When I teach positioning—generally the exercise of narrowing and specifying who you serve and how—I get a common question from my students:
Is this demographic/audience/segment narrow enough?
What they generally mean is: is it good enough to pick “moms” as an audience, or does it need to be more specific, like “moms in Toledo” or “moms over 45“ or “neurodivergent moms?”
Here’s a litmus test to help you figure out if you’re positioned narrowly enough:
Can you confidently say no to a great gig that doesn’t fit?
Imagine you saw this post on LinkedIn:
Global sportswear brand seeks designer for limited-time campaign.
6-week project
$25,000 budget
Work with our internal team on a digital campaign for our newest basketball line
Starts in two weeks
Interested? DM me.
What’s your gut reaction?
“Whoa, $25k for 6 weeks? I’m in.” → You’re prioritizing money.
“That’s a great gig… just not for me,” → You’re prioritizing fit.
Well-positioned businesses prioritize fit over finances.
How to evaluate fit over FOMO
Here’s some criteria a well-positioned business would use to evaluate this opportunity:
Audience Fit. Is this the exact audience you’ve chosen to serve?
Problem Fit. Does the work match the specific problems you solve best?
Expertise Fit. Will this project showcase your specialty and strengthen your positioning or dilute it/distract from it?
Future Fit. Does this open doors in your chosen niche, or pull you back into generalist land?
In the case of that example post, here are the words a well-positioned business would assess first:
“Global sportswear brand” → Is that the audience I serve?
“Limited-time, digital campaign” → Is that what I typically deliver?
“Limited-time, digital campaign” → Does that fit in with the projects I already showcase/send to prospects?
“Limited-time, digital campaign for global sportswear brand” → Will hearing that prove to future prospects that I intimately know how to solve their problem?
Notice what’s not on that list:
$25k
6-week project
Starts in 2 weeks
If the project doesn’t fit your position, those details are irrelevant. It wouldn’t matter if it were $250k and started whenever you wanted.
Because a well-positioned business has the ability to confidently say, “That‘s a great gig… just not for me.”
The real positioning test: how fast can you say “no?”
So, back to the original question: are you positioned narrowly enough?
If your answers to “Is this my audience?” and “Is this what I deliver?” are yes more often than no, your position is probably still too broad.
For example, an audience of “business owners looking to grow” doesn’t filter anyone out. Almost every business owner wants to grow? Narrow further.
Your positioning should create clear boundaries so you can quickly separate the “ins” from the “outs.”
If you make websites for dentists, inquiring podiatrists should quickly receive a “Sorry, I’m not the person you’re looking for” response.
(Bonus points for “…but here’s someone who is.” Ironically, that person has a strong position. Learn from them.)
A narrow-enough position should quickly help you to know that engagements that are perfect for you. How?
Because they sound like they were written for you and no one else.
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