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Find Your Unique Selling Proposition USP

Written by: Catherine Kaputa

Article Overview: Savvy brand managers spend a lot of time delineating differences: different product benefits, different look, different message, and different target audience. What they are creating is a distinct brand strategy explaining what their brand has to offer that competing brands don’t. And the payback can be enormous. Look at high profile entrepreneurs who hit the big time like Donald Trump or Martha Stewart. They built a compelling USP for their business idea every step of the way.

Find Your Unique Selling Proposition USP

Savvy brand managers spend a lot of time delineating differences: different product benefits, different look, different message, and different target audience. What they are creating is a distinct brand strategy explaining what their brand has to offer that competing brands don’t. And the payback can be enormous. Look at high profile entrepreneurs who hit the big time like Donald Trump or Martha Stewart. They built a compelling USP for their business idea every step of the way.
As an entrepreneur, you should do the same. Branding is about finding your big idea – your unique selling proposition – that something special that sets you and your business apart from others and helps you to be more successful. In my new book, U R A BRAND! How Smart People Brand Themselves for Business Success, I outline the strategies and actions that entrepreneurs like Alexandra took to propel business success and build a personal and business brand identity.
An executive coach who had been in business for more than ten years, Alexandra had a marketing brochure and fancy logo but no different idea. After I read her brochure, all I could remember as a takeaway message was “executive coach who works with all kinds of people and all kinds of problems.”
A lot of entrepreneurs make this mistake. They want to cast a wide net so they won’t miss any business. However, the opposite usually occurs. They don’t get much business because people don’t have anything to sink their teeth int. Alexandra offered no reason for someone to choose her and gave no sense of the kind of clients she was best suited to help.
We got our brand insight when I asked Alexandra, “What kind of client are you really good with?” “Believe it or not,” Alexanda told me, “I like working with really difficult people – managers with poor people skills, the kind that are featured in books like How to Work for a Jerk.”
Eureka! We had our different brand promise.
With her focus on difficult managers and the people who work for them, Alexandra had a point of difference and a USP on which to build her self brand and company brand. She had a public relations platform for pitching reporters doing stories on how to cope with an abusive boss or a difficult client.
Alexandra’s different brand strategy also became a way of being memorable and staying at the top of everyone’s mind. And as we know, out of mind is out of business if you are an entrepreneur.

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Related Forum Posts
Re: This is Marketing Warfare! - Hey GT, I guess this was from a while back, and it'll test your memory a bit but could you possibly elaborate on Unique Selling Proposition? Can you give us some examples of good USPs?
Re: Readers, Money or SEO? Which comes first? - [quote="WebBizIdeas.com":35az7o03]Hi Chris, Do you have any great PR strategies to share? [/quote:35az7o03] Be different. Its hard to promote anything that doesn't have strong Unique Selling Points. Read 'Purple Cow' by Seth Godin for inspiration and why good PR and promotion starts with a great product. As a publisher, our content is a significant part of our product lineup. Following that you need to reach out and network with influencers. I've managed to get mainstream press coverage a few times in the past, but I'm certainly not an expert on this though and I'm always learning.
Re: Kevin's Case Study #10 - When to become an entrepreneur? - When the bug bite you. A lot of successful entrepreneurs started in their teens or at school. Selling sweets to fellow students or lemonade to firends in the neighbourhood.
Re: Best way to start a business? - Find a good mentor.
Blog pinging - Thanks Martin - yes, I do ping and it has been very effective. I'm currently on the first page of Google for Mastermind Group and on the second page for Selling to Small Business.


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