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Ann Sieg's free new ebook, Attraction Marketer's Manifesto, has a lot of people thinking about ways they can differentiate themselves. You've heard the saying "Differentiate or Die". In today's highly competitive world, whether it be offline or online, you have to be unique and fill a specific niche to be successful.

What is it that makes you unique and valuable? The best way to answer that question is to identify your USP, or Unique Selling Proposition.

What is a USP?

Your USP is a sentence or phrase that explains what sets you apart and makes you special. It is the soul of your business, and is what distinguishes you from your competitors. It is the answer you give when a potential client asks "Why should I buy from you?"

What are the benefits of developing a powerful Unique Selling Proposition?

• It gives your prospects a reason to do business with you rather than your competitors.
• It can help make your marketing much more effective
• It gives you the focus you need to dominate a market niche.

How do you develop a Unique Selling Proposition?

When developing your USP, put yourself in your prospects’ position. What is important to your potential customer and what would be a compelling reason for them to buy from you instead of your competition?

To help you do this, get a paper and pencil and answer these questions:

1. What benefits does your product or service offer? (keep in mind that benefits are all about how the product adds value for customers. This is different than features which describe the product. For instance, a money-back guarantee is a feature, and the corresponding benefit is that the customer doesn't take on any financial risk when buying your product).
2. How does your product or service help solve your target market's problem?
3. How do your benefits outweigh what the competition offers? Which benefits are the most difficult for your competitors to imitate?
4. Which benefits are the most important to your customers. These are the ones you should focus on in your USP.
5. What are the greatest challenges your target market is experiencing and which of their needs are unfulfilled? What voids or typical complaints do clients have about businesses in your industry or service area? List as many as you can, aiming for a minimum of 10.
6. What would be a client’s perfect product or service in your industry?
7. Write a draft paragraph describing your USP, including the the client’s problem you are solving, your unique solution and the benefit the client will receive.
8. Look at two or three of your competitors. Write a sentence that describes their USP, i.e. their unique offering. How does it differ from yours?
9. Ask some of your clients what they like best about your business solutions? What words do they use to describe the benefits they achieve from your business?
10. Think outside the box and look at other industries. Are there innovations in other industries that you could apply to your business?
11. Now rewrite your USP. Make sure you use clear, powerful language. Make each word count. Write this in paragraph form and also in a shorter one sentence version that can be easily repeated.
12. Once you have developed your USP and are happy with it, incorporate it in all your marketing material, both offline and online.

Keep in mind that you can’t be all things to all people. In fact, you don't want to. The best thing is find a niche or a segment of the market that you can thrive in because of the unique benefits you offer. Remember, focus is power!

What does a good USP look like?

The ultimate goal of your USP is to have people say... "Oh yeah, I've heard of you. You're the one who..." - And then respond by requesting more information or making a purchase.

A good USP should be:

• Only one sentence (although you can get away with two).
• Clearly written so that it is easily understood
• Focused on benefits that are unique to your company or product.

   

Here are some examples of powerful USP's:

"When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight"  (Federal Express)

"Fresh, hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or it's free" (Dominos Pizza)

"The nightime, coughing, achy, sniffling, stuffy head, fever, so you can rest medecine" (Nyquil)

Identifying your USP is part of the essential foundation for your business success, and a critical part of your niche marketing strategy. Get my free report "Ten Steps to Finding and Attracting Your Ideal Niche".