What’s your point?
Or to put it better, what’s your point of view?
It’s 23 years in agency land for me this year, and the one thing that hasn’t changed in all that time? Agencies still can’t position themselves well.
And it is hard, granted. How unique is our brand process, our web development process or the way we create a marketing strategy? But I think there’s an easier way to look at this that’s been overlooked for a while. Defining your point of view.
In my opinion it is unbelievably hard to differentiate by methodology or delivery model. You ‘hopefully’ all follow best practices in our chosen services / specialisms, but how many of you are developing a truly unique model? Or have the capacity to?
Rubber Cheese was a web design and development for Visitor Attractions , using the WordPress platform. Differentiated by a specialism and a technology. But really, that’s not that much of a differentiator. We followed best practices, like any good agency would, but we didn’t have any kind of unique delivery model we could give a fancy name and tiny ™ to.
What we did develop was our cultural insight via podcast and annual benchmarking report – and it was those that gave us our point of difference.
Me? I’m an agency advisor for lifestyle agencies, often with 1 to 10 people in them. I lead with my strengths which are positioning, marketing, lead generation and new business strategies. But honestly, is that THAT different from many of my other advisor friends?
I do have a ‘unique to me’ methodology for working with solo founders (and yes it will eventually have a fancy tiny ™), but what really positions me differently is my take on the growth, hustle culture that is prevalent in the agency space – that you can only be a success if you’re growing aggressively and aiming for exit.
I got so frustrated with it, I channelled it into my vision – to change the negative perception of lifestyle agencies, and define them as the future for founders that crave sustainable growth.
My methodology is developed around that, putting the founder first.
And that vision manifests in my ‘Lifestyle is a Plan’ point of view, which I carry through everything I do – you’ve seen the title of this newsletter right? And guess what my book is called?
It’s something Katelyn Bourgoin calls an “Ownable Idea” and that’s what I want you all to think about. Because defining your own impactful POV is what agency founders should be leaning into right now.
POV. So where do you start?
Well, I believe the most powerful point of views come from a place of frustration. From wanting to make change or show there’s a different way to do things.
Like mine, it could be a frustration with how your industry is run or a way something’s done that makes no sense. If you work in a particular sector the same applies – identify a core belief about a problem in your industry, articulate what’s wrong with the status quo, and explain the better way your agency approaches it.
- Identify the problem
What is a flawed belief or practice in your industry that really bothers you? How does it hurt your existing audience? This is the core of your POV. - Collate customer insights
How does your audience feel about this flawed belief?
You’ll need to understand their perspective on it, not just yours. Is it something that gets under their skin too? Does your way solve their pain? - Define your core point of view
What do we truly believe is wrong here, and what matters instead?
Articulate the better approach, what that matters and how it solves a core problem your audience has. - Write your story
Turn your belief into a personal story – you can read mine here.
An aspiring manifesto that your audience will resonate with, I called it my Jerry Maguire moment.
A strong point of view is distinctive, belief or frustration driven and customer focused. It may be provocative, and it should always be memorable.
Your POV will act as your statement to the world, filtering out wrong fit and attracting clients that share your beliefs – ultimately building deeper relationships.
Let me know how you get on, I’d love to see them develop!