Foundation

Position Your Brand - Owning Your Unique Market Space

~15 min read

Chapter 4 of 29

"In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different." - Coco Chanel

Your Goal Isn't to Just Blend In

All right, we've defined our brand. Now we need to position it.

Your goal isn't to just blend in. You actually want to find what is missing in your industry and own that gap.

So it might be the information that you have. It might be the philosophy you have around a certain subject matter like branding, for example. Or it might be your personality and your unique take on the same information. You might just be able to reach a whole different audience that wasn't able to connect with some of the other creators in that space.

Ultimately, what you are looking for is the gap of what is missing and then you fill it.

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower." - Steve Jobs

How to Find and Own That Gap

How do you go about finding out what is missing or how do you own that gap? Well, ask yourself these two questions:

What are the people that are currently creating content in the space that I'm wanting to occupy? What are they saying that I disagree with?
How can I take what has been taught for years or shared for years and bring a fresh perspective to the table?

A Real Example: What I'm Doing Right Here

Here's a really good example. If everyone in your industry is focusing on going viral and getting lots of views, maybe leaning into building a long-term trust-built brand will stand out.

That's what I'm trying to do here, right?

A lot of my counterparts who I love and respect, they emphasize virality and getting views and there's a lot of benefit to that. But where I'm coming in and kind of filling the gap is there's not a lot of people online talking, especially in the form of free content like this, in a way that shares with you how to build a brand that lasts.

If you just emphasize views, for example, the moment the algorithm changes, nobody's going and searching for your name. On the flip side, if you build a brand that has trustworthiness and deposits a lot of goodwill into the marketplace, the moment the algorithm changes, your audience will be searching for you.

And so that is a prime example of me contrasting myself with the others in the industry. That's me noticing a gap where nobody's talking about this or very few, and me wanting to fill it, not only with my unique perspectives and philosophies, my experience doing this for 16 years, but also maybe a unique and quirky personality that some people will really hate and then a tiny few of you might actually resonate with.

The Blue Ocean Principle: Making Competition Irrelevant

Harvard Business School research on Blue Ocean Strategy reveals that the most successful companies don't compete in existing market spaces ("red oceans") where competition is fierce and profits are squeezed. Instead, they create new market spaces ("blue oceans") where competition becomes irrelevant.

The Strategic Logic:
• Red Ocean Strategy: Compete in existing market space, beat the competition, exploit existing demand
• Blue Ocean Strategy: Create uncontested market space, make competition irrelevant, create and capture new demand

The Performance Data:
Companies that implemented Blue Ocean strategies showed:
• Higher profit margins due to reduced competitive pressure
• Faster growth rates through market expansion rather than market share battles
• Sustainable advantages that persist for years rather than months
• Premium pricing power based on unique value propositions

The Gap Analysis Framework: Finding Your Blue Ocean

Step 1: Industry Audit - What Everyone Else Is Doing

Most professionals never systematically analyze their competitive landscape. This creates massive opportunities for those who do.

The Two Critical Questions:

What are the people in your space saying that you disagree with?
How can you bring a fresh perspective to established thinking?

Research-Backed Approach:

Content Analysis: Study the top 20 voices in your industry over 6 months
Message Mapping: Identify the 3-5 themes everyone focuses on
Contrarian Opportunities: Find the perspectives that are underrepresented or missing entirely
Audience Gaps: Discover demographics or psychographics being ignored

Strategic Example: The Trust vs. Virality Gap
While most content creators focus on viral growth and view counts, there's a significant gap around building long-term trust and sustainable audience relationships. This creates a contrarian positioning opportunity:

Industry Focus: Algorithm optimization, viral content, maximum reach
Gap Opportunity: Trust-building, relationship depth, platform-independent audiences
Competitive Advantage: When algorithms change, viral-focused creators lose audiences; trust-based creators maintain loyalty

Case Study: Contrarian Positioning Success Stories

Tesla: Redefining the Automotive Industry

The Industry Status Quo (2008):

Electric cars were slow, limited range, and aesthetically unappealing
Luxury cars meant traditional internal combustion engines
Innovation focused on incremental improvements to existing technology

Tesla's Contrarian Position:

Created luxury electric vehicles with superior performance
Positioned sustainability as premium rather than compromise
Integrated technology and automotive in unprecedented ways

The Results:

Market capitalization exceeding traditional automakers combined
Category creation that forced entire industry transformation
Premium pricing maintained despite increased competition
Brand loyalty that transcends typical automotive relationships

Drift: Conversational Marketing Revolution

The Industry Status Quo:

Marketing automation focused on efficiency over human connection
Lead generation prioritized volume over relationship quality
Technology was positioned as replacement for human interaction

Drift's Contrarian Position:

