Stop Selling, Start Positioning (For AI Practitioners)
Selling Is What You Do When Positioning Fails
If you're constantly explaining what you do, defending your pricing, and convincing people they need you, your positioning is broken.
Good positioning makes selling unnecessary. When you're positioned right, prospects come to you already convinced. Your job is just to not screw it up.
After watching thousands of consultants over 20+ years, I can tell you: the ones who struggle are always selling. The ones who thrive barely sell at all. They position.
What Positioning Actually Is
Positioning isn't marketing. It's not your tagline or your website copy.
Positioning is the box your prospect puts you in before you ever talk to them.
When they think of you, do they think: "That's the AI person"? Or do they think: "That's the person who helps manufacturing companies reduce defects using computer vision"?
The second one is positioning. The first one is noise.
Why Most AI Practitioners Have No Position
You do too many things for too many people.
"I build custom AI solutions for businesses."
What kind of businesses? What kind of solutions? What specific problem do you solve?
If your answer is "it depends" or "lots of things," you have no position. You're a generalist in a market that rewards specialists.
Specialists charge more. They close faster. They get referrals. Generalists compete on price and hope.
The Three Elements of Strong Positioning
Element 1: Who you serve.
Not "businesses." Not "SaaS companies." Too broad.
"Series A and B SaaS companies with product-market fit who need to scale support without scaling headcount."
That's specific. That's a person who can raise their hand and say "that's me."
Element 2: The problem you solve.
Not "we use AI to improve operations." What does that even mean?
"We eliminate the support ticket backlog that's killing your NPS and burning out your team."
That's a problem someone feels. They know if they have it or not.
Element 3: Your unique approach.
What do you do differently? Why would someone pick you over the next AI consultant?
"We integrate with your existing tools in days, not months. No rip-and-replace. No six-month implementations."
That's a differentiator. That's a reason to choose you.
The Positioning Statement
Put it all together:
"I help [specific who] solve [specific problem] by [unique approach]."
Example: "I help manufacturing companies reduce product defects by implementing computer vision QA systems that integrate with existing production lines."
Read that and you instantly know: who he serves, what he solves, how he's different.
That's positioning. Everything else is just noise.
Why Narrow Positioning Feels Scary
"But if I narrow down, I'll lose opportunities!"
You're already losing them. You just don't know it yet.
When you're positioned as a generalist, you lose to specialists every time. The manufacturing company picks the manufacturing AI expert, not the "AI for everyone" person.
Narrow positioning doesn't shrink your market. It clarifies who you're for. And the people you're for become way easier to reach and convert.
Plus, adjacent opportunities still come. When you're the manufacturing AI person, logistics companies find you. Distribution companies find you. The work spreads naturally.
How to Choose Your Position
Look at your last 10 projects. Which ones were the most successful? Which clients were easiest to work with? Which problems did you solve best?
Find the pattern. That's your position.
If you don't have 10 projects yet, pick based on where you have the most knowledge or interest. Then commit to going deep in that vertical.
You can always change your position later. But you can't build expertise by staying broad.
What Changes When You Position
Your content becomes easy to create.
You're not writing generic "AI trends" posts. You're writing about the specific problems your specific market faces. You know what they care about because you've gone deep.
Your outreach becomes targeted.
You're not reaching out to every company that might need AI. You're reaching out to manufacturing companies with QA challenges. You know where they hang out. You speak their language.
Your pricing becomes defendable.
When you're a specialist, you're not competing with every AI freelancer on Upwork. You're competing with other manufacturing AI experts (there aren't many). That lets you charge what you're worth.
Your referrals become self-generating.
When someone asks your client "who did your AI implementation?", your client says "this person who specializes in manufacturing." Now the referral is pre-qualified. They're already in your market.
Positioning in Practice
Let's say you position as "the person who helps law firms automate document review."
Now you:
- Join legal tech communities
- Write about legal AI challenges
- Reference legal case studies
- Speak at legal conferences
- Use legal terminology
You become known. Not as an AI person. As the legal AI person.
When a law firm needs document automation, there's only one name in their head: yours.
That's what strong positioning does. It makes you the obvious choice.
The Positioning Mistakes to Avoid
Mistake 1: Positioning based on technology.
"I'm the RAG expert" or "I specialize in fine-tuning LLMs."
That's a capability, not a position. Prospects don't care about RAG. They care about outcomes.
Position on the problem and the market, not the tech stack.
Mistake 2: Repositioning every quarter.
Positioning takes time to build. If you change it every few months, you never build momentum.
Pick a position. Commit for at least a year. Let the market learn who you are.
Mistake 3: Positioning too narrow too fast.
If you position as "AI for dental clinics in Texas," you might not have enough market. Test first. Make sure there's actually demand before you go ultra-niche.
How to Test Your Positioning
Write your positioning statement. Then read it to someone who doesn't know your business.
Ask them: "Who do you think I serve? What problem do I solve?"
If they can repeat it back accurately, your positioning is clear. If they're confused or they simplify it to "you do AI stuff," it's not clear enough.
Refine until a stranger can understand it in one read.
Positioning Isn't Forever
Markets change. Your expertise grows. You can reposition later.
But you need to hold a position long enough to be known for it. That takes at least 6-12 months of consistent messaging.
Once you're established, you can expand. But you have to establish first.
What to Do This Week
Write your positioning statement using the formula: "I help [who] solve [problem] by [approach]."
Make it specific. Make it true. Make it defensible.
Then audit everything: your website, your LinkedIn, your email templates, your proposals. Do they all reflect this position?
If not, update them. One clear message everywhere.
When you stop trying to be everything to everyone, you become something to someone. And someone is enough to build a thriving practice.
Stop selling. Start positioning. The clients will come.
