Putting it Together
Marketing and building your business is easier if you know what makes you stand out from the competition. It’s about knowing your Unique Selling Proposition or USP.
What does make you stand out? How are you different? You need to take the time to really think about that. For example – if you offer the same product or service I can get from someone else, why would I get it from you? Are you going to treat me better? Have a better price? Be available at midnight when I’m freaking out and your work is supporting my deadline? You need to have something – and its better if it’s something you’re passionate about, something you really CARE about, that sets you apart. You could decide to be the lowest price, but if you don’t get jazzed about that and you’re just doing it in the hope someone will buy because it’s cheaper – forget it. Not a good USP.
If instead, your USP is that I’m going to turn myself inside out to make sure you love the work I’ve done and that you’re a satisfied client, that can work if you that’s how you’re wired and it’s going to benefit them and benefit you. You can never go wrong delivering something that makes you tick.
Hey, it could be that you’re the most expensive _____ in town, but when a client comes to your office they’ll sit in a massage chair and drink champagne while you talk business. Your USP: excellent quality, VIP treatment. Perhaps you’re the most expensive but the quality is incomparable, or the service is outstanding or you create something that can’t be gotten from anyone else. Your USP: Best quality, best service or: Best quality, unique in the marketplace.
Conversely, maybe your prices are low, but your work/product/service is every bit as good as your competition and you’re the perfect fit for people on a budget. Your USP: great quality, low prices.
You have to have something that sets you apart and it has to be something that people will buy; that is meaningful in your marketplace. It can be simple too – that you just flat-out do a good job, or are super reliable, and you’ll convey that in what you say, what you do and what you deliver for your clients/customers/patients, etc.
Do you see how this comes from the combination of your business offering/skill, your personality and what drives you? Sometimes a good USP has more to do with the ‘twist’ that attracts people than it does from what your core business or offering might be. In other words, I’m a business writer, and maybe someone else is just as good as I am, or better. But I will meet your deadline no matter what, and I’ll make your revisions and I’ll do it graciously and quickly and I’ll re-work it until you think it’s perfect. If any or all of those things are important to you and you think my work is as good as Bob’s but he’s a pain in the ass, guess who you’re going to choose?
You can’t be all things to all people, so don’t try to be. You don’t need everyone to like what you offer; you just need some people to love what you offer. Knowing (and/or positioning) what’s different and unique about you will help you to build your brand and your reputation and allow people to know you, what you offer and how you stand out.
Sometimes those things have to do with what else interests you – about your work or outside of your work. What do you pay attention to when you’re out in the world? Architecture? Food? How people are dressed? Shoes? Storefronts? Cars? What else do you do? Play music? Hang out somewhere in particular? Read? Dance?
Along with your USP which is the focus of what makes your business different is your UPA – your unique personality attributes. See my Article: Your USP: Ask These Questions to learn how to create your USP.
Take some time right now to work this out. This is a good thing for any business owner to do at least once every year. Use the old elevator speech idea – how would you describe your business to a stranger in an elevator ride to the top floor, basically in a minute or less. It’s what you say at a cocktail party when someone asks what you do….
You want to position the language in a way that tells the person what’s in it for them. Everything you offer has benefits and features and you want to be talking about the benefits for that person.
I’ll use me as an example to use your USP to say what you do. What I offer: written words for business in all shapes and forms. What’s different about me: I’m not a prima donna. I’m down-to-earth, easy to get along with and in my book the client is always right. Might sound corny or old-fashioned, but it works for me.
When people ask me what I do, I say something along the lines of: Anything a business has that’s written is what I create – websites, email campaigns, brochures, you name it. I’m able to convey your brand, your style and your company in a voice that works for your audience. I get the work done on time, with no fuss and a great attitude. That’s it.
Please figure your USP out right now. Read my article: ‘Your USP Checklist‘ to get some ideas of how to work it out. If you want to use that USP in social media to get more business, then get my Free Report right now: Using Social Media To Grow Your Business….it’s on every page of amyposner.com
You’re on your way. Good for you. Honestly, most business people put this off, it’s not that hard, or time consuming and doing it will make you more money. Need I say more?
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