and do it the right way, or you live with it.
Tiffany Silverberg (14:36):
This is a perfect analogy because again, in a real-world scenario, we're not speaking just academically here, folks. Other ways you're making decisions along the way, you're making a new, and sometimes it's a new decision, and that's the problem. The target market will shift, and we have seen this happen. We've seen it happen so many times a month later, we all convene again, and well, actually, our voice is a little more like this. Or actually one person on the team likes these colors a little more. You're just constantly making new decisions, which just sets everyone up for disappointment, number one. And then also, we just don't know where the North Star is. We don't know where we're trying to go.
Ellie Alexander (15:23):
And it ends up being a lot of unnecessary time and energy for everyone. If you have to, you might still get there. If you're kind of like — this phrase always makes my eye twitch a little bit — but if you're building the ship as you fly it, you might get there but it's going to end up being a lot more swirl along the way. And like I said, unnecessary time, unnecessary frustration. Yeah, you might find your way there, but if you pause at the beginning, figure all that out, it's so much more likely. It's just going to be a smooth journey for everybody.
Jimmy Lim (15:57):
And I think just to add to that, right, it also reduces the, like you said, frustration and also the confusion.
(16:05):
Because remember, it's often not just one person, right? You're not a one-person company, or if you are, you are, but often you're not. And then if you start shifting, then the rest of the team as well as it flows down, the advisors and the team and all that, they also wouldn't be really sure. And then they'd be like, oh, okay, so I guess it's this then. And then you get people who think north is there. I think north is there. I think north is there, and you get people dispersing and it's like, ah, I need to get them back together. We're all going in different directions.
Ellie Alexander (16:44):
That can cause a lot of organizational pain. Yeah, that's a good point. If it's not clearly defined, there's a situation where everyone feels confused. But like you said, there's also a situation where everybody really thinks they know what it is.
(17:01):
They have different things in their head, and that's when it can really create some tension if say the team is reviewing a sell sheet you made. And different people think different things are important, and they all think they're right because there's not one solid alignment
Jimmy Lim (17:18):
You're exactly right. There's no map, like a mapped out journey. And at this point, I think it'd be really good to also talk about things like, yeah, so that's why we do things like a brand book, right?
Tiffany Silverberg (17:35):
Yes.
Jimmy Lim (17:35):
It's like that. That is your compass, that is your North Star. That is your filter. Is this our brand? You apply that filter, yes or no. It helps you make your decisions more efficient, and that's the value of it. It's not just a pretty document somewhere.
Ellie Alexander (17:55):
And it helps you qualify those decisions too. You're working on something, you go to your brand guideline. Okay. Does the voice on this guideline match the voice we're seeing on this website? I mean, it's also little things that are simpler. Like, okay, do the colors physically match? That's easy to gauge.
Jimmy Lim (18:08):
Exactly.
Ellie Alexander (18:09):
But the more conceptual things are, the things that are harder to measure can be clarified by doing that. Okay, this is our audience and our brand guide. Do we look like we're speaking to and appealing to them here?
Tiffany Silverberg (18:23):
So the point of this podcast is to really help people who are sitting in that marketing seat. And so we empathize with you that you're getting the knock on the door, where are the leads? Where are the leads? And so I feel like this, what we just talked about, is exactly what you can bring back to leadership. Look, you know what your voice is or you know the founder's voice, you know that feeling. But as we grow and as we're putting things out into the world, we need that filter. We need to stop and figure out what that filter is so we're not one having to ask this founder or this leader every time. Do you agree? We know what it is. So we don't have to constantly ask — it's a time saver, it's a delegation question, but also the team just has the foundation to keep growing and creating without that hiccup along the way, I guess.
(19:19):
Okay. One other sort of problem I believe we can help people solve is I can't narrow it down or I don't have the confidence to narrow it down. And when we say narrow it down, when we talk about niche, maybe we should talk about this. Jimmy, you had brought this up. It doesn't have to mean I don't want to use this. Everyone else uses this one. It doesn't have to mean bookstore owners, it doesn't have to be a specific person. There's other ways to narrow it down, but you've got to narrow down on something, some differentiator.
Jimmy Lim (19:50):
It cannot be super broad, but it also doesn't need to — we talked about this before we recorded, and I think Ellie, you brought up demographics versus psychographics. It doesn't always need to be 40 to 55, this, that, those help. But sometimes it's about people who believe in, often we talk about ESG, people who believe in sustainable investing, sustainable finance, something like that. That helps too. That's helpful too. So start with whichever it is that's broad, and then start adding qualifiers, say sustainable finance, ESG, something like that. Areas that help you narrow it down. So if it becomes overwhelming, just start with the broadest thing first but don't end there. Try to get as specific as you can.
