Yes. Now that we have the actual TOC for Obviously Awesome, I would rewrite Step 4 so the book content and the EVUNN execution flow are properly aligned.

Step 4 — Define Your Position

The Problem We’re Solving

“I understand my best-fit customer, what triggers them to act and what alternatives they consider, but I don’t know what position my offer should own in their mind.”

You now know:

Who your customer is.

When they become ready to act.

What alternatives they consider.

But there is still a critical question:

“Given everything I know, how should my offer be understood in the market?”

This is where positioning begins.

Positioning is not simply choosing a tagline.

It is not writing:

“I am a business coach who helps entrepreneurs grow.”

And it is not listing everything you can do.

Positioning is deciding the context in which your offer should be understood, and the specific value it should be associated with.

Your goal is to make it easier for the right customer to think:

“This is specifically for someone like me, and this is why it is different from the alternatives I could choose.”

The EVUNN Mindset Shift

From “How do I describe what I do?” → “What should I be known for?”

Experts naturally position themselves around their credentials.

You might say:

“I’m a lawyer with 15 years’ experience.”

“I’m a certified leadership coach.”

“I’m a marketing consultant.”

“I’ve worked with major companies.”

These may establish credibility.

But they don’t necessarily establish a market position.

Your position is about the meaning the customer attaches to your offer.

So instead of asking:

“How do I describe my expertise?”

ask:

“What should this particular customer immediately associate with my offer?”

📖 Recommended Book

Obviously Awesome

Author: April Dunford

The Big Idea

Positioning is about creating the right context for customers to understand the value of your offer.

The same offer can appear ordinary in one context and highly valuable in another.

The book’s positioning process helps you move through:

Customers

↓

Competitive Alternatives

↓

Unique Attributes

↓

Customer Value

↓

Customers Who Care Most

↓

Market Frame of Reference

↓

Position

This is exactly the sequence EVUNN needs at this point.

What Business Problem Does This Book Solve?

“My offer is valuable, but I haven’t figured out the context that makes its value obvious to the right customer.”

An expert may have many capabilities.

But putting all of them into the market creates a vague offer.

For example:

“I help businesses with strategy, leadership, marketing and operations.”

The customer has to figure out:

“Which problem is this person particularly good at solving?”

Positioning gives the customer a clearer answer.

Should I Read It Now?

YES.

This is the primary book for Step 4.

You should now read it after completing Steps 1–3 because you already have the raw material the positioning process requires.

Don’t read it as a branding book.

Read it as a market decision-making framework.

Your question while reading should be:

“How do I determine the context in which my offer becomes most valuable and relevant?”

Which Parts Matter Most?

You do not need to read the entire book equally.

Part I — What Is Positioning?

ESSENTIAL

Positioning as Context

This is foundational.

Understand why positioning isn’t simply a statement about what you sell.

The context in which the customer evaluates your offer changes how they perceive its value.

The Five (plus One) Components of Effective Positioning

ESSENTIAL

Understand the components that make positioning effective.

These will become the foundation of your EVUNN Positioning Canvas.

Part II — The 10-Step Positioning Process

Step 1 — Understand the Customers Who Love Your Product

ESSENTIAL

This connects directly to the Best-Fit Customer Profile you created in Step 1.

The goal isn’t to appeal to everyone.

It’s to understand who is most likely to see the value in what you’ve created.

Step 2 — Form a Positioning Team

SKIP FOR NOW

Most EVUNN users are positioning their own expertise-based businesses.

You don’t need to build a positioning team to complete this exercise.

Step 3 — Align Your Positioning Vocabulary and Let Go of Your Positioning Baggage

SKIM

Useful for understanding positioning language and avoiding assumptions.

But it isn’t central to the EVUNN execution task.

Step 4 — List Your True Competitive Alternatives

ESSENTIAL

This directly connects to Step 3.

Your positioning must be understood relative to the alternatives your customer actually considers.

Step 5 — Isolate Your Unique Attributes or Features

ESSENTIAL

Identify what genuinely makes your offer different.

Don’t simply list your credentials.

Look at the actual attributes of your offer.

Step 6 — Map the Attributes to Value “Themes”

ESSENTIAL

This is where you move from:

“What’s different about us?”

to:

“Why does that difference matter to the customer?”

A difference without customer value isn’t useful positioning.

Step 7 — Determine Who Cares a Lot

ESSENTIAL

This is particularly important for expert businesses.

You don’t need everyone to care equally.

You need to identify:

Who cares enough about this particular value to choose your offer?

Step 8 — Find a Market Frame of Reference

ESSENTIAL

This is one of the most important sections for Step 4.

Ask:

“What context or category should the customer use to understand this offer?”

The frame of reference influences what customers compare you against and how they interpret your value.

Step 9 — Layer On a Trend

SKIM / OPTIONAL

A trend can strengthen positioning in some businesses.

But don’t force this.

An expert-based business doesn’t need a trend to have strong positioning.

Step 10 — Capture Your Positioning

ESSENTIAL

This is where you document the positioning decision so you can use it consistently.

This is the point at which EVUNN converts the strategy into its Positioning Blueprint.

What Should I Ignore For Now?

