I have a conversation with a founder at least once a month that goes something like this: "We’ve stalled. We need to do a better job explaining what we do. Our positioning isn't landing. We to update our website and other assets." It sounds logical. If clients don’t "get it," we must be saying it wrong, right?

So, I dig in. I ask about their ideal client. I ask about their service mix. I ask what they say "no" to. And almost every time, the hard truth comes out... They are asking for a messaging refresh to cover up for the fact that they haven’t made any hard strategic choices. They are trying to fix a business strategy problem with an copywriting solution. The issue, at least in part, stems from a massive conflation of terms in the B2B space. Marketing leaders, agencies, and even self-proclaimed "experts" use the terms Positioning, Narrative, and Messaging interchangeably.

They are not the same thing. And treating them like they are is why you keep rewriting your homepage hero section while your growth stalls. Today I want to define what these actually are, and why you can’t copywrite your way out of a positioning problem.

Giving a Better Press Conference Won't Help a Losing Team

I am going to continue my sports analogy trend from last week's newsletter.

• Positioning is the system you run, the formations you choose, and the roster you build to execute that system. It’s the strategic decision to be a "high-press, counter-attacking team" rather than a "possession-based team." It's the core identity that your team is known for by your opponents and your fans.
• Narrative is the locker room speech the coach gives the team before they walk out the tunnel. It’s the rallying cry that aligns everyone on why this game plan matters and how they are going to win against this specific opponent.
• Messaging is the pre-game and post-game press conferences. It’s the carefully chosen soundbites given to the media and the fans to sell them on how you will approach the game, and explain what happened after.

If your team is losing because your formation is a mess and your players don't believe in the game plan, you don’t fix it with a better press conference. You fix it by changing the playbook and the roster, and then aligning the narrative accordingly.

Three Clean Definitions

To fix your firm's growth, you need to understand the hierarchy of your strategy stack.

1. Positioning: Mental Real Estate + Decision System

Positioning is the mental space you own in the minds of your ideal clients. It is the answer to: Who are you, and what specific outcome or idea are you known for?

But it isn’t just a claim. You can't just wish it into reality. It is a business strategy backed by consistent decision-making and investment. It’s the services you design, the pricing model you choose, and the work you turn down. Let's say that speed is your core value proposition...

Then your service and pricing better reflect this. For example, speed can be the value lever by which you develop your tiered pricing - you deliver faster and your client pays more for that.

Your hiring strategy should reflect this. For example, if you are in a heavily regulated space then you need to have former senior regulators on staff because they know how to accelerate through regulatory approval for your clients.

Your sales process should reflect this. For example, you should have processes and technology in place to deliver customized follow-ups and proposals right after the meetings, and be able to accelerate through the process based on clients needs, with flexible scheduling, etc.

Your marketing should reflect this. For example, your case studies should be focused on showing how working with you got results faster than expected. Your IP should focus on helping your ideal clients accelerate decision making. Those are positioning decisions, not just marketing claims.

2. Narrative: The Story of the Shift

Narrative is the story you tell about why your positioning matters now. It connects your firm to a shift happening in the market.

It answers:

• What is the "old game" vs. the "new game"?
• What is at stake if the client ignores this shift?
• Who is the enemy standing in their way?

The narrative is important because it appeals to our human desires to be in control and be the hero of our own story. We want to believe that we can act, and control our destiny, even though we all know that the majority (70%) of what happens we can't actually control. The narrative is all about the 30% that we can.

3. Messaging: The Tactical Implementation

Messaging is simply the tactical application of that narrative. It is the words on your website, the bullets in your sales deck, and the copy in your LinkedIn bio.

Don't get me wrong. Simple isn't easy. There is nothing easy about expert copywriting. One of my early mentors once told me "words matter; use them wisely". The impact of expert copywriting can literally seem like magic. But at the end of the day, messaging is execution, and you can't use execution to fix bad strategy. If the foundation is mushy, better words just make the mush sound nicer.

What Goes Wrong When You Confuse Them

When you treat a positioning problem like a messaging problem, you end up symptom-chasing. You see underwhelming inbound or confused prospects who say, "So... what do you actually do?" Your reaction is to hire a copywriter or redesign the website again. 

Not only does this waste a lot of time and resources, but nothing meaningful changes, because you are trying to anchor your messaging in fantasy (how you want them to see you) rather than reality (how they actually see you). This creates "perception whiplash." Sales tells one story, marketing tells another, and delivery lives a third. Your prospects can't anchor to a clear picture of you firm, so they default to comparing you on price rather than value.

Positioning Requires Courage and Trade-offs

The reason most firms have "fuzzy" positioning isn't a lack of creativity. It's a lack of courage. Real positioning is defined by what you refuse to do, as much as it is defined by the investments you make.

I once worked with a marketing agency owner who did everything—creative, social posting, general strategy. We found her firm made the most impact and profit doing LinkedIn personal branding for tech executives. To position herself correctly, she had to stop taking the general social media work. She had to say "no" to perfectly good revenue because it diluted her expertise.

If you want to test your positioning, try the "Always Do / Never Do" exercise:

• Always Do: What is the non-negotiable standard you adhere to that competitors ignore?
• Never Do: What is the "industry standard" practice that you refuse to do?

These rules are how you make your positioning come to life.

The Diagnostic: Which Problem Do You Actually Have?

Before you commit to another website refresh, run this quick diagnostic.

You likely have a POSITIONING problem if:

• Your Ideal Client Profile (ICP) is basically "anyone in this industry with a budget."
• Your services page reads like a menu of everything you’ve ever done.
• You are regularly chasing dollars outside your "focus" area.

You likely have a NARRATIVE problem if:

• You have a clear focus, but your team can’t explain "why now".
• Your story changes from pitch to pitch depending on who is in the room.
• Prospects understand what you do, but they don't feel the urgency to act.

You likely have a MESSAGING problem if:

• Your internal story and focus are clear, but your assets (website, decks) don't match that reality.
• Prospects "get it" perfectly—but only after they talk to you.

5 Questions to Reset Your Positioning

If you are in the "Positioning Problem" bucket, sit down with your leadership team and answer these five questions:

1. What mental territory do we actually want to own? Can you state it in one sentence?
2. What is the core insight that earns us that space? What do we know that the competition doesn't?
3. How do we want our ideal clients to see us compared to the alternatives? What does this look like in detail?
4. What are we currently doing/investing in that reinforces this perception?
5. What are we currently doing that undermines this perception, and are we willing to stop?

Positioning Is The Strategy

Positioning is slower, harder, and more uncomfortable work than rewriting headlines. It forces you to look at your revenue streams and kill the ones that don't fit. It forces you to build alignment amongst your leadership team, and the firm as a whole. It forces you to see your firm through the eyes of your ideal clients. It forces you to re-evaluate every major decision and investment. But it is the only way to stop playing the commodity game.

Stop trying to find the perfect words to describe your Fix the business strategy first. The words will follow.