This is a continuation of my review of the book Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout. Here are more passages I found meaningful.
The mind works by ear. In a way, it’s a shame that the print media (newspapers, magazines, outdoor advertising) came first and radio second. Radio is really the primal media. And print is the higher-level abstraction.
I frequently recommend that people read their writing out loud. And when evaluating domains, it's essential to say it aloud. But this highlights how important it is for all key prhases, mission statements, positioning, taglines etc to roll off the tongue. I think LatPro's tagline doesn't pass this test, in fact!
Did it work? The essence of a good positioning strategy is that it transcends every aspect of a company. You know you have a winner when you run up the corporate flagpole and everybody salutes.
Good positiong is transformational – it changes the company. Everyone gets behind it and starts to use the position as a decision making tool. The same is true about the company mission and core values.
What happened? The solution appears to be much too obvious for them to accept. Simplicity is not as attractive as complexity.
It's tempting to look for complex solutions. But frequently, we have found in our business that there are none. The right path is often the simplest. Over the years, we've found most of the complexity we built into our business needed simplifying. So if our positioning turns out short and sweet, we won't fight that.
Make mistakes. Anything worthwhile doing is worthwhile doing lousy. If it wasn’t worthwhile doing, you shouldn’t have done it at all. On the other hand, if it is worthwhile doing and you wait until you can do it perfectly, if you procrastinate, you run the risk of not doing it. Ever.
We're already good at making mistakes! And this is why we launch websites like DiversityJobs.com and test them publicly in Beta. We shouldn't be afraid to change our positioning with LatPro either.
“The worst thing, and I see it over and over,” said Mr. Funt, “is how easily people can be led by one kind of authority or even the most minimal signs of authority.” “We put up a sign on the road, Delaware Closed Today,” reported Mr. Funt. “Motorists didn’t question it. Instead they asked, ‘Is Jersey open?”’
This is one of the great advantages of doing business on the Internet – one person can appear to be fifty or hundred. I recently heard the owner of NetFlix runs the company out of his home… but it's also one of the challenges – when competitors represent themselves falsely, sometimes it can take years for the truth to emerge.
Whom must you outgun?. Prospects don’t buy, they choose. Among brands of automobiles. Among brands of beer. Among brand of computers. The merit, or lack of merit, of your brand is not nearly as important as your position among the possible choices.
This one is especially important in the job board business. No job board is perfect for every client, every job opening, in every location. And job boards sell advertising – not hires. Advertising is always an experiment and that makes our positioning critical. It's the positioning that dictates the prospects choice.
Continue with Positioning Your Internet Business, Part III
