Positioning An Offer That Sells Itself: The Illogical Positioning I Used that Doesn’t Meet Industry Standards

INTRO: [00:00:00] After generating over a million dollars in sales and selling one of her businesses with a single email, your host, Kathryn Thompson, takes an unconventional approach to marketing and sales. So if you're ready to tap into a more powerful way to be seen, heard, and a sought after entrepreneur in your industry without having to spend endless hours marketing your business and chasing clients, you're in the right place.

Be The Sought After Entrepreneur Podcast is here to help you ditch the cookie cutter, one size fits all approach to marketing and use your unique energy to effortlessly attract the most aligned clients. When you do this, you can spend less time marketing your business and more time doing your soul work and enjoying the richness of your life.

Welcome to Be The Sought After Entrepreneur Podcast. And here's your host, Kathryn Thompson.

Kathryn Thompson: Hey, hey, this is like a money episode in a lot of ways, because it's It's the thing [00:01:00] that a lot of people want support with, and I want to share with you how we did this in my brick and mortar, but also how I did this in the online business as well. But I want to start by debunking what sort of positioning is in general, because to me, positioning is subjective.

We can position our offer in a variety of different ways. But if the person receiving it doesn't perceive it the same way that we're wanting to put out and convey, then it doesn't matter sort of anyways. And I think a lot of people kind of get hung up here. Similarly get hung up on price, which is a portion of positioning, right?

So price being very subjective, what I view as expensive, someone else might think is cheap. Or something that I value, right? I'm willing to spend maybe 2, 000 or 5, 000 or 10, 000 on a vacation, but I'm not willing to spend that on a handbag. But somebody who values handbags is willing to spend that on a handbag, but maybe not on a vacation, [00:02:00] right?

And so we've got to look at positioning sort of in the same way, is that There really is no sort of right or wrong way to do this, but I want to share with you sort of the high level ingredients or pillars to guide you. Because I think the other thing that ends up happening is that a lot of people that come into my world and you're likely this way is that you're an innovator, you're a disruptor, you want to do things differently.

And yet, You're still trying to kind of fit yourself into a mold that you've already seen modeled and worked. At least that's how I experienced it. I know a lot of clients that come in my world experience that as well. They're like, I'm trying to create this offer that I don't see modeled anywhere, but I'm then trying to fit it.

fit it into a model that already exists, specifically course creation or creating a curriculum or that sort of thing. Right. It's like, I need to have all of these modules in order for this to even be a value because a part of positioning is value proposition. It's being able to convey the value [00:03:00] of what it is you're selling.

And if you can't convey that. You're going to have a hard time standing out, positioning yourself differently than anybody else, but also positioning you as the choice over anybody else. And this is all relative, depending on the people that you want to serve and the people that you're creating the offer for in the first place.

If we don't understand what motivates them, what drives them and the values that they hold, then it's really hard to articulate the value of what it is that we're selling because we don't actually understand. the values that our audience is going to perceive as valuable. For example, I don't necessarily think a Louis Vuitton bag is too expensive.

I just don't value that investment. I would way rather take that money and put it towards a trip. It doesn't mean that I'm not willing to spend, you know, two, three, five thousand on a trip. I'm just not willing to spend that [00:04:00] on a handbag. So that's what we need to sort of consider. When we are creating our value preposition is what does our audience perceive to be valuable?

And understanding that allows us to really position an offer that sells itself because we know at the very core level what's motivating them. One of the things I often hear from people that come into my world is they're not driven by money, which is why a lot of the big promises like how to make 10k in 30 days don't resonate with them because they're like, I'm not driven by that.

I'm driven by impact. I want to be of service. It doesn't mean that they don't like money. It doesn't mean they don't have some money block or something like that. It doesn't mean that they have some money block. It means that their underlying motivation is impact over the money, right? A lot of business owners will say, I actually, I'm more motivated by people than profit.

I like to put people first. over profit, right? These are [00:05:00] values that are the underlying thing that drive a person. So if you're supporting somebody who doesn't value the money, the big grandiose money promises, but you're using those to sell, you're going to be misaligned in your positioning. It doesn't mean you won't attract people, but it just means that you'll be misaligned in that positioning and your people naturally won't see the value of the offer.

And price is another key element here, right? So we've got people, right? Who are our people? What drives them? What's their values? What's their motivations? We also have price. and the investment. And again, that is also subjective because what I see is expensive, somebody else might see is very cheap. And we saw this in my brick and mortar.

We priced our wine very comparable to other people in the market. And yet our product was superior to what was on the market, meaning [00:06:00] we carried pure juice wine kits, and everybody else carried concentrate, meaning you added water. So it was a sugar base where you added water. Ours was pure juice, so it was healthier, it was more rich, more bold, it had a lot more flavor, and they were getting that for the price of what they were paying for the concentrate kits in other stores.