Tiffany Silverberg (20:46):
Yeah. Well, and also for the services, I feel like I often talk with clients about that. If it's a layer you can add in. So we serve these people in this broader way, so we work with a lot of wealth management firms, but others as well, like payroll or lending, that's your service. But you can also narrow it down to like, we do it this way, or we have these specific focuses or things like that. That can be a way to sort of narrow things down. Ellie, also another thing I was thinking is because a client I'm thinking of, we just onboarded. I won't call them out, but their focus is also coming really from the founder and the why from the founder. So maybe you can talk a little bit about that too, how the values and the philosophy of the brand can be a big guiding factor too.
Ellie Alexander (21:41):
Yeah, that's an interesting one. Yeah, I'll start with that one. Then I've got some other ones too. That brand, like you said, the founder has a very clear vision for just, I almost want to say personality, just how they present themselves, how they talk. It's very cerebral, it's kind of very philosophical, and a lot of its clients, you can get a lot of this information just from observing what clients seem to walk through your doors and which ones come back and which ones don't, and who gets referred and which referrals are successful. You'll start to see, there might be some similarities in the personality types that just resonate with you especially — it can be a very personal relationship, so you need to have a little bit of commonality and a shared language. So yeah, that particular company and its brand beautifully reflects that.
(22:33):
Just the way they put you at ease, the way they talk you through things, the way they do it on an intellectual but not overwhelming level. It's really nice when you have that example of a founder who has such a distinct personality that we can draw from to build the brand. And then you can get very complex with your audience, but can also do things that are, I kind of want to say simple, but still have an impact. We have worked with one client that just because of its location and because of what it specializes in, its clients are very heavily in the tech industry. And so we leaned into that and it's not like we're on its website saying tech employees only, but we make the brand feel a little bit more techy.
(23:17):
So then the people from the tech industry feel like it speaks their language, and as soon as they see the website, they're like, okay, this is relevant to me. These people will get me and I will get them. We have another client who just based on its location, noticed that a lot of its clients are very outdoorsy. They're hiking, they're kayaking, and so they kind of leaned into that with the brand and just use those kinds of visuals and kind of allude to it. And it's not like they don't take it so far that it alienates anyone who doesn't do those things, but at least it kind of gives them a personality direction and appeals to those people. So it can be very complicated and cerebral and philosophical, and it can be based on demographics, but sometimes it can just be like, hey, what do we feel like? I don't mean — just to clarify — I don't mean feel like a whim. Oh, what do we feel like right now? I mean, like Jimmy said, what’s your vibe?
Jimmy Lim (24:06):
Who are we? Right? And I think once you define it, and what I can think about is how when we watch, well, superheroes, let's bring that in, wondering why when the Bat-Signal goes out, Superman or Wonder Woman is not going to look at it and go, oh, they're calling me, right? Because that's obviously calling Batman. So it's kind of like what you said, Ellie, like, oh, this visual, or when it comes to content, this word, when you put it out, the people who it's meant for, they'll see it and go, they are talking to me.
Ellie Alexander (24:48):
Even if it's subconscious, even if it's completely subconscious, they would never be able to articulate that. If they're seeing that ad in their feed or they're seeing that their coworker shared that post on LinkedIn, if it has something in there that makes them feel like that your success rate goes way up.
Jimmy Lim (25:04):
There's that pull, that magnetic pull.
Tiffany Silverberg (25:08):
So that's what I was just going to say is well, to toot our own horn, but that's what makes us amazing is that positioning, I think scares people. They're afraid it's going to be kitschy and cheesy. They're afraid that if they say, our target market is Batman — I'm trying to think of the thing — then it's going to be slapped all over everything. We're just putting labels on. It's going to come off really cheesy. It's going to be in your face even when we work with clients. I was saying even outside the wealth management space across financial services, when we start to get local, clients are just like, wait, wait, wait, wait. But we also have clients in the next state over, and then on the other side of the country. I'm like, okay, we can attract them without broadcasting it. So it doesn't always look like the Bat-Signal, and sometimes it's a little more subtle, but I think that's kind of what I want to leave us on with that, with positioning. It’s a science and it's an art, which is why we all work together and we have people on our team who are helping. It's a whole thing so it comes off authentically and sometimes really subtly but effectively. So I think, like I said, people are just afraid we're going to slap a sticker on it.
Ellie Alexander (26:27):
Yeah, I like the word you used, subtle. Your brand and your positioning can be subtle but still distinct. It doesn't have to be screamed, but you still have that very core personality.
Tiffany Silverberg (26:42):
Feel it.
Ellie Alexander (26:42):
Yeah. I like subtle but distinct. Or it can be not subtle. Some brands are not subtle and that works for them but you can be subtle and distinct, right?
Tiffany Silverberg (26:50):
That's right. But it doesn't have to be like, I don't know, maybe Jimmy, you have good analogies, so maybe you have a better analogy, but you know what I mean. It doesn't mean they tell us X, Y, Z, and we just slap the X, Y, Z label on and move on.
Jimmy Lim (27:06):
I think a lot of times it's just subtle but distinct. And when you say that, Ellie, the first thing that comes to my mind is really Apple. It's just subtle and distinct. It's not like, oh, we use this Pantone color pink or something like that. It's very white. It's very simple but it's very distinct. So everyone's kind of trying to copy their packaging, their ads.