"This Won't Scale" - prioritizing human connection over automation
Conversational marketing emphasizing real-time human interaction
People buy from people, not from automated sequences

The Results:

Category leadership in conversational marketing software
Rapid growth to hundreds of millions in revenue
Thought leadership position through contrarian content strategy
Premium positioning based on relationship-first philosophy

Patagonia: Environmental Activism as Business Strategy

The Industry Status Quo:

Fashion industry focused on fast turnover and consumption
Corporate social responsibility as marketing add-on
Profit maximization as primary business objective

Patagonia's Contrarian Position:

"Don't Buy This Jacket" - actively discouraging consumption
Environmental activism as core business strategy
Long-term sustainability over short-term profit

The Results:

$1 billion revenue built on anti-consumption messaging
Unshakeable brand loyalty among environmentally conscious consumers
Premium pricing maintained despite sustainable production costs
Competitive moat through authentic values alignment

The Psychology of Narrative: Why Stories Trump Statistics

Neuroscience Research Findings:
Studies show that emotionally engaging narratives cause increases in cortisol and oxytocin, with oxytocin changes positively correlating with empathy. This heightened empathy motivates prosocial behaviors, including purchasing decisions.

The Neural Coupling Effect:
When we hear compelling stories, neurons in our brain fire in the same patterns as the storyteller's through "neural coupling," creating shared contextual understanding across multiple brain areas.

Memory and Retention Research:
Narrative improves information processing, increasing recall by 65% compared to statistical presentations alone. Stories also increase interest and engagement with any material presented within the narrative structure.

"There is nothing more beautiful than seeing a person being themselves. Imagine going through your day being unapologetically you." - Steve Maraboli

Your Story as Strategic Weapon

The other way to bring a fresh perspective is to share your story.

What I would encourage you to look at is what is different about your story than everybody else's. Now the obvious answer is everybody's story is different, right? But what is it that makes you uniquely you? That you can present all of your information, your beliefs through that lens.

Ultimately, your story is your brand's secret weapon. This is what makes you unique and makes you stand out from everybody else in the crowd. Nobody else has the same come-up story or origin story that you do.

The Exercise That Changes Everything

An exercise to help you do this is actually to list out:

Pivotal moments in your story, in your life
Challenges you've overcome
Turning points in your career - that moment where you got laid off at your job, and then all of a sudden ended up finding the next gig, and it's the greatest thing ever
Any unique experiences that have shaped your perspective

For me, working with Gary Vaynerchuk completely changed my perspective. I had a completely different understanding of what it meant to create content online with your audience in mind first rather than making content to make you look good.

Share that in your content.

Why Stories Beat Attributes Every Time

Stories resonate way more with people than you saying typical tropes and attributes like "hardworking" or "innovative" or "hustling." Nobody gives a damn about that. They want to hear the story behind the hard work.

Instead of saying "I'm a hard worker," here's what I do:

I would tell the story of when I was editing Gary Vee's trash talk series and how I would come in on Sunday, and start editing 12 to 14 hours a day, Sunday through Thursday, and then I would arrive in the office at 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, and I would not leave the office until 2:00 p.m. on Friday. I'm not going to do the math for you right now, but I believe that's about 32 hours straight.

The story (and if I went more into detail) would be far more compelling than me just telling you about working hard or how I work hard.

The Jeff Bezos Door-Desk Example:
Instead of Jeff Bezos talking about how resourceful he is, tell the story about how he used a door as his desk. Nothing will say resourceful more than telling that story.

Share your stories. That is what your audience is going to resonate with.

The Authenticity Advantage:
Research in consumer psychology shows that authenticity is valued more highly than perfection. Consumers increasingly choose brands that feel genuine over those that appear flawless.

Strategic Story Development Framework:

1. Pivotal Moments Inventory
Document the experiences that shaped your perspective:

Career turning points: When did your direction change dramatically?
Failure lessons: What defeats taught you the most valuable lessons?
Mentor encounters: Who fundamentally changed your thinking?
Industry observations: What have you noticed that others miss?
Personal challenges: How did obstacles create unique insights?

2. Perspective Differentiation
Identify what makes your viewpoint distinctive:

Contrarian beliefs: What do you believe that others in your industry don't?
Unique experiences: What background gives you different insights?
Cross-industry knowledge: How do perspectives from other fields apply?
Demographic advantages: What does your identity bring to the conversation?
Philosophical differences: What core beliefs separate you from competitors?

3. Value Connection
Link your story to audience benefit:

Lesson extraction: What can others learn from your experiences?
Mistake prevention: How can your failures help others avoid similar issues?
Success replication: What principles from your wins are transferable?
Perspective expansion: How does your viewpoint help others think differently?
Emotional resonance: Which aspects of your story create the strongest connections?

