Host: How do I use this positioning statement in practice when starting a business?

David Krauskopf: Take the time to write a statement that is general about your business, but that is powerful and concise. Then when you think that you are comfortable with that, you need to ask yourself a few questions. The first one being, how big is this target group of customers? How can I access that target group? How can I sell to them and do I feel confident I will be able to get enough sales from this target group through this process to sustain my business and grow it?

Then I want to look at what are the primary benefits and things that I am offering to my customer versus the competition. I really need to go out there and say, "What is someone else offering that is similar to what I am offering? Do I really bring something to the table that has enough value compared to them or differentiation and do I have my arguments in place to show that to that customer?

" So you need to do a double check on this to make sure that your product or service is strong enough to actually add value to that customer. You can do this by comparing to the competition and what that customer is buying today. Then, once you have passed this litmus test, so to speak, you will be ready to take your positioning statement and go out and actually use it in application of marketing communications. So I can build my website around this core information, I can do an advertisement or a brochure around this core information and I can start talking to potential customers and using these points and test it. After you start to get feedback coming in, you probably will need to come back and do a little revision on this statement. 1