What if I told you that Michael Jordan was an expert at positioning.

I mean he probably really is, considering he runs a $150 million brand (just with Nike).

But the fact that he used positioning to get ahead and win in basketball too, that’s impressive.

And yes, I believe every one of us carries a “personal positioning” around, every second of the day.

It’s the way we act, the way we speak, the way we work etc. Our personality and our physique. All of it contributes to our personal positioning.

But back to Jordan.

There’s a good story from the book “Winning” by Tim Grover, personal trainer for MJ, Kobe and many others.

Here it goes:

“When I was training MJ, the Bulls’ strength coach asked why I had him doing bicep curls. The theory was that biceps were just for show and didn’t really make someone a better basketball player. And that was probably true. But we were going for that .0001 percent, which included the intimidation factor of his bigger, stronger, more dominant physique. What’s the first thing you see on a basketball player when he takes off his warm-ups? Those arms. Details matter.”

That’s it, details in your personal positioning matter.

Jordan drastically changed how other players perceived him on the court.

He didn’t “have to”, but he thought it would be a smart move.

And it paid off.

It’s a useful concept to keep in mind I think:

What’s the first thing you want other people to perceive of you?

That’s your personal brand and the positioning that goes with it.

Do you want to be like the ordinary player or like MJ, who thought outside the box and didn’t leave it to chance?

If it’s the latter, get in touch.

On another note, I just got some feedback from one of my clients, after our project:

“If you’re serious about finding the content and site structure that will get your prospects to respond, hire Conversion Alchemy. They put in the research to understand your ideal personas, your product, and how to get prospects to convert.” – Matt Aiello, VP of Marketing at ServiceCore

Thanks Matt!