So you see how we positioned it based on the product, what it is that we were offering, but also the price. It became a no brainer purchase, like why wouldn't I buy the pure juice? When it's better for me, it tastes better, it's better quality, all of the things for the price that I would be paying for the concentrate.

It made no sense. That's price positioning, but that's also product positioning. The same is true for your offers. Let's just say that you want to, you know, serve people in a mid range level, let's just say, right? So for example, a lot of coaching experiences, there's ones that are like in the 20k or up market.[00:07:00] 

There's ones between 10k and 20k. And there's ones that are like under 10k. Let's say you want to create an offer that gives the value of a 20K offer, but you're offering it at six or eight K. This is what I did with Spellbound. I created an offer that was a hybrid, right? So it wasn't a group coaching program.

It wasn't a do it yourself. It was a hybrid of one to one implementation, how very bespoke, very customized. And I was offering it at a price point that was like a group coaching program, But it was the delivery of like a high level mastermind and that is imperative to be able to see because that then positions it as a no brainer.

Like, oh, I could invest in this do it yourself course, or I could invest 3, 4, 5K. In a group [00:08:00] coaching program with hundreds of people where I'm not even have access to the coach that I want to work with. It's not bespoke. It is cookie cutter, or I could go with this offer that specifically helps people sell in the invisible, which is a way to position it, right?

Position it with the uniqueness of the people you want to serve, but also in the delivery of it. which is product positioning. So I'm positioning this in a way that's quite different. I came into the market seeing a gap in a lot of ways because I felt like a lot of the programs that were priced at 3, 4, 5k were not providing the level of support that I needed.

To what people ultimately needed. And so I was able to sort of serve that market and position it in a way that became a no brainer. And that's how we position. We have to look at the industry at a whole and go, okay, what is, what are others doing? And not from a comparative place, but like, what are they actually doing?

And then how can I come in, in an [00:09:00] aligned, integral way, and serve the market that is underserved in a lot of ways, or serve the market in a more unique way? Selling the invisible is very unique. Positioning my offer spellbound with a ton of one to one support at a price point that really should be 15K or more, under 10K, is a really beautiful way to position it.

It was similar to the wine store, right, with the product that we had. We were still making a profit, we were still doing very well, but we positioned the product very comparable to what I considered a product that wasn't as good. But we also did some other things within. our business in the brick and mortar, as well as in my online business that continues to add layers of positioning.

So for example, in my brick and mortar, we created very customized labels, and I've shared this a [00:10:00] lot on my other podcasts, but we created customized labels where people could print what they wanted on them. So they would come in, they would get 30 bottles of wine. The printing of the labels was fun. They could come up with funny quotes and all the things.

No other store was doing it. And no other store could potentially even consider doing it for the price point that we were because we had purchased into a franchise. So we had a lot of the equipment that the franchise had already sourced and whatnot. And so lots of independent stores would come in and say to us, like, where did you get that printer?

So we were like, Those printers are so expensive, but we were able to get it within the franchise and they had greater buying rights because they're a franchise and they were buying more of them, right? So, similar to Walmart or Superstore or whatnot, Target, right? If you've got a ton of buying rights, then you can buy buy up a bunch of product for way cheaper than an independent.

And that's what this franchise had done. And so we were able to sort of benefit from that. And we were able to create these custom labels, which in [00:11:00] return, created a lot of positioning for us because people were like, we love that store because we can customize what we're doing. We don't have to pay extra for it.

We get superior wine. And the experience is amazing because we had a dishwasher, No other store had a dishwasher. You had to literally hand wash and sanitize every bottle, 30 bottles. We had wide open space. The customer experience was amazing. So these are all layers of positioning that make choosing our store a no brainer because we were doing a bunch of things differently.

The same is true for your business, whatever business that is. And that's what I did in my online business, right? I created an offer and implementation hub that was quite unique than anything else there on the market, where I was giving bespoke customized one to one support. And I was, not only supporting people with a strategy, but it was helping them articulate the value of what it is that they do and put that into words, specifically if you're [00:12:00] selling the invisible.

So you can see the layers of positioning that I've created, which create a ton of value. And then I priced it at a place where people didn't expect because I was pricing it at a level that should have been a group coaching program with hundreds of members in it, where you don't have access to a coach, where you don't have access to a customized strategy, where you don't have access to being able to ditch the cookie cutter, right?

That was how I was able to position Spellbound in a really sort of unique way that became a no brainer. And then it was servicing a result and an outcome. That people ultimately wanted similar to the wine store, right? They wanted wine and they wanted good tasting wine for a fraction of what you paid at reach in the retail store.

