Your clients and prospects have access to more information and choices today than ever before. The number of small businesses increases daily, and competition can be tough. In the past, competition may have been similar companies in your part of town; now many small businesses must compete with others around the globe. Positioning your company can provide the competitive edge you need to outshine the competition.

Appropriately positioning your business enables you to communicate a meaningful, relevant message to clients and prospects and establishes you as an “expert” in your field. First, you must know and understand your market as well as the competition, their strengths and their focus. Then you can determine the most profitable place to position your business in relation to others in that market.

Domino’s Pizza provides a classic example of this. They’ve positioned themselves to focus on one thing: fast delivery. They don’t claim to cook up gourmet pizza, or a romantic dine-in experience. Just fast delivery — and it works! They have cornered this position in their market.

If you’re a florist and your number-one competitor is known for its bargain bouquets, you may want to target discriminating gift givers and position yourself as the shop that delivers the freshest, longest-lasting arrangements that recipients will enjoy for a week or more.

The Positioning Statement

Writing a Positioning Statement for your company is a precursor to branding the business. It will determine what you emphasize in your marketing materials. To help you create a company Positioning Statement, answer the questions below, or revisit your USP (unique selling proposition).

• What do we do best?

• Who is our target customer?

• What needs do we fulfill for them?

• Who is our competition?

• What makes us different from them?

A USP is a distinct and engaging statement that sets you and your business or practice apart from all the rest, by describing the unique value you offer. It tells your prospects, “This is why you should do business with us.” You must clearly understand your market, your competitors and what they do well; and what truly differentiates you and your company from the competition.

Fun Exercises to Help You Establish Your USP

Set an afternoon aside and invite everyone involved in your business to a brainstorming session. Together, compile a list of every value and benefit your company offers that would entice someone to do business with you. Make it a really long list! Then, put a line through everything on the list that could also be said about your competitors. What remains are the unique qualities of your company. Use this as a starting place to create your USP.

If you’re in business on your own, take pen and paper and write a one- or two-paragraph description of what sets you and your company apart from the competition. Then, ruthlessly edit away the generalities, until you’re left with a clean, succinct, specific promise. From there, rework it, deleting all the excess verbiage and vague statements until you have a clearly defined Unique Selling Proposition that your client and prospects can immediately grasp.

Warning: Be absolutely sure that you are able to deliver on any promise you make. If your USP tells clients that you have “A complete range of widgets in stock at all times,” and a customer calls to find that their preferred widget must be ordered and won’t be shipped for a week, your USP has created a negative relationship.

Now, from your answers to the questions above and your USP, write out a Positioning Statement that expresses your company’s specific place in the market.

With a clear Positioning Statement, you’re ready to brand your business and make it stand out from the crowd!

Victoria K. Munro is co-founder (along with husband Dave Block) of Make-it-Fly® LLC, a company dedicated to creating success for small business owners through creatively designed programs and tools. Victoria has started and run nine different businesses. To receive FREE business success articles with tips to help you with your business, sign up for their award-winning ezine, “In-Flight Refueling,” at: www.Make-it-Fly.com, and receive a free copy of the eBook, Get More Done in Less Time: 101 Quick and Easy Time Tactics %26 Tips.

Why are parents now so apt to letting America’s youth “even out”?

I am asking this because I have recently encountered a group of women on a social network that like a particular baby product that I also love. It is a non-necessity item that is rather expensive given it’s actual purpose. This brand has recently done a cheaper version for a large chain store. Some women love it becasue it makes it available to those who have loved the brand but couldn’t afford to purchase. Others, myself included, slightly feel like the brand is “selling out”. They already host great sales and their item can be regularly found on various Deal of the day sites or other sites at great sales; so this bag at this price seemed a bit odd to some. Anyway a few, myself included, were attacked by others who couldn’t afford the regular item (even on sale I suppose). We were told we are elitest and snobby. To me I find joy in that bit of uniqness I get my owning something that is beautiful, functional and not anyone else I know has. Anyway this all leads to my point. One mom said “I just wish everyone would let it go and realize that we are all equals”. I am not trying to say I am better then any of them becasue I don’t like the cheaper version. I just don’t like the steps the brand took to make the cheaper version and the core busniess values they had that were sacrificed to make the cheap one. But her statement REALLY struck a nerver with me. I DO NOT want my kids to grow up thinking everyone is “equals” with them. I believe in equal rights under the law. And I believe in respecting others and their differences. And being sensative to those difference when need be. But I don’t want my 3 YO to think that everyone is as smart as her, becasue some are some are smarter and some are not. I do not want her to think her and everyone else are just as good dancers. Some are better, some worse. ect. I think it is a slippery slope telling our youth they are all the same. What will they strive for if they think they are just as good as everyone else? When they get jobs will they understand that those above them have authority over them? Or will they believe they are equal in their positions? Competition is healthy. IT IS OK TO LOSE!!!!!!! And ITS OK TO CELEBRATE WHEN YOU WIN!!!! Not everyone can have the things you do and that is ok they are still good people (usually), and there will be some people with more then you but you don’t need everything. It seems like such common sense to me yet soo many parents/social figure heads are steaming towards the other direction. It scares the HELL out of me where this mentality will leave this new generation when they get into school/college/life. Socialism DOES NOT work. So why are we pushing our children into it. When did freindly competition become a game of little league where no score is kept so everyone is happy? Where no winner is declared? Why bother playing if you can never try and win?
It isn’t about the product obv you all can’t see past that. I am saying something as rediculous as women disagring over a baby item can show what is really behind a major problem IMO with our society today. Just by dusagreeing over something so meaningless you can see what is really behind MOST things today that those who have less it seems want everyone to be equal to them. And I don’t just mean those who are poorer I mean anyone who isn’t raking in large sums of money. It doesnt’ give anyone anything to strive for anymore. And we are projecting this idea onto the youth and attempting to create this horrible equalized society.

Answer
I fail to see the connection between a high-end baby item and socialism. Maybe I am missing something here?