Week 2 of 13 · Phase 1: Architecture

Position your book against the competition.

Write a Positioning Statement and name the Unique Mechanism your reader cannot get anywhere else. This is the spine of your authority.

The Assignment

A Positioning Statement and a named Unique Mechanism.

Two short outputs this week. A competitive landscape analysis that names three to five existing books on your topic, what each one covers, and what each one misses. And a Positioning Statement plus a named Unique Mechanism that becomes the structural backbone of every teaching chapter.

You are not trying to be better than every other book on the shelf. You are trying to be different in a way that matters to your specific reader.

Word count target: 400 to 600 words.
The Framework

Competitive Landscape

Research and document the field. For each book, write one sentence on what it covers and one sentence on what it misses or gets wrong.

  1. List 3 to 5 books that already exist on your topic.
  2. For each one, write one sentence describing what it covers and one sentence describing what it misses or gets wrong.
  3. Identify the gap. What does your reader need that none of these books provide? This is not about being "better." It is about being different in a way that matters.

Unique Mechanism

Your book needs a proprietary framework, methodology, or model that belongs to you. This is the thing your reader cannot get anywhere else.

It might be a step-by-step process developed through client work, a diagnostic framework, a mental model that reframes the topic, or a set of principles distilled from your experience.

Name it. If it does not have a name, it does not stick. Examples: "The Trust Triangle," "The 5-Phase Revenue Engine," "The Authority Flywheel." The name should be simple, memorable, and imply a structure.

Positioning Statement

Fill in the blanks below in your own document.

Unlike competing approach, which focuses on what they emphasize, this book introduces Your Unique Mechanism, which enables specific outcome by how it works differently. This is the only book that unique claim.
If You Get Stuck

Here's my expertise and my competitive landscape: [paste your notes]. Help me identify the unique mechanism in my work that I should name and build the book around.

Open Dave Open Paige
Completion Check
You are done when: Your positioning statement would make a competitor uncomfortable. Your Unique Mechanism has a name. You can explain in one sentence why someone should read your book instead of the three closest alternatives.

Finished Week 2? Unlock Week 3.

Marking this week complete unlocks the next module immediately. Move at the pace that fits your life. The 90-day window is the ceiling, not the pace.

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