What’s Your USP?

January 14, 2019 Mike MacDonald

In the world of business, if you want to be successful, you need to add value. It’s often as simple as that. If you’re offering something that is already out there in the market, and it’s either the same or worse than what’s already offered, then you may struggle to do well.

Instead, when you’re able to stand out and showcase what you can do – in a way that’s very different to the way in which others are doing it, then you will find that you’re able to find business growth and success in abundance.

When you’re willing to work hard and chase after it, that is. So what will it take for you to stand out? Do you know how your business adds value? Let’s take a look at some options for your USP.

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What is a USP?

Are you in a high competition industry? Do you want your business to stand out above the rest? Well your USP could be the way to do it.

If you aren’t familiar with it a USP is your unique selling proposition. This is the one or many major things that separate you from your competition.

In the high competition environment we live in today, your USP could be the deal breaker that brings the new customers to you vs someone else.

Any strategy that can increase sales could be a game changer for your business, so focus on some of these top USP options below.

Expertise

First of all, it could be that you’re just simply an expert in your set field. Maybe you know a lot about it or that you have the potential to become a thought-leader?

When this is the case, you really need to work on this and get the ball rolling. And yes, it would take a lot of work, but you need to be constantly demonstrating your expertise in your field.

Becoming an expert in your field is attainable, even if you are just getting started. It’s been said that you can become an expert after 10,000 hours in a given area. That specific number gets thrown around a lot, but the key to becoming an expert is daily improvement and consistency.

Another factor you can control is focusing on improving yourself and skill set. Personal development is a key foundation and essential daily habit for the most successful.

Creativity

The next thing that could be important to you, is creativity. Maybe you have ideas that are way more standout than others in your field? Does your imagination take your business to new heights?

Are you forward-thinking? Or maybe you want to become a more creative person in order to do this? Either way, it could be your ideas and innovation that make you a leader in your field.

Be willing to try new things. Fear of failure is a top killer of creativity. Failure is just a stepping stone for success when you learn from it.

When you know failure is simply a way of learning and guiding you to success it can give you the ability to become more creative. If you struggle with using failure to your advantage you may want to check out this book Failing Forward by John C. Maxwell. Check out the current price on Amazon HERE.

Convenience as your USP

How convenient is your business? A huge boom in many industries have happened by increasing convenience to the end user or buyer.

Look at Uber and Lift for example. It used to be a big hassle to find a cab and the user experience tended to not be that great. These companies turned the whole process into a seamless, simple, fast option to get a ride.

How about Airbnb as another option. They took a process of finding a hotel or place to stay into a super simple and cost effective option for the masses.

What about Amazon? They have become one of the largest companies in the world and made the shopping experience far more convenient and easy for everyone.

Ask yourself how can you make your company more convenient to your customers.

Problem solving for your niche as your USP

And then, you might want to be the company that is forever problem-solving. Maybe you want to make your audience’s lives easier? You launch one product or service to help them.

And then another. And another. Because you want to be able to facilitate their lives and really add value to how they live or work or another other area of their lives.

The foundation of all successful businesses are how well can you solve your target market’s problems. This means if you aren’t great in this area, maybe taking some time to study your niche is in order.

The more you know your target market’s needs, wants, pain points, common questions, and problems, the better you can solve them.

Consider making content and free downloads with your various solutions for your audience. This is an excellent way to generate leads for your business and make information products to sell.

A resource that could help you out on this is my post on how to create and sell digital products. You may also enjoy this video on how to create an ebook for free, fast, and easy!

Making A Difference

Or maybe what you do differently is make a difference in the lives of others? Are you really big on philanthropy?

Do you give to charity or do you make sure that you really push your charitable initiatives? Maybe you look to work with engraved bricks, pavers and tiles or offer a volunteer program? If you really are interested in giving back, this could be a huge USP for you.

There are even opportunities to give back and travel at the same time. Some travel companies even offer volunteer trips where you can help build bottle schools and build wells along side of your vacation.

If you’d like to learn more check out this travel club.

Entertainment

Finally, it could be that your difference is in your core values. Are you funny? Does your business provide good entertainment? Do you add to your audiences life with the products or services or content that you create?

If you know that you offer a form of entertainment that is different from your competition, then you’re definitely going to be on to a winner. Remember, you need to make sure that you’re adding to someone’s life with what you produce here, and entertaining them is always a plus.

In all of your content remember to be you. All things being equal, people tend to do business with those that they know, like and trust. Plus people like to do business with people, not just companies.

Do you have a YouTube channel set up? This could be a great way to connect with your audience, entertain them, provide value, and even bring in new leads and sales. Want to check out my YouTube channel? Click Here to Subscribe!

Out value your competition

Another way to separate yourself from the competition is to simply add more value than they do. Do you have a content marketing strategy in place for your business?

When it comes to building your business online, content is king. The more valuable of a resource you can become for your audience the better.

Content is king in this day and age. How much content do you have out there?

The more value you add to the marketplace the more income you can generate on autopilot for your business. Get out of pitch mode and get into serve mode.

Each piece of value based content is like another billboard out there promoting you and your business. When you lead with value and education first, the more likely people will be to buy from you.

Focus on out teaching your competition as a part of your USP. If you’d like to learn more about generating leads for your business through content marketing, check out my lead generation boot camp here.