That's what we did, right? We delivered on that promise similar with spellbound. I'm delivering on that promise that. Those Selling The Invisible ultimately want. They want to be able to put into words what they do in a way [00:13:00] that's authentic and genuine, that doesn't have them fitting themselves into a box, that doesn't have them having to conform in order to be successful.

And they also want to get their work in the hands of more people. So I support them in building a marketing and sales strategy that allows them to do that, to attract clients predictably. So I'm positioning myself very differently. in a way that creates a no brainer offer. And then I have my own unique mechanism for walking people through that.

And so I want to walk you through this because I think this is huge, specifically if you're a service, if you're an energetic healer, practitioner, coach, mentor in any way, shape, or form is having a process that you take people through. And I know this can be really difficult if you're selling the invisible because it's not tangible.

However, I'm not asking you to come up with a very concrete framework. You can come up with just phases. For example, the [00:14:00] awareness phase, the embodiment and integration phase, the sustainability phase, right? These are the three phases I take somebody through in order to create massive expansion in their world.

It could be as simple as that. But what that does is when we create these unique mechanisms or these frameworks or these processes, and we're able to communicate them, it creates a tangible. way that people can sort of latch on to what it is that you do and understand what you do from that perspective.

And then when you start to share stories, you can share it from that perspective, which then positions what you do as valuable because they see, Oh, look, Britney. This is what we did with Brittany in the awareness phase. This is what we did with Brittany in the embodiment and integration phase. This is what we did with Brittany in the sustainability phase.

It creates tangibility, it creates social proof, and it positions you as an authority because you've got this system and process in place. So [00:15:00] these are the layers of positioning that you want to consider. when you are selling an offer. And if you're sort of sitting here going, but Kathryn, like, how many calls do I have?

And what modules do I create? This is sort of the granular detail that is often only required when you're in the sales conversation stage. So in order to attract people into your world, you need a well positioned offer. So for example, selling our wine, I didn't walk them through. that they got printed labels and that it would take six weeks and that they got 30 bottles and that we included the bottles.

Like I didn't include that on the front facing messaging because all I wanted to do at that stage is attract people into my world. So the positioning that I used at that stage was buying all pure, pure juice [00:16:00] wine at a fraction of retail. That's what captured people's attention. And then when they got into the store to inquire, I positioned different things differently.

And then when they were in the experience of bottling their wine and getting the labels and all those sorts of things, they put, they experienced more of the positioning as they went along that customer journey. So I'm not trying to capture everything. In one sentence or one tagline or one message. And I think this is where a lot of people sort of go sideways with their positioning of an offer, which is why it often doesn't sell itself because we're trying to encompass everything we do in the shortest amount of time.

and we end up sitting there either in indecision or overthinking because it's impossible, or we don't really understand the phases of the customer buying journey and where the layers of positioning play a factor. For example, [00:17:00] something like, you know, speaking to the hesitations of an offer. You wouldn't actually do that until you were having a conversation with somebody about the offer.

So if you're leading with the offer first, and you're trying to Wrap everything up in that front end messaging. When someone first comes into your world, they're going to be overwhelmed by it, but they're also going to be like, but I'm not even asking those questions yet. And I don't even know if I want the thing.

Right. So we've got to think about our positioning, in my opinion, in layers. What's that front end positioning piece that's going to capture somebody's attention. That to me is the value proposition. That is the thing that's going to have someone go. I want that. because it's going to help serve X, Y, and Z, whatever it is that they want.

Now, if you have a variety of different people who are nuanced, and you help in a variety of different ways, this is where I invite you to zoom out again. It's [00:18:00] not about trying to capture that in a one size fits all tagline, or catchy tagline, or phrase or whatnot. It's about thinking about your business as an ecosystem, which I'm going to be breaking down in the next episode, because what ends up happening is we try to capture everything we're doing, all of the positioning, everything we're about, all in one post, one email.

And that, like I said, is nearly impossible. And so if we can think of our business as an ecosystem and a journey that we take people on, then we can look at positioning in layers. So we would not want to communicate everything somebody gets on the top layer. We want to communicate the value in order to create awareness, attention, and demand in that first layer, which is the value proposition in a lot of ways, which is the thing that's naturally going to call somebody into your world.

Like how [00:19:00] to articulate the value of what you do, even if you don't sell how to make 10k in 30 days. That captures somebody's attention. Selling the invisible captures somebody's attention, but the offer and what it is I'm selling may, may not be aligned with them just because I'm capturing their attention.

