How to Determine If Your USP Is Fake (a Missed Opportunity to Connect)

How to Determine If Your USP Is Fake (a Missed Opportunity to Connect)

Reader Comments (10)

  1. 1 word Stephanie; clarity. I am pretty close to being fully clear on my blog and brand and USP; so I do not deviate from the USP and also, my USP is as I have been, to help folks do the same. I remind people of how I retired to a life of island hopping through smart blogging, and inspire them to do the same, through my blog post images and blog content. I see it as being honest and quite genuine. My readers let me know they feel the same way. When you don’t allow the fear of loss to goad you into not being 100% honest your USP will rock and you will outshine most folks in your blogging niche.

  2. “their USP appeared fake”

    Stefanie, every day I see so many hooks that don’t pass the believability test. I love your example and I’m stealing it.

    I remember Naomi Dunford wrote a series, “How To Write A Decent Sales Email”. That promise of “decent”, just good enough smacked me in my eyes and got me to read. It was much more believable than “How to write emails that skyrocket sales!”

    Years later, I wrote a blog post for my job that tried to position itself against unbelievable promises of becoming an expert at coding, fast. It was called “How to get decent at JavaScript – for free”

    • I’m honored, Hashim! Steal away!

      I love that you mentioned believability. That’s exactly what I was talking about! Funny that the word didn’t cross my mind for the post. 🙂

  3. Your analysis about the right marketing USP is very compelling and well-illustrated, Stefanie. Beyond the overselling and the hype, every marketer should be aware that the essence of effective marketing is being specific and honest.

  4. I absolutely love your article. Thank you. You just opened my eyes to a deeper true meaning to “benefits”. Before this, I had stopped short of finishing “the story”.
    I shared this with my entire group via email and asked for a read receipt. I want to be sure we can all be on the same page.

  5. While I love this, “You need to demonstrate your methodology, philosophy, and the results a prospect will see when they choose you over someone else.” I do wonder…how does a new writer who hasn’t got a raft of case studies to draw on communicate that to prospects? A newbie doesn’t actually know what the results will be, just what they hope they’ll be, if that makes sense…

    • That’s a terrific question, LJ!

      I think it’s about demonstrating your dedication to good work and helping prospects in areas they struggle with — in ways similar service providers don’t address.

      For example, a writer could demonstrate their reliability with an on-time guarantee. Or, if a writer wants to help their client with strategy, they could hold a weekly virtual office hours as part of their writing package, so the client can pick their brain.

      Once you get to know what your ideal prospect is really looking for, you can tap into aspects that almost matter more than just being a good writer. Stellar writing samples will do that, but then you have opportunities to show what else you bring to the table.

      Using my nail salon example, when faced with two similar choices, I was persuaded by the one with believable marketing. I had no idea at first if I would actually like the salon, but the feeling that they “got me” made me think it was worth a shot.

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