The Jeff Bezos Door-Desk Principle

Instead of saying "I'm resourceful," Jeff Bezos tells the story of using a door as his first Amazon desk. This single image communicates resourcefulness more powerfully than any abstract claim.

The Strategic Application:
Rather than stating attributes, embed them in memorable narratives:

Instead of "hardworking": Share the story of your 32-hour straight editing session
Instead of "innovative": Describe the unconventional solution that saved a project
Instead of "reliable": Tell about the time you delivered despite impossible circumstances
Instead of "strategic": Narrate how you identified a market opportunity others missed

Handle the Skepticism (This Is Crucial)

For those of you who have made content online, the thing that you're probably very aware of is there's a lot of skepticism. There are a lot of objections that the audience has towards your content, especially if you are in the education space.

Legitimately, the majority of people watching your content are thinking the entire time:

"Why would I trust this?"
"Does this actually work?"
"Okay, cool. That worked for you, but does it work for me?"
"How would it work in this scenario?"
"Have you done this in multiple different industries?"

They are constantly thinking of their objections to what you have to say. And often times those objections and that skepticism appears in the comments.

The Game-Changing Strategy

Here's what I would like you to do. Instead of allowing that to take place in your comments, start looking at your comment section, getting a greater understanding of the skepticism and objections that commonly occur within your audience and start addressing them in the content.

Just like a great VSL (video sales letter) overcomes objections before a prospect hops on a sales call, treat your content the same way.

Why would you not try to overcome the objections that your audience is going to have? If ultimately your goal is to educate and change the actions of your audience after they consume your content, why would you make it harder for them to do that?

Let's make it easier by overcoming any objection or skepticism they're going to have about what you're saying in the content itself.

If you address the skepticism and the objections proactively in your content, what you do is:

You build more trust and credibility
When you answer the questions before they're even asked, you remove friction
Then it makes it easier for your audience to actually change their actions and be educated

The Sales Psychology Connection:
Just as effective sales presentations overcome objections before prospects raise them, your content should address skepticism proactively rather than reactively.

Systematic Objection Integration:

1. Audience Research Phase

Comment analysis: What skepticism appears in your content responses?
Direct feedback: What questions do people ask in private messages?
Industry objections: What skepticism exists about your field generally?
Competitor critique: What objections are raised about similar approaches?

2. Content Integration Strategy

Preemptive addressing: Answer objections within your main content
Evidence provision: Provide proof points before claims are questioned
Limitation acknowledgment: Admit where your approach doesn't work
Alternative consideration: Discuss why other methods might be preferred

3. Trust Building Mechanisms

Transparent methodology: Explain exactly how you developed your insights
Failure sharing: Discuss what you've tried that didn't work
Source citation: Reference research and external validation
Process documentation: Show the work behind your conclusions

Don't Be a Robot (This Matters More Than You Think)

All right, the next one is don't be a robot.

This is something that a lot of people making content online really struggle with, and I completely understand why. There's this weird object that you're talking into called a camera and a lens. And it's like this very freaky ordeal, right?

Even right now, I am doing my best to be a human, not a robot, and bring my personality into this content rather than just monotone giving the information that I want to.

Part of being a human is sharing not only the wins, but also the losses. Share the failures that you've had along the way and the lessons that you learned from those failures.

Why Vulnerability Builds Trust Faster

Think about it. The friend that you have that's always sharing how great everything is and how they just keep winning eventually—one, they just become kind of annoying, right? But two, do you really believe that? Do you really believe that life is so perfect and that everything is going exactly their way? No.

Imagine not knowing this individual. So from afar, your audience is going to be even more skeptical of you if all you're doing is sharing all your wins.

On the flip side, if you are vulnerable and you share your losses, what you will find is:

A lot more people will trust you
Connect with you
Relate with you

I actually think that losses are more relatable than wins. And we can learn a lot more from losses than maybe we can learn from wins.

A Real Example of Vulnerability

An example for sharing your failures is in my first YouTube video, I share a failure. I share the story of how one of my main clients cut my monthly compensation in half and I had to go and fire my friends that I had hired.

That was a real shot to my ego and isn't my favorite thing to share necessarily, but I think:

There's a big lesson that I shared that is accompanied with that failure
You guys watching it probably felt a little bit closer to me because I appeared more human

That transparency ultimately builds trust way faster than somebody who is just constantly posturing and trying to show you how great they are.

The Client Story That Changed Everything

A really good example of this is someone that I worked for several years ago. When I started with her, her whole audience thought that she was a robot and viewed her as not human. She just came across as like an information overload, and she was just sharing her knowledge which was a lot but it had no substance or personality to it.

