Today's Feature Article

Unique Selling Proposition
Your Competitive Advantage
by Larry Lim

To capture a larger market share and be viable, sustainable and profitable, you absolutely need to differentiate or distinguish your business, products and/or services from your competitors. In other words, you need to make your business special in the eyes of your customers and/or prospects.

You can do this by creating what's called an Unique Selling Propostion or USP and then effectively convey that USP to your target market via your marketing efforts and business performance.

This is particularly crucial if you're operating in a highly competitive market.

What Is An Unique Selling Propostion?

Your USP is the one thing or idea that sets your business favourably apart from your competitors'. It's a statement of Advantages you bring to your customers that differentiate you from your competitors.

It's the focal point around which the success and profitability of your business is built and so you must be able to state it and fulfill it honourably and effectively. It's stated in terms of the benefit it delivers to your customers.

Think about this...

"What's the one thing that makes your business unique and distinct? Why should people buy from you and not from your competitors? Do you promise great value, benefits or service?"

Advantages could include factors like a broad range of product selection, superior customer service, highest quality, best prices, and so on.

Effective USP Components

When formulating and implementing your USP, it's crucial that you bear in mind the following components:

Look, anybody can claim that they provide the best service in town - "We're The Number One Service Provider In America". Do you think this is credible? Of course not. It's lukewarm and is an empty promise because you can't measure it and you can't hold them accountable and people can easily see through it. USP such as this can in fact harm your business instead of helping it.

Your USP really needs to pack a punch.

Now, let's take a look at a good example:

"Your Parcel Delivered To You The Very Next Day, or It Costs You Nothing!"

The above is a powerful USP. As you can see, you can actually measure it and hold the Company accountable; the Company actually guarantees the delivery of your parcle the very next day or it doesn't cost you a cent.

Can you imagine what this will do to the Company? It'll put it head and shoulders above its competition.

Many business owners often wonder why they should be unique. They wonder what's wrong with being a "me too" business.

The fact is that if you're unique, you're almost guaranteed to outperform and outdistance your competition. It's also a fact that a "me too" business will eventually go to the wall.

Let me ask a question:

Do you set up shop before identifying and formulating your USP?

If you do, don't!

Here's an illustration why:

You set up a provision shop in an area where there're alreay four of them operating in it.

The current market share is being split amongst the four provision shops, and out of the four, three of them are struggling.

By setting shop in that area, it means that the current market share will have to be further split amongst the five of you.

What makes you so sure that you'll be profitable if you're not unique and operate as an "also ran"?

The fact is that the odds is really against you because you' re no different from the rest of your competitors.

The days where businesses compete on price and service alone is no longer that effective because the potential customers can always get what you have to offer much cheaper and with a better service somewhere else.

What you really need is to be different and unique in order to outperform your competitors.

By now you can see how powerful a statement of USP is to your business. As I've mentioned in the beginning, it is the focal point around which your business is built. It forces you to be clear and define exactly what advantages your customers can expect from doing business with you.

And as such, it'll drive your marketing efforts and have a profound impact on your operations.

Coming up with a clear statement of your USP doesn't cost you money - just some of your time and thoughts. At the end of the day, it'll be time and thoughts well spent because of the increase in sales and profits that you'll reap.

Just do it today; this step is absolutely crucial.

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Larry Lim is a practising marketing strategist and tactician who dishes out highly effective marketing strategies and tactics that will enable you to successfully start and grow your business on the Internet.

Check out his Internet Marketing Strategy website that is jam-packed with marketing secrets and softwares that will skyrocket your sales, and shoot your profits through the roof.
http://www.marketingsphere.com/

Today's Motivational Reading

Online retail holiday spending rises 29% year-over-year
comScore reports

Online spending grew faster than expected during the 2004 holiday shopping season in the combined months of November and December, rising 29% over the same period in 2003 to $ 15.8 billion from $12.3 billion, comScore Networks Inc. reports. Full-year 2004 online spending rose 26% to $66.5 billion from $52.9 billion in 2003.

By comparison, total retail spending in the combined months of November and December rose 1.7% over the same period in 2003, according to a preliminary estimate by ShopperTrak.

Online travel spending for the combined November-December 2004 period rose 28% year-over-year, to $7.8 billion, comScore reports. Full-year 2004 online travel spending rose 26% year-over-year, to $50.9 billion.

Multi-channel retailers led in holiday 2004 spending, comScore says. In a mid-holiday season analysis it conducted of 25 multi-channel retailers, it found that they posted an aggregate year-over-year sales growth rate of about twice that of online retail as a whole. “While it’s clear that a broad range of online merchants saw a strong season, multi-channel retailers were standouts,” says Dan Hess, senior vice president of industry analysis. “Many of the nation’s leading retail brands flexed their muscle this season, with strategies including faster delivery options, significant redesigns and effective cross-channel promotions.”

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Source:
http://www.thecassiopeia.com/2004Sales.html

Today's Subscriber Article

Whatever You Do... Don't Save Any Money!
Leo J. Quinn

No, that's not a misprint. Even though falling interest rates are good when you want to get a loan, they are bad for people with savings accounts.

In this economy your best investment, the best place to put your money is into paying off debts. Think of it as investing in your debt because that is exactly what you are doing.

If you put $1,000 into a bank savings account earning 2%, at the end of a year you will have $1,020.

If you carry a $1,000 balance on a credit card with a 19% interest rate, and you pay the minimum monthly payments, at the end of one year you will have paid $190 in interest.

If you get $1,000 in a tax refund, small inheritance or from somewhere else you now have a choice to make. You can earn 20 bucks in a savings account or save $190 by paying off that credit card. Keep in mind that your 20 bucks is taxable income so you'll be left with $15 or so after taxes.

Do you need a savings account for emergencies? That savings account may be causing those emergencies! Think about it this way...

If you are earning money in a savings account at 2% and paying anything over 2% on your debts you are sliding backwards financially and you'll never get ahead. It's basic mathematics.

If you earn 20 bucks for five years in your savings account you'll have $100. If you pay $190 in interest on your $1,000 credit card after five years you will have paid $950 in interest charges.

In other words you have wasted, lost, burned or flushed $ 850 by having a savings account. ($950 - $100 = $850) OUCH!

What can you do? Pay off that credit card and use that as your emergency fund. It's not the best way to do it but it' s better than earning 2% and paying anything over 2%.

So, while the stock market is on it's roller coaster and the economy is challenged your best investment, bar none, is your debts! Get them paid off!

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Leo J. Quinn, Jr. is a financial educator from the Albany, NY area. For the last eight years he has been stunning audiences by showing them that paying off their highest interest rates debts first and/or paying extra on more than one debt is often the SLOWEST way to get rid of those debts. He has a special offer for readers of this newsletter at:
http://www.thecassiopeia.com/debtshrinker.html

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