The Bootstrapped Brand
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Chapter 4

Build Your Position

This exercise has four parts. Complete them in order. Each one builds on the previous. By the time you finish, you will have a tested positioning foundation ready for the storybuilding work in Chapter 5.

Download the PDF Open the workbook in Notion

The questions

  1. 01

    Part 1: The Niche Ladder. Write the broadest category you belong to at the top. Then narrow down four rungs by asking: who specifically has the most acute version of this problem, and what specifically makes the way I solve it different? Write each rung and stop when you reach a position that is specific, ownable, and real.

  2. 02

    Part 2: The Positioning Statement. Using the format from this chapter, write your positioning statement. Apply both tests: could a competitor say the same thing, and would your ideal customer immediately recognize themselves? Revise until both answers are clearly no and yes respectively.

  3. 03

    Part 3: The Five Frames. Write one sentence for each of the five message frames from this chapter, all expressing your positioning from a different angle. These are the messages you will test.

  4. 04

    Part 4: The Experiment Plan. Write where and how you will test the five frames this week. Which platform? What format? How will you measure resonance vs. just reach? Set a date to review results.

Answer these in whatever you already use. The PDF is the same questions with room to write, and the Notion template is the same again if you would rather type.