Positioning: How Others Perceive You

Positioning is the gap between how you see yourself and how others see you. Close that gap, and your marketing works. Leave it open, and students are confused about what you offer.

Most course creators don’t think about positioning. They write a bio, pick a headshot, and hope for the best. The result is a mixed message: their course says one thing, their social media says another, and their website says something different entirely.

The Positioning Statement

Before touching any marketing material, write a positioning statement:

“I am a [role/expertise] who helps [specific audience] achieve [specific outcome] through [your method].”

Examples:

• “I am a former college dean who helps subject-matter experts turn their knowledge into profitable online courses through a validate-first launch method.”
• “I am a product photographer who helps Etsy sellers double their conversion rates using only a smartphone and natural light.”

Read your positioning statement to someone who doesn’t know you. If they can explain what you do to a friend, your positioning is clear. If they ask follow-up questions, it’s not tight enough.

Positioning Signals

Every touchpoint a student encounters is a positioning signal. Here’s what to audit:

Your headshot. Professional but approachable. Not a corporate headshot with the blurred background. Not a selfie from a bathroom. A clear, well-lit photo where you look like someone worth learning from.

Your bio. Two sentences maximum. First sentence: who you help and what outcome you deliver. Second sentence: your credibility (results, experience, or story). Cut everything else.

Your course title. Outcome-focused, not topic-focused. “Facebook Ads Mastery” is topic-focused. “Fill Your Group Fitness Classes with Facebook Ads” is outcome-focused.

Your website. Within 5 seconds of landing on your site, a visitor should know: who you are, who you help, and what result you deliver. If they have to scroll to figure it out, your positioning is buried.

Your social profiles. Consistent with your website. Same positioning statement, same headshot, same tone. Not identical content, but the same underlying message.

Common Positioning Mistakes

Leading with credentials. “MBA from Stanford, 15 years in corporate marketing.” Students don’t care about your resume. They care about whether you can help them. Lead with the outcome, not the credential.

Trying to sound like an authority figure. Formal language, academic tone, third person. Students want a teacher, not a textbook. Write like you talk.

Being everything to everyone. “I help entrepreneurs, freelancers, small business owners, and corporate professionals with marketing, sales, branding, and productivity.” Pick one audience and one problem.

Under-positioning. “I teach online courses.” So do thousands of people. What kind of courses? For whom? With what method? The more specific, the more memorable.

The Competitor Positioning Map

List your top 5 competitors. For each, answer:

• What audience do they target?
• What outcome do they promise?
• What’s their unique mechanism?
• What do they charge?

Now map where they sit. Look for gaps: audiences they don’t serve, outcomes they don’t promise, price points they don’t occupy. Your positioning should claim one of those gaps.

If you can’t find a gap in topic or audience, find one in mechanism or price. “The same topic, taught differently” and “the same outcome, at a different price point” are both valid positioning strategies.