What are you competing on?

It’s all too easy to make a thing and expect people to simply show up.

We forget: the people we’re selling to, they have options. Choosing one option means they’re not choosing another.

Which means that whether we’re making or selling a product, a person, a worldview, or a story, we’re always competing, all the time, for something.

Hence the value of the question: “What are you competing on?” (Not “what are you competing for?”)

Because while the latter is a relatively objective metric—specific to the problem at hand—the former, however, is not. There’s more than one way to build trust, gain attention, or inspire action, after all.

Being clear about what you’re competing on is how you zero-in on the metrics that really matter for the goal you’re trying to achieve.

Addressing and optimizing those metrics is how you create a thing that competes in a competitive marketplace, and that truly counts (toward making a difference for the people you're selling to).