Describe Your Business In One Sentence

Marketing expert and author, Geoffrey Moore, has a useful

fill-in-the-blank method for creating a theme and

positioning statement for your business. I prefer to use

his same system for creating clarity for myself in what I'm

selling, creating an elevator or introduction speech, and

also material for my website, brochures and business card.



Using this same method for each niche I have also keeps me

focused and on target for where I am going and what comes

first. I know it will do the same for you. As a public

speaker, I also like to use the same exercise to create a

one-line message for each workshop or engagement. This way the participants and I start from the same page. I like to

say it provides the tree trunk that all the branches stem

from.



This exercise is designed to be simple and achievable in 15

minutes. However, if this seems somewhat daunting, see if

your beliefs are still in the clouds of wanting to deliver

too much to too many to soon. If this is the case, there is

a great book I recommend that will support you in narrowing

down: Niche and Grow Rich, by Jennifer and Peter Sander.

This book will support you understanding the market place

you want to enter and in narrowing your thoughts.



Exercise



For ___________________________

(Hints: Who is your target customer, your niche? Is there

a geographic relevance? If so, add it. Examples: Seniors,

women business owners, teens between 13 and 18. If a

specific geographic area: Writers in the Washington DC

metro area.)



Who ___________________________

(Hints: This is where you qualify your target customer and

time of need. Examples: Who are obese. Who are 62 and

older. Who own a business. Who are in high school and take

music.)



Our product/service is ____________________________

(Hints: What is your product or the service? Our product

is a line of workshops. Our service is training. Our

service is executive coaching. Our service is training or

engineering or accounting.)



That provides ______________________________

(Hints: What are your key features of this product/service?

What are the major benefits of this product or service?

What are the tradeoffs? That provides shortcuts (software

training) at a discount/premium price. That contains no

chemicals. That contains no hidden costs. That contains

no markups. That contains life support.)



Unlike ____________________________________

(Hints: Who are your competitors? What are the products

not serving the needs of this particular niche? Unlike

other retail sellers, which have.... Unlike store-bought

goods, these.... Unlike other coaches.... Unlike other

workshops....)



Our product/service _______________________________

(Hints: Your product/service serves this niche by doing

what? Our product/service helps this group increase their

personal leadership skills. Our product/service helps this

group overcome.... Our product/service helps this group

reap the rewards of....



Taking This Forward



Once you have completed this exercise, whether it is for

your overall business theme or better yet a narrower one,

you can move this information forward into all your

marketing information.



Create a paragraph with this information, then edit and

refine the language so that it fits your customer's reading

style. This is especially important if your style is

different. Each word you use has an energy attached to it.

This energy either detracts or attracts customers.