Most business owners have a complicated strategy:

• 8 different messaging angles
• 12 marketing channels
• 6 target audiences
• 47 different tactics
• 14 different offers
• Not a single niche in sight

No wonder they struggle to stand out and land clients.

That's not a strategy. That's chaos!

Think about it.

How on earth are you going to keep up with marketing on 12 channels to 6 different audiences with 8 different messages when you have a single marketer? Or no marketer on staff?

Answer: you aren't.

Hell, I do branding and marketing for a living and even I couldn't keep up with that mess.

And I know what you're thinking because I hear it all the time:

If you focus on only one audience, you'll lose out on revenue.

🤦🏻‍♂️

Actually, data shows time and again that businesses who specialize (i.e. focus on solving ONE problem for ONE audience) make 30%+ MORE than those who try to market to everyone.

Imagine 30% revenue growth just from trimming your audience.

That's what positioning does.

What Actually is a Strategy?

So, what does a good strategy look like?

First, we need to get clear on what a strategy actually is.

Most business owners think a strategy is some kind of complex plan that takes months to create and is spread out over multiple spreadsheets and explained in a 100-page guidelines book.

That is a plan.

A strategy is simply a decision that defines how you'll use your finite resources to create an unfair advantage and achieve a goal.

• One you make
• One you remember
• One you stick to long term

And it should be communicated in one sentence.

Because no one is going to remember a 100-page guidelines book or even reference it when making micro-decisions about your business.

They need something they know. Something they remember. Something that is so ingrained that they don't even have to think about it.

That's only achieved when your strategy is a sentence.

Strategy Sentence

This is the sentence I use to craft brand strategies for my clients:

• We are the only [category]
• that provides [unique value]
• by [differentiated method]
• for [ideal customers]

It's called an Onlyness Statement and was written by Marty Neumeier, the godfather of modern branding.

It works because it's simple.

This strategy lays the foundation for everything in your business — what makes you unique (i.e. why customers should buy from you), who is most likely to buy from you, and how you define your business.

You need clarity on those 3 elements for everything.

• Sales
• Marketing
• Operations
• Support
• Pricing
• HR

They all need to know what makes you unique, for whom, and how in order to function correctly.

In fact, every business problem I've been hired to solve has been caused by a lack of clarity on one (if not all) three of those elements.

Every. Single. Problem.

When you have a strategy statement in place, it drives clarity for everyone in your business.

Create Your Strategy Statement

Don't be decieved.

While a strategy statement is simple, it's incredibly hard to write.

This isn't something you'll complete in 5 minutes, 2 hours, or even a few days.

Crafting a strategy statement takes:

• Researching your competitors to see what they are NOT doing
• Researching your ideal customers to understand what they want and need
• Researching your own company to uncover what makes you unique
• Writing and rewriting that statement until it's clear, concise, and compelling

It often takes me 3 workshops, 2 weeks of research, and 1 week of working through proofs to nail this strategy statement for a client.

And I do this regularly.

Don't be discouraged if you write something that doesn't hit on the first go.

This statement is the most important thing you can do for your business.

Give it time...and about 100 revisions.

And if you need help with it, grab my Onlyness Strategy Template.

This course includes:

• Fill-in-the-Blank Strategy Statement
• How to fill in each blank of the statement
• How to name your strategy (sexy shorthand)
• Creating your action plan (do list and kill list)
• Resources to implement it throughout your business

The best part? It's only $29.

Seems like a no-brainer to me.

Either way, craft your strategy statement.

Everything you're confused about when it comes to growing your busines is solved when you have clarity around your unique value, for whom, and how.

Until next week,

#SassyJason out.

✌🏼

PS - Grab your Onlyness Strategy Template and craft your strategy statement today!