Business
On this week's episode, I speak with April Dunford, the Founder and Chief Strategist for Ambient Strategy. She's been with a number of large companies and now doing her own consulting. We primarily discuss the idea of "positioning." We talk about what positioning is, how to find your product's position in the marketplace, and how positioning fits in with branding and go-to-market strategies. Episode Highlights: April's current primary focus and role in consulting.What is "positioning" and how do you know you have problems?April's background in Systems Design Engineering and unique reason why?April's first role in a startup, the requirements needed.The key learning points in strange career arcs between startups and large companies.The importance of creating the right environment for the right team.The impact of various positions on consulting work.The goal of positioning consulting.The core differences between "positioning" and "branding."Approaching the value proposition of a company unaware of positioning.How positioning and go-to-market strategy work together.Positioning on the book "Obviously Awesome."How to combat overthinking in marketing.The #1 call-to-action for new marketers.What's next for April. 3 Key Points:Positioning allows multiple departments of a company to be on the same page.The key to positioning is putting your greatest feature "right in the middle" so that everybody "gets it."The foundation of every marketing piece is positioning. Quotes:“Positioning done right...makes it so that everything you do in sales and marketing is that much easier.” – April Dunford“My job was to create the conditions to where my team could be successful." – April Dunford"Re-contextualizing your product changes all your assumptions about it.” – April Dunford"If your stuff didn't exist, what would they do?" - April Dunford"People get bored of their own tactics, but if they're working, why not just do more of that." - April Dunford Resources Mentioned: April Dunford's Website“Obviously Awesome” by April DunfordPositioning: The Battle for Your MindApril Dunford on TwitterApril Dunford on LinkedIn