What Makes You (or Your Business) Unique?

Why do so many marketing blogs start off by talking about…

being unique?  Have you ever noticed that?  Well, there’s a reason for it.  Unless you’re IBM, (and look what happened to them), you can’t afford not to answer the following question posed by Dan Kennedy:

Why Should I Do Business with You as Opposed to All the Other Options that are Available to Me, Including Doing NOTHING?

Once you can answer that question, you have your Unique Selling Position, (or UPS – Unique Positioning Statement.  I even saw it called MSP – Magnetic Selling Position.)  

A USP is NOT “because I have the best quality, service, and price in town.”  Well, maybe you do.  But everybody else thinks they have the best price, quality and service as well.  So guess what that means?  
Two things.

1.  This is a dead idea as a USP.

2.  Top notch quality, service, and pricing, (all of which mean value or the best bang for the buck), are the *minimum* for entry into today’s marketplace.

So, again, like Dan Kennedy says,

Why Should I Do Business with You as Opposed to All the Other Options Available to Me, Including Doing Nothing?

Think about it.  Lose sleep over it.  Let me give you some hints.

1.  A USP is your “30 second” commercial.  That’s about all the time
you should take to recite it.

2.  A USP must show a real benefit.

3.  A USP must be specific.

4.  A USP should make the hearer or reader say, “Wow!  How do you do
that?”  That’s your cue to give them more info.

To get you started in the right direction, here’s one I created a while back.

“We help clients competition-proof their businesses in 90 days or
less!”

One other thing. Don’t try to make one single USP fit every product or service your company has. If you have a software product, that might have one USP. A book might have another USP. Your business should have its own USP.

And another thing. This will probably take some time and effort. It’s going to require work and thought on your part. It might come to you quickly but most likely it won’t. You may have over it a bit. That’s OK. It will be worth it. But if you get stuck, post a comment here and we’ll work on it together.

Got it?  Good!  Now the challenge.  Post your USP here in a comment. Then we’ll discuss and critique them.

Go for it!

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