There’s 2 schools of thought when it comes to demand for what you offer:
School of thought #1: You cannot create market demand, you can only channel it.
School of thought #2: You CAN create market demand
I’d like to offer a 3rd path: you can create market demand, but it will take more time, money, patience… AND at the same time, you can channel existing demand to what you’ve got.
This is the bootstrapped way: invest in making revenue today AND tomorrow.
This demand dichotomy boils down to market awareness: do people know they have a problem? Do they know there’s a solution? Or are they both problem and solution unaware?
This is where Peak Positioning comes into play:
We want to channel the existing demand in your market to your goods & services.
If you followed the exercise to know your ideal client’s Inner Dialogue, then you should be able to answer the following question:
When your ideal client is looking to solve their problem (and is in your market), what are the 2 core desires/emotions they need to fulfill?
For example, when I work with bootstrapped founders, they desire:
1 – Certainty
2 – Performance
This comes from their inner desires of:
1 – Wanting to be in control, know they are making the smart decision, determine their destiny
2 – Get results
So, how does this help you create Peak Positioning for your offerings?
Simple:
Make a graph with the 2 core desires/emotions your ideal clients want when looking to solve a problem you help them with on the X & Y line…
THEN
plot out your offerings on that graph to see which offering lands at the top right corner of the graph, hitting both desires at the highest level.
For example:
I offer a newsletter, books, live training & private client consulting.
Each of these hits both core desires (certainty & performance) at different levels, with private client work hitting both desires at the highest level.
Hitting this highest level of your ideal clients’ desires is how you design Peak Positioning.
How do your offerings play out using this framework?
PS Shoutout and big thank you to Seth Godin for inspiring this line of thought.