November 2, 2026

“Good Enough” Positioning

In the last couple of messages, I’ve suggested that you should probably start engaging in marketing activities before you have your positioning totally figured out.

But in other messages, I’ve said that engaging in marketing activities without having your positioning figured out is probably a waste of time and money.

Since these two statements appear to be contradictory, I want to make a clarification:

Without a strong positioning statement, your marketing activities are unlikely to attract many ideal buyers.
However, engaging in marketing activities is a good way to start the kind of conversations that can help you improve your positioning statement.

So...

Spending time and money on marketing efforts without having a strong positioning statement probably won’t deliver direct benefits. But a beneficial side effect is that your positioning will likely become clearer thanks to your “wasted” efforts.

Think of it like spiraling into the bullseye from the outside ring of a target.

It’s not a direct path, but you have to start somewhere.

Yours,

—J