Would enrolling in the world's hardest writing course make you nervous? I was. But I did it and I'll tell you why. For nearly 8 years, I'd been trying to earn a living working online. I'd tried network marketing, affiliate marketing, e-commerce, I even created a digital course. But my success rate was zero. None of my ventures had been profitable. In fact, I'd lost money on all of them. But after discovering a course and connecting with the USP, I was able to create better content.
I wasn't about to give up
I discovered another niche I wanted to explore, and I knew that creating content was going to be the key to making it work. I started my content creation journey by writing articles for a blog. It was painful. Every article took me way too long to write, and I wasn't confident they were any good. I badly needed help.
Around that time, a mentor of mine, Sean D'Souza, was selling seats for the writing course he teaches every two years. This was the course that had the nickname of being "the hardest writing course in the world." I was very apprehensive about enrolling in the course, yet I knew it would help me become a better writer. On top of my fear, the course wasn't cheap - it cost nearly as much as three months of mortgage payments! I didn't know what to do.
It was a lot of debt to take on
I really didn't want to take on that much, but I couldn't stop thinking about the course. My gut was saying it was the right thing to do. I contacted Sean to see if there were any seats still available. If there weren't, my decision would be made for me. As it turned out, there was only one seat left. It was almost like it was meant to be. I knew the course would give me the help I needed, so I signed up immediately. I took action right then.
Discovering the Unique Selling Proposition
The unique selling proposition, or USP, for any product, must inspire a potential customer to take action. It should take people from sitting on the fence, not being able to make a decision, to moving forward and buying your product. If your product solves a problem and benefits those who use it, then people need to buy it.
Look at what happened to me - the USP for the writing course had me convinced it would help me. One spot was available and I jumped on it. That's a perfect example of how a USP should work. A USP that works is made up of three components, which we will cover in this article. We'll be discussing how to:
- Choose what makes your product unique
- Sell without being sleazy
- Polish your proposition
Let's get started by taking a look at your product.
What's different about your product?
What sets it apart from all your competition? Maybe it's the way you produce it. Maybe it's how you source the ingredients. It could be your packaging, your delivery, or the options available to customers. It doesn't really matter what makes your product unique. What matters is that potential customers know what it is.
You may think there's nothing unique about your product
I can assure you - this isn't true. There is something unique about your product. If you don't know what it is, and you can't find it, then you need to choose it. There's no reason you can't choose the unique characteristic of your product. What would you like it to be known for? Is there something special about your customers that use it? Are you the only business that sells to a specific geo-location?
It's critical to know what's unique about your product.
Being unique, in some way, eliminates the competition. Let me rephrase that - it doesn't eliminate the competition. There will always be competition. Having a unique aspect to your product eliminates comparisons. When potential customers are evaluating their options, your product will be special in a way that your competition isn't.
For example, someone who would be your ideal customer buys not from you but from the competition. However, before they made their decision, through your marketing, you'll have drilled into their mind the uniqueness of your product. Having bought from the competition, and not you, they'll know what they are missing out on.
As a result, they should suffer a little buyer's remorse. Do you see the importance of your product's uniqueness? Are you wondering how to enlighten potential customers without coming across as pushy? Great, because we're up to point #2 - selling without being sleazy.
No one enjoys time with a pushy salesperson
They're too transparent - you know they'll say anything to make the sale. All they care about is #1 - themselves. They aren't looking out for your best interest. Their goal, plain and simple, is to make you buy, no matter what. So how do we avoid having our USP sound like a sleazy salesperson?
Stop selling and take on the role of a consultant
An effective USP will speak to the pain points of a potential customer. It will offer a remedy to whatever is their bleeding neck problem. A USP should answer what keeps them up at night, but not in a pushy, salesy way.
A great USP isn't a platform for bragging. Loudly proclaiming "We're the best!" or "We're #1" doesn't mean anything to someone looking for a solution. If your product really is the best on the market, your USP should express why that is. Give a reason for the customer to believe. Now we're up to the final component of a USP - the proposition.
Let's look at what completes a USP
No USP is complete without an offer. The offer is the proposition. The offer states what your customer will receive if they decide to try your product.
The offer can be in several different forms. It can be a guarantee of performance, quickness of delivery, or extra bonuses if your product is purchased. You can choose anything for your offer, just remember that it should extend more value to your customer than they are giving in exchange.
What if you sell a service, not a product?
A well-crafted USP will benefit every business, regardless of whether you are selling a product or a service. Just like a physical product, your service will have something unique about it. If you don't know what that is, then you need to find it or choose it.
When you sell your service, you need to come at it from the perspective of a consultant. And finally, the offer you give for your service needs to have a guarantee or bonus, no different than a physical product would have.
A breakdown of a very famous USP may help
You've heard this one before, and it's been studied many times, but it's worth looking at again. The USP that Domino's Pizza used for many years is as perfect as they come. Their USP was "Fresh, hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed." This USP was perfect because it expressed uniqueness, from the role of a consultant, and made an offer.
Their unique factor was the 30-minute delivery. At the time when Domino's was using this USP, no one else was offering such quick delivery. Only Domino's offered 30-minute delivery. The selling part of their USP was "Fresh, hot pizza". That's what customers wanted and it's what Domino's was selling. The offer was all of the above - fresh, hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less - guaranteed. Your pizza was free if Domino's didn't get it to your door within 30 minutes.
A USP isn't complete without these three components
Missing any one of the three will produce a USP that lacks the power to persuade customers to take action. We discussed the three keys to a great USP, and they were:
- Choosing what makes your product unique
- Selling without being sleazy
- Polishing your proposition
My decision to enroll in the world's hardest writing course was a wise decision. It has helped me become a quicker, more confident writer. Credit can be given to the course's well-crafted USP for helping me make the decision to enroll.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. If you found it interesting and helpful, please do share it on your social media. For the next article to read, I'd recommend "Why Website SEO Has Gone The Way Of Flagpole Sitting." In it, we discuss how SEO doesn't work as well today as it has in the past.
Cheers.
Previously published at https://stevekehler.com/how-to-create-an-action-inducing-usp-in-less-than-one-hour/