Pick one buyer
Write the job title and situation of the one person you want to win over. "Heads of sales at B2B software companies with 20 to 100 staff" works. "Business owners" does not. A position is always aimed at someone. If you cannot name the reader, you cannot defend a belief to them.
Write down the lazy consensus
List three things your buyers currently believe about your category that you think are wrong or incomplete. For example: "More leads fix a weak pipeline." "You need a sales hire before you need a process." "Pricing is a spreadsheet exercise." These are the beliefs you are going to push against. Authority needs something to stand against, otherwise you are just agreeing politely with everyone.
State your belief in one sentence
Use this template and fill it in until it feels slightly uncomfortable to say.
- Most [your buyer] believe [lazy consensus]. I think [your view], because [one reason].
Keep it short enough that a buyer could repeat it to a colleague. If it needs a second sentence, it is two positions. Pick one.
Run the wallpaper test
Imagine your sentence on a competitor's website. Would anyone notice? If not, it is wallpaper. "We care about customer success" fails. "Most B2B teams buy tools to fix a process they have not written down yet" passes, because plenty of competitors would never say it. A position that nobody can disagree with is not a position.
Choose three to five angles
Now list three to five angles you can use to prove the position from different sides. Examples are a how-to, a mistake you see often, a short story of a decision, a number, and a response to something in your industry news. Every post you write fits one angle and repeats the same belief. You are saying one thing many ways, not many things once. Teach what you would normally charge for shows how to fill each angle with real substance.
Put the position where buyers look first
Your profile is where the position has to show up before any post does. Put the belief or its outcome in the headline and the first lines of the About section. The profile chapter, how to optimise your LinkedIn profile, covers the details. Tools such as Taplio can help you schedule and review posts, but they cannot supply the position.
Test it before you commit for a year
Write three posts from the position and send each to five people in your target group by message, not by feed. Ask one question: "Do you agree, disagree or does it not apply to you?" If nobody reacts, the position is too soft. If everybody disagrees, check whether you have misread the market. If some agree strongly and some disagree, you have found something worth defending.
Common mistakes
- Choosing a position that is a value statement, such as "quality matters".
- Holding several positions at once and being known for none.
- Changing the position after a quiet month. Authority is repetition over a long time.
- Mistaking provocation for position. A hot take with no reason behind it fades.
- Writing for peers and competitors, who applaud but do not buy.
How you know it works
Within a few months, people repeat your phrase back to you. A prospect opens a call with "I saw your post about" followed by your position. Replies and messages come from the buyer you named in step one, not from other people in your own industry. Your next ten post ideas arrive without effort because each is just another angle on the same belief. Only then is it worth tuning when to post and how often.