And so when I started working with her it was my number one goal to show her human side—to take it from just information to showing personality. And this individual, she had an amazing personality. She was hilarious, so funny, quirky, everything. But you would never know that just watching the content.

In fact, a lot of people would meet her in real life and be like, "You're so much nicer and funnier than I expected you to be. I actually kind of expected you to be a jerk." But in no way was that the case, but you wouldn't know it from the content she was making.

And so, I really encourage you to do your best to bring your true self, bring your whole self into your content. Seriously, it will make you stand out. There's nobody else that's actually like you.

The Commoditization Problem:
As artificial intelligence becomes more sophisticated, purely informational content becomes increasingly commoditized. The sustainable competitive advantage lies in authenticity, personality, and human connection.

Research on Emotional Connection:
Studies in neuroscience and psychology show that emotions play a critical role in decision-making, with consumers more likely to choose brands based on how they make them feel rather than technical attributes.

Strategic Vulnerability Framework:

1. Win and Loss Balance
Share both successes and failures in strategic ratios:

Success stories: Demonstrate capability and credibility
Failure narratives: Build relatability and trustworthiness
Learning emphasis: Position failures as valuable education
Humanity display: Show that you're real, not perfect

2. Personality Integration
Let your authentic character enhance your professional message:

Communication style: Use your natural way of speaking/writing
Humor inclusion: Share your sense of humor where appropriate
Opinion expression: Take stands on industry issues that matter
Quirk embrace: Let your unique traits show through your content

3. Behind-the-Scenes Sharing
Give audiences access to your process and thinking:

Decision explanations: Why you chose specific approaches
Mistake documentation: What you learned from errors
Thought evolution: How your perspectives have changed
Current challenges: What you're working to improve

The Audience Feedback Loop: Data-Driven Authenticity

The Praise-Hate Balance Principle:
If you get highly emotional about positive feedback, you'll be equally vulnerable to negative responses. Emotional equilibrium allows for objective assessment of audience insights.

Strategic Feedback Analysis:

1. Close Network Insights
Your immediate professional circle often provides the most accurate feedback:

Consistent compliments: What do people always mention about your work?
Unique value recognition: What do others say they can't find elsewhere?
Referral patterns: Why do people recommend you to others?
Energy observations: What aspects of your personality do people consistently mention?

2. Audience Pattern Recognition
Look for themes in broader audience feedback:

Content preferences: Which topics generate the most engagement?
Style resonance: What communication approaches work best?
Value perception: What do people find most useful about your content?
Differentiation acknowledgment: How do people describe what makes you unique?

3. Market Positioning Refinement
Use feedback to sharpen your positioning:

Strength amplification: Double down on what's working well
Gap identification: Address areas where audience needs aren't being met
Message clarity: Refine communication that's being misunderstood
Value demonstration: Better articulate your unique contributions

"Embrace what you don't know, especially in the beginning, because what you don't know can become your greatest asset. It ensures that you will absolutely be doing things different from everybody else." - Sara Blakely, Spanx Founder

Chapter Implementation: Your Positioning Strategy

Week 1: Competitive Gap Analysis

Map the 15-20 leading voices in your industry
Identify the 5 most common themes/messages
Document 3-5 perspectives that are missing or underrepresented
Choose your contrarian positioning opportunity

Week 2: Story Inventory and Development

Complete the Pivotal Moments Inventory
Identify 5-7 stories that demonstrate your unique value
Practice telling these stories in compelling ways
Link each story to specific professional benefits

Week 3: Objection Research and Integration

Analyze feedback and comments for common skepticism
List 10-15 objections people likely have about your approach
Develop proactive responses for each objection
Create content that addresses objections before they're raised

Week 4: Authentic Positioning Test

Share content that reflects your contrarian position
Include personal stories and authentic personality
Monitor audience response and engagement patterns
Refine positioning based on market feedback

Chapter Summary: Standing Out in a Crowded Market

Effective brand positioning isn't about being better—it's about being different in ways that matter to your audience.

The professionals who achieve lasting market positions:

Identify gaps in industry thinking rather than competing on existing battlegrounds
Share authentic stories that create emotional connections and demonstrate unique value
Address skepticism proactively rather than reactively
Embrace personality as a competitive advantage in an increasingly automated world
Listen strategically to audience feedback while maintaining authentic positioning

Your market position is determined by what you choose to stand for and, equally importantly, what you choose to stand against.

In a world where everyone is trying to say the right thing, authenticity becomes revolutionary. In an industry where everyone follows the same playbook, contrarian thinking becomes valuable. In a market where everyone competes on the same dimensions, unique positioning becomes powerful.

"Don't be intimidated by what you don't know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else." - Brian Chesky, Airbnb Co-founder