Don’t spend time perfecting:

• Website headlines

• Taglines

• Social media bios

• Sales copy

• Advertisements

• Content hooks

Those come later.

At this stage, you’re making a strategic positioning decision.

Your EVUNN Action

Build Your Positioning Blueprint

Bring forward your three previous outputs:

Step 1

Best-Fit Customer Profile

Step 2

Buying Situation Profile

Step 3

Customer Alternative & Decision Landscape

Now use them to determine your position.

1. Define the Customer You Want to Position For

Ask:

“Who is most likely to care deeply about the value my offer creates?”

Don’t simply use your broad target market.

Identify the customer for whom your offer has the strongest relevance.

2. Identify the Competitive Context

Bring forward the alternatives from Step 3.

Ask:

“What would this customer compare my offer against?”

Your position needs to make sense within this competitive context.

3. Identify Your Unique Attributes

Ask:

“What does my offer genuinely do differently?”

Look at:

• Approach

• Method

• Process

• Specialisation

• Expertise

• Delivery

• Experience

• Speed

• Convenience

• Personalisation

• Risk reduction

Don’t manufacture differences.

Identify genuine attributes.

4. Translate Attributes Into Customer Value

For every meaningful difference ask:

“So what does this do for the customer?”

For example:

Attribute:

Personalised implementation.

↓

Customer value:

The customer gets help applying the solution to their specific situation rather than simply receiving information.

Continue until you can explain why the difference matters.

5. Identify Who Cares Most

Now ask:

“Which customers care most about this particular value?”

This is where your positioning becomes sharper.

For example:

A generic:

“Personalised business support”

may matter to many people.

But:

“Personalised support for first-time consultants who don’t know how to turn their expertise into a sellable offer”

is much more specific.

6. Choose the Market Frame of Reference

Ask:

“What should customers compare this offer to?”

This is a strategic decision.

For example, an offer could potentially be understood as:

• Coaching

• Consulting

• Training

• Advisory

• Implementation service

• Done-for-you service

• Digital product

• Education programme

The choice affects how the customer interprets your offer.

Choose the context that makes your strengths most relevant.

7. Identify the Value You Want to Own

Complete:

“For this customer, in this situation, our most valuable difference is ______ because it helps them ______.”

This becomes the central value theme of your position.

8. Build Your Position

Now combine everything.

Use:

For [best-fit customer] who [situation/problem], [offer] is a [market frame of reference] that [key value] because [reason to believe].

For example:

For newly promoted managers who need to lead former peers effectively, our programme is a 90-day leadership transition system that helps them build authority and confidence through structured implementation support.

This is not necessarily your final marketing copy.

It is your strategic positioning statement.

9. Create Your “Known For” Statement

Now simplify the position.

Complete:

“We want to be known for helping [customer] achieve [progress] in [situation].”

For example:

“We want to be known for helping newly promoted managers successfully transition from peer to leader during their first 90 days.”

This becomes a useful internal compass.

10. Stress-Test the Position

Before accepting it, ask:

Is it relevant?

Does this customer actually care?

Is it differentiated?

Does it create a meaningful distinction?

Is it valuable?

Does the difference produce an outcome customers care about?

Is it credible?

Can you deliver what you’re claiming?

Is it specific?

Could dozens of competitors use exactly the same position?

Is the frame of reference helping you?

Does the chosen context make your strengths more obvious?

If not, refine it.

🧠 EVUNN Mindset Checkpoint

Are you afraid to narrow your position?

You may think:

“But I can help many different people.”

“I don’t want to exclude anyone.”

“I have so much expertise; I want to show all of it.”

This is where experts often make positioning weaker.

You don’t have to stop being capable of serving other customers.

You are simply deciding:

“Who should immediately recognise that this offer is particularly relevant to them?”

Optional reading: Essentialism — Greg McKeown

Use this only if you find yourself unable to choose because you want to include everything.

This is optional.

Do not interrupt the execution flow unless you actually encounter this resistance.

🔓 EVUNN Execution Toolkit

Positioning Canvas

Turn your customer and market research into a clear market position.

The EVUNN Positioning Canvas helps you connect your best-fit customer, competitive alternatives, unique attributes, customer value and market context to determine what your offer should be known for.

→ Unlock The Toolkit

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Your Step 4 Output

By the end of this step, you should have a:

POSITIONING BLUEPRINT

Containing:

Best-Fit Customer
↓
Competitive Context
↓
Unique Attributes
↓
Customer Value Themes
↓
Customers Who Care Most
↓
Market Frame of Reference
↓

Chosen Position

↓

Positioning Statement

↓

“Known For” Statement

What You Should Now Know

You started Phase 3 with:

“I have an offer.”

You now know:

WHO → Best-Fit Customer

WHEN → Buying Situation

HOW THEY CHOOSE → Alternatives & Decision Landscape

WHAT YOU SHOULD BE KNOWN FOR → Position

That is a major shift.

You are no longer simply describing your expertise.

You have chosen how your offer should be understood by the market.

But there is still one question your customer will ask:

“Why should I choose you instead of the alternatives?”

That is different from positioning.

And that is the job of the next step.

NEXT: STEP 5 — DEFINE YOUR DIFFERENTIATION

Why should my best-fit customer choose my offer over the alternatives?