Spearleaf · Position Zero Playbook v10 · 2026-06-16
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Strategy

Strategy & decisions

Niche, national vs local, pricing, directories, multi-location — the calls to make.

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The decisions that shape everything else. Several are still open pending a niche choice.

Niche down or not

Niche down Generalist
Cookie-cutter SOP, fast onboarding New plan per client
Pricing easier (per-niche benchmarks) Pricing harder
Per-niche cloud network reusable Per-client / per-broader-niche network
Limited to the niche's economics Different challenges keep it interesting
Easier acquisition (proof in niche) Harder acquisition (no specific case study)

Clint doesn't niche but acknowledges it costs him. Decide before pricing — Clint won't have the pricing conversation until a niche is picked. Leading candidates from the calls: med spa + chiropractor + general health → a Health Services cloud network; benchmark ~$1,500–$2,500/mo.

National play (e.g. aurawave.ai)

With NEO alone, plan for a year. Faster requires a paid-link budget. Get on-page right first (headings + Q&A), trigger the knowledge graph via DAS to socials, then go to Grindstone with ~$2K for 10 quality links per money page.

Find beatable terms — SEMrush keyword gap

Before you write, run SEMrush → Keyword Gap comparing your money site against a true competitor and read the Missing keywords. Live, this was aurawave.ai vs headshotpro.com on the "best ai headshot[s]" query — a valid compare because both are AI-headshot generators (don't compare an AI product against a photography studio just because the words match).

SEMrush keyword research for the "best ai headshot" space — the left-nav Keyword Gap / Domain Overview tools and a keyword list SEMrush keyword research in the "best ai headshot" space. Use the Keyword Gap tool to compare your domain against a beatable competitor (here aurawave.ai vs headshotpro.com) and pull the ranking keywords you're missing as content targets.

Caveat — pick a truly beatable competitor. A result ranking only because it lives on Medium / Reddit / Quora / Canva / Apple (e.g. the live laurentiu-raducu.medium.com "best AI headshot generator" post) is ranking on borrowed domain authority, not content — those you can beat. Don't model a competitor whose strength is something you can't replicate.

Pricing tiers (home-services reference)

Sales-page structure: 3-column table — Cheap (floor, anchors low), Recommended (target, most features), Crazy-expensive (anchors high). Goal: most prospects pick the middle.

Directories as the new PBNs

Worth pursuing IF you niche into health.

Type Lifecycle
State directory (floridachiropractors.com) Lifestyle business while you do SEO. Not sellable.
National directory (chiropractors.com) Long-term asset; the domain alone has exit value.

Use directories you own as citation sources for your agency clients in that niche, instead of paying external citation services.

Multi-location decision tree

One brand + multiple locations + ONE website → 1 social ring + N GBPs + 1 entity/knowledge graph. Organization schema (parent) + LocalBusiness per location. Post unique content per GBP; general Facebook posts that work for all.

Franchise-style: separate brand names + separate websites → N social rings + N GBPs + 1 entity per brand. Each gets its own DAS sequence.

Entity fracture (Apple Maps / TripAdvisor etc.) → fix with schema (On-page), not by inventing fake separate brands.

You only ever get ONE entity/knowledge graph (the parent brand). Map listings per location are separate, handled by GBP — don't force a knowledge graph per location.

Margin reality with AI