Tiffany Silverberg (27:35):
I like it. That's so true. You're right. Subtle may not always be the right word, but it doesn't have to be it's a show instead of tell, right? People are experiencing the brand, not because we're just telling them what to experience.
Ellie Alexander (27:48):
Yeah, it doesn't have to be heavy handed.
Tiffany Silverberg (27:50):
Yeah, for sure. Okay, well, as we start to wrap up, do we want to talk about the one thing good news for everyone? We discussed this ahead of time.
Jimmy Lim (28:03):
If I could say one thing before we do the one thing. So in terms of the target market, I think also to those who are tuning in, if you kind of like, oh, I don't even know what my target market is, somewhere to start, obviously start discussing. But another way to do it is just look at your current clients, try to see if you can group them in the buckets, look at your existing clients, what works, what do you get more of? That would be your natural, maybe even without knowing it, that's the message you put out. That's the magnitude you put out that's pulling people in. Then is that the direction that you want to go, or is it something else? That's a good starting point too.
Tiffany Silverberg (28:48):
And like Ellie was saying earlier, it makes our jobs so much easier and we love sort of coming together and helping clients define and show what that is, but we can't always do the first step of the business. So if you legitimately in your own business are struggling to figure that out, we have great business consultants we've worked with — email us, we'll send them to you, but that's your first step. If you legitimately don't know from a business level perspective what the goals are and where you're trying to go, because we can come in on that next step and like I said, define it and help you bring it to the world. But if you haven't figured it out internally yet, that can be a struggle. Okay. Maybe we've already said it, but we'll say it. What's our one thing everyone should do? I like how you said it earlier, Ellie, so maybe you should start.
Ellie Alexander (29:45):
Our one thing is, oh my gosh, what did we call it? Oh my gosh, sorry. When the pressure's on I have senior moments — write your positioning statement if you don't already have one, and there's lots of formats out there. A quick google will give you a whole bunch of websites that have different ways. You can literally just format it, but however you format it and however you phrase the statement, the four things we think should be in there, there's some that have six or eight, but I think keep it simple, you just need to have in there, okay, who is your audience? Like I said, look at your client base, see what's in common, whether it's location or interests or just the way they approach their wealth, just their philosophy around it. Find something in common for your audience.
(30:33):
Define your product. That's usually the easiest part. Find what is special about how you deliver that product or what is special about your product, and then what benefit that product provides to that audience. And the benefit is oftentimes best if it's actually a soft emotional benefit. It's not just getting them more money. You know what I mean? But the benefit can be generally, is it security? Is it hope for their future? Is it securing a legacy and passing things down to their grandchildren? Their driver is maybe another way to say it in terms of what's their benefit.
Tiffany Silverberg (31:14):
I like it. Yeah, we were talking about soul searching, so don't be afraid to choose some of those. I feel like sometimes everyone starts going like, well, we should be doing this to give them a better purpose in life. Or like you said, legacy. But feel free to really search and figure out is that actually what clients come back and say they love about working with you and narrow that down.
Ellie Alexander (31:39):
That's true. That is a good way of figuring out the four things — you did a good job a few minutes ago of talking about how you find your audience. If you're not sure how you find your differentiator, go to the clients and see what they love best about working with you. How did they leave that meeting feeling? How did they feel after working with you for five, 10 years? And once you start to see similarities, there's your benefit.
Jimmy Lim (32:03):
There it is. There is your secret sauce.
Ellie Alexander (32:05):
Yeah, that's okay. I'm going to recap. Who's your audience? What's your product? What's different about your product and what benefit does that give to your audience? Tying it back to the beginning,
Jimmy Lim (32:17):
Four things in one statement.
Tiffany Silverberg (32:22):
Excellent. Well, we're going to keep talking about this and little nuances and rabbit trails in the next few episodes, but anything else we want to call out? There's so much we can talk about.
Jimmy Lim (32:35):
Yeah, so much.
Tiffany Silverberg (32:36):
Leave me here all day.
Jimmy Lim (32:38):
Yeah, just find your voice. Yeah, find your voice so you don't sound like everybody else. And when you find your voice, even if you like how certain singers, when they have their voice, even if they do a cover of another person's song, it's them. That's how good it is. So if you find your voice, that's how good it is.
Tiffany Silverberg (32:58):
There's your positioning right there. The voice of a singer, distinctive. I love it. Cool. Well, we invite everyone to subscribe to the podcast. We are excited to keep recording and get back in the seat here, so make sure you subscribe so you don't miss upcoming episodes. Join the newsletter, I think it's outandaboutcommunications.com/community, so you can head over there and subscribe to the newsletter; we send out monthly newsletters. We'll make sure you get checklists and all that good stuff related to all these topics. We will have Ellie's four points in the show notes, so you can easily sit down and write those up. But yeah, go ahead and subscribe and we are excited to, like I said, keep recording and we'll be back soon with another positioning podcast. Yay. Thank you everyone.