They might not be ready for it, but my goal is to then create additional positioning along that customer buying journey. that creates that no brainer. That's like, this is a no brainer purchase. For example, in the brick and mortar wine business, when somebody walked in the door because they were like, yes, I want wine at a fraction of retail.

Cool. Well, I can sell you this kit for this price. It's a pure juice kit. It's better than the concentrate kits. You get custom labels included in your purchase. And there's a, 100 percent satisfaction guaranteed. And we had that, right? So if somebody wasn't satisfied with the wine [00:20:00] upon delivery, we would make them another batch on us.

That was our guarantee because legally we weren't allowed to do like tasters or sampling, like a liquor store would be able to. We weren't allowed to do that. So that was a hesitation that we knew people were going to have. And so we just did a guarantee. We will guarantee a hundred percent satisfaction.

If not, we will make another batch on us because when they were there, they were hemming and hawing between a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Cabernet Franc and they just didn't know what, what do they taste like? What's the difference? Well, I couldn't give them a sample. And so it was like, we'll pick one. And if you don't like it, we'll make you another one kind of thing.

And that just sort of eliminated any purchasing hesitations that people had. And that was the only guarantee that we offered. But again, these weren't things that I was like, using to draw people into my business. These were just different layers of positioning. And then once somebody experienced the bottling process with the dishwasher and all those sorts of things, then they were like, bought in, bought in, right?

They were like, wow, this [00:21:00] is like, I'm going to just keep coming back here, which was awesome. Well, the online business creatively owned, right? Same thing with the layering. I'm se I'm helping people sell the invisible, which is very unique and different. I'm helping put into words what isn't tangible, but I'm also helping do it in an authentic, genuine way and ditch the cookie cutter and the step by step processes again, which is not common.

But I'm doing it in a very bespoke, custom way for the price of what you probably would expect to pay for a very, very high ticket mastermind, which is like 20k or more. Again, all of these elements is positioning, but what I'm doing to lead people into my world isn't that I'm not communicating that I'm communicating that when I get to the offer stage, when I'm actually selling, which is predominantly on sales calls, I'm using the front angle positioning of selling the invisible and how to articulate the value of what you do, even if it doesn't fit into 10k.

In 30 day type [00:22:00] promises, that's my front end positioning. And that's how I want you to consider yours. And then again, from that perspective of not having to fit it all into one, because this will fit within a ecosystem of content. email, social media, and all those sorts of things that will allow you to speak to the nuance and the variety of the people that you want to attract into your world.

So with that, I'm going to leave you with these questions. Who are the people that you ultimately want to serve? Why do you want to serve them? And what are you ultimately serving them with? And have you identified the gap or the need that they ultimately want filled in their life? And of course, positioning is the key to selling, and I often say this, that if you nail this, your marketing and sales will become so effortless because it will literally sell [00:23:00] itself.

Selling wine was so easy because of how we positioned it. Selling spellbound is, is effortless and easeful in a lot of ways because of how it's positioned. I don't spend a ton of time posting on social media, right? I'm not doing a lot of push marketing. There's not a lot of efforting. It's very easeful and it's because the positioning does a lot of the heavy lifting for me.

People see the value of it. They also need it and want it and they desire it. And Therefore, I don't really have to sell. It's like selling without selling in a lot of ways. And so if you're wanting support in how to really position your offer in a way that sells itself, which is my zone of genius above most zone of geniuses, right?

I'm really good at putting things into words. But if there's one thing I'm really fricking good at, it's how to position an offer so that it sells itself and how to really spot that within an industry and a market. Like that will fricking work. That is different. That's going to stand out. That's a [00:24:00] million dollar offer.

I literally just had a client send me a ton of things. Uh, her audience was sharing with her and I was like, That's a million dollar idea that you need to trademark and need to get on that. And so if you're looking for this type of support and you're looking for a thought partner that can help you position your offer in a way that sells itself, I'd love to invite you to book a call with me or my team where we can chat about how we might be able to support you.

And I'll obviously be really, really honest with you. My amazing sales team member recently asked me, like, how do you go about telling somebody if their idea isn't something that's going to work or whatnot. And I rarely will tell somebody that their idea isn't going to work, quote unquote, but I redirect a lot.

And so if somebody comes to me and says, this is what I want to offer. And I'm like, okay, we need to get a little bit more drilled down on it, but we also need to position it a little bit better is I redirect and I get my clients to come to a point that obviously is in alignment with them, but is they're [00:25:00] positioning it in a way that's truly, truly going to sell itself.

And if that is something that you ultimately want support with, then I invite you to book a call so that we can chat about how we might be able to support you. Cheers. 

INTRO: Thanks for listening. We'll see you right back here next time. You can also find us on social media at creatively owned and online at creatively owned.

com. Until next time, keep showing up as your authentic self.