# Positioning strategy Human Guide

## What This Is For
Overview Positioning is the single most important strategic decision a solopreneur makes. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for brand and messaging: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Positioning strategy agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for positioning strategy.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Positioning strategy guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- **Direct alternatives:** Products that solve the exact same problem.
- **Indirect alternatives:** Different approaches to the same outcome.
- **The status quo:** Whatever they're doing RIGHT NOW. This is often the strongest competitor.
- Best when: The market is full of generalist tools, and one specific use case is underserved.
- How it works: You narrow the scope ruthlessly. Fewer features, tighter focus, deeper expertise.
- Example: "The only invoicing tool built for freelance designers" (vs. generic invoicing tools like FreshBooks).
- Best when: Dominant competitors are complex, over-featured, and intimidating to your target customer.
- How it works: You strip away everything unnecessary. Fewer options = faster decisions = happier users.
- Example: "Project management for people who hate project management tools."
- Best when: Customers use 3-5 separate tools to accomplish a workflow, and the switching between them is the pain.
- How it works: You combine the critical pieces into one seamless experience.
- Example: "One place to manage client contracts, invoices, and communication — no more app-switching."

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Overview, Step 1: Understand What You're Positioning Against, Step 2: Choose a Positioning Archetype, Archetype A: The Specialist, Archetype B: The Simplifier, Archetype C: The Niche Aggregator, Archetype D: The Opposite, Archetype E: The Category Creator, Step 3: Write Your Positioning Statement, Step 4: Validate Your Position.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- **Is it important?** Does your target customer actually care about this differentiator? (Check against customer discovery notes — did this come up unprompted?)
- **Level 1 — The headline (one line):** The single most important thing to communicate. Usually the core benefit.
- Your position must be felt everywhere, not just stated on one page.
- Ignoring the status quo as a competitor. Many customers will do nothing rather than switch. Your position must make "do nothing" feel worse than switching.
- Setting a position and never revisiting. Markets shift. Revisit quarterly.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Positioning strategy human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the jk-0001/skills skill entry for `positioning-strategy`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Positioning Strategy

## Overview
Positioning is the single most important strategic decision a solopreneur makes. It determines who you attract, what you can charge, and whether you're memorable or forgettable. Bad positioning = competing on price against everyone. Good positioning = being the obvious, only choice for a specific group. This playbook builds your position from the ground up and turns it into messaging.

---

## Step 1: Understand What You're Positioning Against

You are not just competing against other products. You're competing against every alternative your customer has — including doing nothing. Map the full competitive set:

- **Direct alternatives:** Products that solve the exact same problem.
- **Indirect alternatives:** Different approaches to the same outcome.
- **The status quo:** Whatever they're doing RIGHT NOW. This is often the strongest competitor.

For each alternative, write one sentence: what it does well, and what it fails at. This gap analysis feeds directly into your position.

---

## Step 2: Choose a Positioning Archetype

Pick the archetype that fits your situation. Each dictates a different strategy.

### Archetype A: The Specialist
**"We do one thing, and we do it better than anyone."**
- Best when: The market is full of generalist tools, and one specific use case is underserved.
- How it works: You narrow the scope ruthlessly. Fewer features, tighter focus, deeper expertise.
- Example: "The only invoicing tool built for freelance designers" (vs. generic invoicing tools like FreshBooks).

### Archetype B: The Simplifier
**"We do what everyone else does, but without the bloat."**
- Best when: Dominant competitors are complex, over-featured, and intimidating to your target customer.
- How it works: You strip away everything unnecessary. Fewer options = faster decisions = happier users.
- Example: "Project management for people who hate project management tools."

### Archetype C: The Niche Aggregator
**"We bring together things that are currently scattered."**
- Best when: Customers use 3-5 separate tools to accomplish a workflow, and the switching between them is the pain.
- How it works: You combine the critical pieces into one seamless experience.
- Example: "One place to manage client contracts, invoices, and communication — no more app-switching."

### Archetype D: The Opposite
**"We deliberately do the opposite of what the market leader does."**
- Best when: The market leader has made a strategic choice that a significant segment of customers disagrees with.
- How it works: You position yourself as the anti-[leader]. Every decision is framed as the alternative.
- Example: If the market leader charges per-user and scales expensively → you offer flat-rate unlimited users.

### Archetype E: The Category Creator
**"This problem didn't have a name before. Now it does, and we invented the solution."**
- Best when: You're solving a problem that customers feel but haven't seen a product category for yet.
- How it works: You name the category, define what it means, and position yourself as the creator/authority.
- Example: "Automated client health scores" — if no one called it that before, you name and own it.

---

## Step 3: Write Your Positioning Statement

Use this template. Every word earns its place.

```
FOR [specific customer segment]
WHO [has a specific problem or need]
[YOUR BRAND] IS A [product category]
THAT [delivers a specific, measurable benefit]
UNLIKE [primary alternative — competitor or status quo]
WHO [what that alternative does or fails to do]
WE [the key difference that makes your benefit possible]
```

**Fill it in. Then cut it down to 2-3 sentences max for external use.** The full template is internal strategy. The shortened version becomes your elevator pitch and website headline.

**Example (full internal version):**
"For freelance developers managing 3-8 client projects, who struggle with keeping clients informed without spending hours on updates, DevPulse is a project status tool that delivers automatic client-facing progress reports in under 2 minutes per project. Unlike Basecamp or Asana, which are built for large teams and require manual updates, DevPulse pulls data directly from your existing workflow and generates reports automatically."

**Example (shortened for external use):**
"Automatic client progress reports for freelance developers. No manual updates. No bloated PM tools. Just done."

---

## Step 4: Validate Your Position