Creating a Personal Brand That Stands Out in a Crowd

Positioning in plain terms

Positioning is the place you occupy in someone’s mind relative to others who do similar work. It answers a quiet question every buyer, employer or reader asks: “How is this person different from the others I could choose?” If you do not answer it, people will fill in an answer themselves, often by grouping you with everyone else.

Distinctive positioning does not require inventing something no one has done. It requires choosing a clear emphasis and expressing it in words that are honestly yours. This article is a practical walkthrough: write a statement, map how peers describe themselves, and adjust until the difference is visible.

The method is general and no guarantee of results. Positioning helps people understand you; it does not replace the quality of your work.

Step one: gather the raw material

Before writing a statement, collect facts about yourself. List:

• the kinds of problems you have solved, with brief examples
• the people or organizations you have worked with or want to
• the methods you rely on and why
• feedback that recurs, such as “you explain things clearly”
• what you want to do more of, and what you would rather stop doing

This list should be honest, not aspirational. Positioning that does not match your real strengths is hard to maintain, and gaps between claim and reality tend to show quickly. Looking at your unique strengths in this way gives you ingredients for later steps.

Step two: write a first positioning statement

A positioning statement is usually an internal tool. It guides your wording rather than appearing on a page word for word. A common template is:

For [specific audience] who [need or problem], I provide [what you offer] that [key benefit], unlike [typical alternative], because [reason to believe].

A hypothetical example: “For small clinics that struggle to explain their services online, I write plain-language web pages that patients can follow, unlike generic marketing copy, because I have worked in clinic administration and know the questions patients ask.”

Note the pieces:

• The audience is specific.
• The benefit is stated from the audience’s side.
• The alternative describes the usual option, not a named competitor.
• The reason to believe is something verifiable, such as experience or a process.

Your first draft will probably feel clunky. That is fine. It exists to be revised. Avoid vague terms like “innovative” or “high quality,” which every competitor also uses.

Step three: map what peers say

Now compare your statement with the field. Choose eight to twelve people or organizations that a potential client or employer might consider alongside you. For each, note from their public profile or website:

1. who they say they serve
2. what they say they offer
3. the main benefit they promise
4. the adjectives they use
5. the proof they display

Then arrange the results in a simple grid or on a sheet of paper, with the audience types along one side and the promised benefits along the other. Mark where each peer sits. Typically you will see a cluster of people in the same few cells, such as “everyone says they are results-focused,” and several empty or sparse cells.

The empty cells are not automatically opportunities. Sometimes a space is empty because there is no demand. But they are worth examining. Ask yourself: is there a need here that I can honestly meet? Do I have the experience to support it? Would someone looking for this be able to find me?

This process is for learning, not for imitation. Study how others frame their work, then deliberately choose a different emphasis rather than a lightly reworded version. Also resist the urge to disparage competitors; clear positioning does not require criticism of others, and comparison culture tends to drain energy.

Step four: adjust until the difference is clear

Compare your statement with the grid and look for overlap. Questions to ask:

• If I removed my name, could this belong to any of the peers I mapped?
• Is the difference something a client cares about, or only something I find interesting?
• Is each claim backed by something I can show?
• Is any phrase an exaggeration I would struggle to defend?

If the statement sounds like the others, sharpen one dimension. You might narrow the audience, emphasize a distinct method, or foreground a background that gives you a different perspective. Usually changing one element is enough. Trying to differ on every dimension tends to produce a confusing message.

Step five: turn it into everyday wording

The positioning statement itself is rarely public. What people see is derived from it: a short brand statement, a professional bio, the opening lines of your about page, a spoken introduction. Reduce the statement to a sentence or two in natural language, and test it on a few people. Ask them to tell you back what you do and how you differ. If their answer is close to what you intended, you are on track. If not, revise.

Keep your wording consistent across places so that the message accumulates instead of fragmenting. A change in emphasis should be deliberate, not accidental.

Keep checking

Positioning is not permanent. The field changes, new people enter, and your own interests develop. Reviewing the peer map once or twice a year is usually enough. Look for new patterns and ask whether your statement still describes you accurately.

A few honest limits apply. A well-written statement will not make unsuitable work appealing. Some audiences may not respond however clearly you speak. And the strongest positioning is usually one that is backed by actual experience, which grows over time. Treat the statement as a working draft that you update as that experience builds.