Me: How to Sell Who You Are, What You Do, & Why You Matter to the World by Jubenville Colby & Roy Donald

Author:Jubenville, Colby & Roy, Donald
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-11-03T00:00:00+00:00

11.

POSITIONING: CHOOSE YOUR LANE,

OWN YOUR LANE

“Positioning is not a statement about you—it’s a statement that captures who you are. It’s not a factual claim, but rather an emotional reason for people to want to be around you. It should capture the essence of who you are and how you have defined your personal brand.”

— Jim Joseph, marketing executive and author

By now you should understand the true meaning and importance of branding when it comes to you and the future you wish to create. It’s just as important to understand positioning in the context of personal branding.

As published in the first chapter of this book, Tom Peters once said, “We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.”

So who are you and what is the true meaning of positioning in the context of personal branding?

Marketing expert Jim Joseph (who is quoted at the introduction of this chapter) has stated positioning “is one of the most misunderstood principles. Even experienced marketers get it wrong and overcomplicate it.”

Positioning is about picking and owning a lane. It’s about deciding how on a daily basis you are going to leave an indelible mark on the people you come in contact with that is so powerful that those very same people will come to associate that mark with you and you alone.

About.com, when defining the idea of personal branding, ascribed that it is the process of developing a “mark” that is created around your personal name or your career. This mark is grounded in your unique perspective, education, and experience. It is the foundation for your personal positioning. This mark helps build your reputation and grow your network in a way that interests others. It compels them to seek you out for those things that make you unique.

In the broadest sense, positioning is about defining, owning, and communicating your unique value. To do this requires developing, distinguishing, and delivering your unique value in a way that is simple and easy to communicate.

So what is unique value and how is it tied to positioning?

In order to develop, distinguish, and deliver your unique value, you should have already been working on your mindset (Chapter 9) and defining your network (Chapter 10). While these are important aspects to consider, positioning is actually the foundation for all of these activities.

Again, positioning in personal branding is developing, distinguishing, and delivering your unique value. Stated simply—it’s picking a lane and owning it!

Positioning is all about your unique perspective (how you see what you do), your unique education (how you know what you do), and your unique experience (how you deliver what you do). You must have a clear, analytical understanding of these three aspects in order to truly develop and own your lane.

Malcolm Forbes, the publisher of Forbes magazine, stated, “Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.” Just like great companies have a clear and compelling position, people need a clear and compelling personal position as well.

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