Five Brand Positioning Lessons I Learned by Tearing My Process Apart

I really thought I understood the value of what I do as a brand positioning and messaging strategist. I have been honing my process for over ten years, working with hundreds of consultants and coaches.

Then I decided to write a book.

Well, technically, a workbook.

That decision forced me to take everything I had created and turn it into a cohesive narrative for someone who may never meet me in person. That process was far harder than I expected. But it taught me more than anything else I have done about the power of deconstructing what we do.

When you pull your work apart like this, you begin to appreciate what you actually do for clients, why it matters, and how it is different from others who may appear to do similar work.

It also revealed five deep truths about the challenge and true payoff of refining consulting or coaching brand positioning and messaging clarity. These are things I may have known cognitively, but did not fully appreciate until I broke my own process down.

Truth #1: Brand Position and Brand Positioning Are Not the Same

There is a difference between brand position as a noun and brand positioning as a verb. They are not the same, even though I had been teaching them as if they were.

Your brand position is the space you hold in the market and in the minds of your ideal clients. This exists whether you do any intentional brand positioning work or not, because people are already forming impressions about who you are, who you help, what you do, and the value you create based on everything you put out into the world.

Your website. Your LinkedIn profile. Your social media. What you say at networking events. All of these touchpoints are positioning you.

Brand positioning as a verb is different. It is the intentional action you take to choose how you are seen and perceived in the market. It is choosing the space you want to own in the minds of your ideal clients.

The difference is not fundamentally about marketing. It is about strategic intention and control. If you do not decide what you want to be known for, the market will decide for you.

Brand positioning as a verb is also about control over your career and elevating your impact. You do not leave a high profile role with a career path to do work you have long outgrown. You position yourself for what is next.

Brand positioning ensures that you get a promotion in your business.

Truth #2: Brand Positioning Strategy Is a Total Flip on Everything We Have Been Taught

Everything we have been taught about landing jobs, promotions, and describing what we do has to be flipped in order to carve out the space we want in the market.

Mission statements usually begin with what you do, for whom, and why. That structure works for internal teams that already know their place in an organization. It is not how brand positioning works.

Brand positioning starts with who you help and the problems you solve. That is the space you hold in the market. You determine where you fit in before you determine where you stand out.

The narrative arc of your client’s transformation starts with them, not you. It starts with who they are and the context for your help.

This is why brand positioning feels so hard. We have been trained to make what we do sound more compelling or more impressive. We try to match our expertise to open positions. But in transformational work, there is no job description. There is only a client with a problem they do not yet know how to name.

Brand positioning answers that for them.

Doing this requires a beginner’s mind. It requires repeatedly flipping the question from what do I do to who do I help and what is the context for my help. On the other side of that flip is deep empathy for your ideal clients, better messaging, more relevant offers, and a faster path to overcoming fear.

Truth #3: My Connection Between Branding and Purpose Is Somewhat Unique

Most branding and positioning work in the consulting and coaching space focuses on marketing, client attraction, or reputation management.

What drives my work is helping purpose driven consultants and coaches express their purpose and life work through their business.

Purpose is often misunderstood. It is not attaching a social cause to your business. It is not values in isolation. My understanding of purpose comes from the etymology of the word, meaning determined aim or the function for which something exists.

Purpose is about what you are made for, in terms of your strengths, and how you make meaning of your life experiences and expertise by using them as the foundation of your business and brand.

This also means I am not for everyone. If you want an outside in approach where you look for a market gap to fill, my work will likely feel too deep. But if you are at a crossroads between success and significance and want a profitable business that also reflects your purpose, this work matters.

There is very little out there that connects purpose and brand positioning in a clear, monetizable strategy for consultants and coaches. That is the gap this work fills.

Truth #4: The Walls I Hit Revealed My Superpowers

As I deconstructed my process, some parts were easy to turn into steps. Other parts completely stopped me.

The places where I got stuck had everything to do with framing. Framing expertise. Framing strengths. Framing the context for help. Framing what someone really does.

I realized I could not fully explain how I do those things, because I do not consciously know how I do them. That is what makes best at strengths and zones of genius so hard to articulate. They come so naturally that we discount them.

This is why people often dismiss compliments. They cannot see what others find valuable because it feels effortless to them.

One way to identify your own superpowers is to stop discounting compliments and get curious about what you are doing in those moments. Another is to ask whether you can easily deconstruct a skill into steps others can follow. If you can, it may be competence or excellence. If you cannot, it may be genius.

Truth #5: Brand Clarity Impacts Future Clients

The final and biggest truth came from a personal experience.

While working on my workbook, I found out I had skin cancer on my face. Finding the right provider was stressful and anxiety producing, not because of the diagnosis alone, but because of how unclear and misaligned the options felt.

Everything changed when I found a provider whose website clearly communicated expertise, specialization, recovery, and care. I had not even met them yet, but my anxiety dropped immediately.

That is the point of brand positioning and messaging clarity.

It is not about client attraction or reputation management. It is about instilling trust in clients who are facing high stakes problems. It is about helping them feel that the right help is on the way.

Taking charge of your brand positioning is an act of service. When your positioning is unclear, you create questions and doubts. When it is clear, you reduce anxiety and build trust before a conversation ever happens.

Why This Work Matters

These five truths changed how I understand brand positioning and messaging. Brand position exists whether you choose it or not, but brand positioning requires intention. It requires unlearning what you have been taught, understanding how your purpose shows up in your work, recognizing where your real strengths live, and taking responsibility for how clearly your value is communicated. This work is not about you standing out. It is about helping the right clients trust that you understand their problem and can help them move forward.

Next steps:

1. Deconstruct what you do: Take time to pull your work apart step by step. Look at how you take a client from where they are to where they want to go, and notice where the hardest parts are to explain. Those places often reveal your unique strengths and zone of genius.

2. Audit your brand touchpoints: Review your website, LinkedIn, and other places clients encounter you. Ask yourself what they are communicating about who you help, the value you provide, and whether they instill trust that you are the right partner for the problem your clients are facing.

3. Book a discovery call or explore Betsy’s services: If you want support clarifying your brand positioning and messaging, visit BetsyJordyn.com/services to learn more about her programs, or book a free discovery call using the button at the top of the site to talk through your next step.

About me: Betsy Jordyn is a brand messaging strategist and business mentor for purpose-driven consultants and coaches. With a background in organizational development—including a consulting career with Disney—she helps experts clarify their unique value, position themselves strategically, and build businesses that deliver impact, income, and personal fulfillment. Connect with Betsy Jordyn to clarify your message, elevate your brand, and attract the clients you're meant to serve. Start here → https://www.betsyjordyn.com/services