163 Philip Morgan on Positioning Your Web Agency

Consultant Philip Morgan discusses positioning in a crowded market. He literally wrote the book on positioning for technical firms. Philip helps technical consultants, like web development shops, find a specialized position in a generalized world. This specialization, in turn, helps those firms strengthen their expertise in a specific niche and command higher rates. We really enjoyed this interview with Philip Morgan. Philip focuses on helping web agencies, freelancers, and small businesses position themselves online. Philip has some strong ideas connected to positioning and we highly advise you to listen to his ideas. You can learn more about Philip at https://philipmorganconsulting.com/   ==================   Our episode this week is sponsored by LiquidWeb. Liquid Web is offering a 33% discount for your first 6 months of hosting. Head over to https://LiquidWeb.com/wordpress and use the code WPTONIC33 at checkout for your discount.   ==================   Table of Contents for Episode 161   0:00 Podcast intros. 2:32 Why is being a generalist so hard for lead generation? 7:35 How scarcity mindset keeps us from moving towards specialization. 15:03 What buyers really want is trust. What actions can agencies do to build up trust? 19:55 How do you build up to owning a word in people's minds? 26:23 Winning mindshare when you are competing against large entities requires different strategies than they use. 29:29 Risk is a consideration when planning a positioning change. A financial buffer is a good idea. Positioning is along term strategy. 34:15 What are buyers thinking, either consciously or unconsciously, when making a buying decision? 38:01 Does "award-winning" mean anything to clients? Under what circumstances does it mean something? 39:21 What are the two things that you can't fake when it comes to what you put on your website? 40:11 What types of clients look for a one-stop shop for web development and marketing? Is being a full-service agency exclusively bad or good? 43:47 When it comes to picking a specialization, what are the criteria an agency should look at? 47:48 What sorts of things should you be highlighting in case studies on your website? 50:50 Podcast outros   ===================   Links mentioned during this episode:   The Positioning Manual for Technical Firms https://philipmorganconsulting.com/the-positioning-manual-for-technical-firms/   Clutch: B2B Research https://clutch.co/   Build a Better Agency Episode 20: Define Your Mission, Vision, and Values, with Drew McLellan. http://buildabetteragency.com/drew-mclellan-solocast-episode-4/   David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants https://www.amazon.com/David-Goliath-Underdogs-Misfits-Battling/dp/0316204374   Positioning Crash Course https://positioningcrashcourse.com/   ===================   Find bonus content for this episode on the WP-Tonic website: https://www.wp-tonic.com/podcast/163-philip-morgan-positioning-your-business/