ur-grue Niche Positioning Brief
What This Skill Does
Writes a concise positioning brief that defines a newsletter's niche, primary differentiator, target reader, editorial promise, and what the publication refuses to do — giving the editor a clear decision-making framework and a document that can anchor copy across subscribe pages, pitches, and About pages.
When To Use This Skill
- You are launching a new newsletter and want to establish positioning before writing any copy or content
- Your newsletter has been running for a while but has drifted or blurred — you are no longer sure what it stands for or who exactly it is for
- You are rebranding or repositioning after a significant change in direction
- You are bringing in a co-writer or editor and need a shared positioning document to align on before they start writing
- You want a document to guide difficult editorial decisions: "should I cover X?" — a positioning brief answers that question without requiring a judgment call every time
What You Need To Provide
Required: What the newsletter covers (broad subject area); who you are writing for (even a rough description of the reader you have in mind); why you are starting or running this newsletter (the genuine motivation, not the marketing version); what existing newsletters cover the same ground (at least one — if you cannot name a competitor, the niche may be undefined) Optional: What you refuse to cover or how you refuse to cover it; any reader feedback you have received about what they value most; your own background or expertise and why it qualifies you for this subject; what you want the newsletter to be known for in three years
How the Assistant Approaches This
- Identifies the positioning territory: given the subject area and the competitor landscape, where is the gap? Not every newsletter needs an entirely unclaimed space — positioning can be about how you approach a subject, not just what you cover
- Defines the target reader with specificity — not a demographic ("35–50, college educated") but a psychographic and situational description: what does this reader already know, what are they frustrated by, what would make them forward this to a colleague?
- Articulates the editorial promise in one sentence: the thing the newsletter commits to delivering in every edition. This sentence should be testable against any piece of content — you should be able to ask "does this edition fulfil the promise?" and get a clear yes or no
- Defines the negative space: what the newsletter will not do. The exclusions are as important as the inclusions — they protect the positioning from scope creep and give the editor a clear mandate to decline off-topic work
- Synthesises the above into a positioning brief with an internal use version (the decision-making document) and a short external version (usable in an About page or subscribe page description)
Output Format
A structured brief with these sections: Positioning Territory (2–3 sentences), Target Reader (4–6 bullet points in psychographic/situational language), Editorial Promise (one sentence, clearly labelled), What We Cover / How We Cover It (3–5 bullet points), What We Don't Do (3–5 bullet points — the editorial exclusions), External Description (50–80 words, suitable for an About page or subscribe page without editing). Total length: 350–500 words.
Quality Criteria
- The editorial promise is one sentence that could be tested against any edition — it should be specific enough to fail for the wrong kind of content
- The target reader description includes at least one frustration or unmet need, not just characteristics
- The "what we don't do" section is genuinely restrictive — it should exclude things that might seem relevant but don't fit the positioning
- The external description could replace the current About page copy without embarrassing the editor
- The positioning territory paragraph names at least one real competitor and explains how this newsletter is different from it (without denigrating it)
Example
Input
Subject area: AI — specifically the business and policy side, not the technical side Target reader: I'm writing for people who make decisions that AI affects — executives, policy professionals, journalists, investors. Not engineers. Not researchers. People who need to understand the implications without needing to understand the implementation. Motivation: I spent four years covering technology policy and most AI newsletters were either too technical or too hype-driven. I wanted something that treated AI as a governance and business question, not a technology question. Competitors: There are several good AI newsletters (Exponential View, Import AI, The Batch) but they are mostly for practitioners or technical enthusiasts What I refuse to do: I won't cover product launches, funding rounds, or "AI can now do X" announcements unless they have direct policy or governance implications. I won't speculate about timelines for AGI. Background: Former technology policy journalist, three years at a policy think tank
Output
Positioning Territory
Most AI coverage is written for people building AI or investing in it. [Newsletter name] is written for people who will be governed by it — executives, policy professionals, and journalists who need to understand AI's implications without needing to understand its implementation. The closest publications in this space (Exponential View, Import AI) approach AI primarily as a technology story. This newsletter approaches it as a governance and institutional story.
Target Reader
- Works in or adjacent to policy, executive leadership, journalism, or investment — their job is affected by AI decisions made elsewhere
- Already knows AI is important; frustrated by coverage that either talks down to them or disappears into technical detail they can't use
- Reads to make better decisions, not to stay culturally current
- Would forward a piece to a colleague in a different field if it changed how they thought about a problem
- Does not need or want AGI speculation, capability benchmarks, or product release coverage unless it has direct institutional implications
- Values precision over enthusiasm — a hedged, sourced claim is more useful to them than a confident take
Editorial Promise
Every edition examines one AI governance or business question using primary sources, policy documents, and evidence — not opinion — and closes with a practical implication for the reader's decision-making context.
What We Cover / How We Cover It
- AI regulation: proposed, enacted, and contested — across jurisdictions
- Corporate AI governance: how organisations are actually making deployment decisions, with specific cases
- Policy analysis: what regulations say in practice, not in press releases
- Historical and institutional context: what analogous governance challenges from other technologies can tell us
- Research: peer-reviewed findings with direct governance implications
What We Don't Do
- Product launches or capability announcements unless they create a specific regulatory or governance event
- AGI timelines or existential risk speculation
- Investment advice or funding-round coverage
- "AI could transform X industry" think-pieces without specific, sourced evidence
- Opinion pieces — everything published is grounded in documents, decisions, or data
External Description (for About page or subscribe page)
[Newsletter name] covers AI as a governance and institutional question — for executives, policy professionals, and journalists who need to understand what AI means for decisions, regulations, and organisations. No product launches. No AGI speculation. Just rigorous analysis of how AI is actually being governed, deployed, and contested — using primary sources, policy documents, and evidence. Published [cadence].
Known Limitations
- A positioning brief is only as strong as the editorial discipline that follows it — the document cannot enforce itself; it is a decision-making tool, and the editor must choose to use it
- This skill identifies positioning territory based on what you describe about competitors; if the newsletter landscape in your niche has changed recently or is poorly defined, the differentiation claim may need verification against actual current publications
- The external description is written to be usable, but it will not perfectly replace your subscribe page copy without the additional specificity that the landing-page-copy-writer skill provides
- Positioning briefs work best for newsletters with a clearly defined subject area; if the newsletter is deliberately wide-ranging or personal-essay-driven, the framework here (particularly the "what we don't do" section) will be harder to fill with genuine conviction