Every one of us has…a thing!

And we’re ….proud ….of our thing.

Our thing is unique.

It’s not someone else’s.

Its YOUR thing.

‍

We ALL want our thing to grow.

We all want our thing to be impressive, so the right people stand up and take notice.

And we want to be recognized for…our thing.

‍

And…the more we work on our thing, we grow confident and YES…even happier.

‍

Now, we can be happy making our “thing” impressive. That’s cool.

Or, we can POSITION it in a way that makes it truly outstanding.

It’s all in how we position our “thing.”

Now, of course, our thing is…our job, our talent, our product, our passion, or even our own company.

You know…your thing!

‍

To compete and be successful, you first need to make your thing the best it can be. You have to develop your talent, your skills, your business. Its like any athlete, or leader or captain of industry. You’ve got to be excellent—more excellent than your competition.

‍

So, you’re working on your thing. Good for you. You’re in the game. You’re a player. You win a customer. You make a sale here. A sale there.

And for many, that’s enough. That’s fine. They’re satisfied with their thing!

But for others….they long to take their thing to championship level.

‍

Positioned the right way, your thing can capture more than a sale. You can capture the hearts and souls of customers.

To win though, to really, really win, being skilled is not enough. That’s your ticket to play. You have to know what you do well and not-so-well (your strengths and weaknesses and unique qualities) to carve out your place while also knowing your competitions strengths. weaknesses, and tendencies.

‍

And one other thing: You have to know your customer. Their wants, needs and expectations. After all, you have no “thing“ without your customer.

‍

POSITION your thing!  So, what is Positioning:

I wrote a book about it called: The Position Player. Available at Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Position-Player-what-happens-when/dp/1985122669 ]

I first learned about POSTIONING in high school while playing football.

I had the unfortunate timing of playing on a team that was just “AWFUL.” In fact, we were 0-19.

Coming into my senior year, we hired a new coach and new staff who came from the Philadelphia Catholic League.

We were all pumped up for a fresh start.

Still, we were physically the smallest team in the league. We were not weightlifters.

How were we going to compete and finally win?

Our first game would be against a team of “beasts?” They were ready to just crush us.

Our coach studied the other team…the beasts. He took stock of what we had and molded us into a speed and deception team. This was our Position; our strategy to win. It was a hard-fought game —one we ultimately won with a 40-yard field goal with no time left on the clock. That season, we went on to win our league and play for the State Championship. What a turnaround.

‍

Let me share a couple other examples with you:

NIKE: Back in 1980’s a well-known company with a solid business and growing following sold millions of sneakers and athletic wear. They outfitted many well-known professional athletes wrapped around a positioning based on: PERFORMANCE. But with serious competitors nipping at their feet, they began to lose market share, until they launched a new theme to all their advertising: Just Do It. Of course, that was: NIKE. This new POSITIONING threw a wider net. They recognized that everyone: skinny, fat, short, tall, or slow had an athlete inside of them. They encouraged everyone by saying: yes you can. Just do it.

Another fun and current example would be Amazon.com vs the others (UPS, FED EX, UPS). I came across a funny statement recent that sort of sums up how Amazon’s market positioning leads the way. It goes like this:

UPS: Your package is in X City on a truck driven by Bob and will be at your door at 2:37pm

FedEx: your package is coming. You’ll get it when we give it to you. (Built reputation on old tag: When it absolutely has to get there…)

UPS: You ordered something?

AMAZON: We’re inside your apartment!  (PRIME) You see their positioning is: We know what makes you happy! (Happy smile logo)

Shows us that:  They worked on their thing …to have it all. More importantly, they recognized that the most important element is the CUSTOMER. It all revolves around knowing the customer and their needs, desires, and expectations. The irony is that Amazon has each of the others delivering for them as well.

It’s all about knowing your customer and what they want and then delivering to their expectations. You have no thing if you don’t have customers who want your thing, see your thing and PAY for your thing! Positioning will help you achieve that.

So whatever your thing is: being a massage therapist, owning a salon, Coaching, being a winemaker, marketer, nutritionist…keep working on your thing. Consider the potential for your thing to be even bigger. Consider POSITIONING….and attract more and more customers to your thing.