My dead-simple positioning framework for Indie Entrepreneurs [6 steps]

Do you have 5 minutes to improve your positioning?

Good.

Follow my template to improve your sales offer and get more sales. Designed for busy Solopreneurs from the MakerBox experience.

Step 1. Pick one target audience segment

There are hundreds of target audience segments.

You need to pick one segment that is (will be) accountable for 50+% of your sales:

1-1 Coaching: Agency owners with < $10 000 monthly revenue
Email Marketing SaaS: Startup Founders without marketing experience
Programming Bootcamp: US Senior students

Step 2. Define your transformation

Your segment is not here to buy five product features.

They need to improve their life — they need to complete the transformation.

Describe in <5 words what value they get from your product:

1-1 Coaching: Be more productive
Email Marketing SaaS: Increase revenue
Programming Bootcamp: Find a well-paid job

Step 3. Describe one benefit of your transformation

Transformation is key to your positioning. But most users still don't understand why they should be excited about it.

Pick one benefit that your transformation delivers. It should be critical to your target audience segment:

1-1 Coaching: No more working overtime
Email Marketing SaaS: Feeling calm and confident
Programming Bootcamp: Getting into a new community

Step 4. Pick one nemesis

Your potential customer agrees to your transformation. But they still need to switch from their status quo. That's a risk.

Inertia keeps people from switching to your product. You need to fight it.

Start with claiming your nemesis:

1-1 Coaching: Micromanaging employees
Email Marketing SaaS: Building a "product that sells"
Programming Bootcamp: Video courses

Your nemesis can be technological and traditional. Sometimes, it's just "do nothing".

Step 5. Describe one pain from using your nemesis

It's not enough to state your nemesis. You need to make sure people understand why sticking to this solution is not efficient.

Pick one annoying problem that your nemesis creates:

1-1 Coaching: Procrastinating your own tasks
Email Marketing SaaS: Getting no word-of-mouth
Programming Bootcamp: Not having enough practice for job interviews

Step 6. Assemble your positioning story

Perfect storytelling structure to grab the attention and sell your product organically. Use it on your landing page, marketing emails, and product videos.

Here are more examples:

1-1 Coaching: Agency owners with < $10 000 monthly revenue, be more productive without working overtime instead of micromanaging your employees and procrastinating your own tasks.
Email Marketing SaaS: Startup Founders without marketing experience, increase your revenue to feel more calm and confident instead of getting no word-of-mouth from the "product that sells itself"
Programming Bootcamp: US Senior students, find a well-paid job and get into a new community instead of watching a video course that doesn't give you enough practice for job interviews

Your positioning feels better. Your offer will get sharper and your messaging clearer. All done in 5 minutes.

Conclusion

The 80/20 rule is a key component of Solopreneurs' life.

You have 24 hours, but you need to do the job of 10 people. You need shortcuts.

Hopefully, my positioning exercise saved you some time.