Unique Selling Points.. Got Yours?

This week I spent most of my time looking for new outlets whether
they be magazines or search engines that reach my target market,
and ran right into something I've been dancing around for some
time that's finally being tested - my own unique selling point.

What is a unique selling point or positioning statement?
From what I understand about a unique selling point, it's what
customers can clearly understand that separates your business
from the rest and is actually what they are buying.

What gets me ticked off about marketing online is every wannabe
marketer (clueless about their own marketing message) attempting
to tell the rest of us they have the 'secret sauce' to our
marketing problems.

Hey, Scooter let me give you a tip, for free: Unless you've
bought my product or used my service, your opinion has no value!

Customers who pulled out a credit card and actually bought what
you are selling are the ones you want to get an opinion from.
Not some Bucket Head you don't know from a can of paint trying
to convince you business is going to dry up and die just because
you didn't buy their 'secret sauce'.

One recent article I was reading stated this way of finding your
unique selling proposition: Move beyond the basics common to all
suppliers in the industry, and look at the criteria customers use
to decide which product or service to buy.

Just because it's common to the industry, doesn't mean your
customer know about it. Did you know most all coffee is grown
in mountain regions? Sure, those in the coffee industry know it
but no one thought of using it to market their coffee - Folgers
used that industry knowledge and it still stands today!

Jay Abraham has this to say about having a unique selling point
in your business:

"If you decide your USP is that your company offers the broadest
selection of products or services "instantly available" or
"always in stock," but in reality you only stock six out of 25
items and only a few of each item, then you're falling down on
the essence of your USP promise, and your marketing will probably
fail. It is critical to always fulfill the "big promise" of
your USP."

Here are the questions I try to answer about my own business under
Just The Facts:

What is the product made of (paper, water, ink, electrons, etc.)

Where did the product or service come from (UK, India, what's the history
behind it)

What does it do for the customer (knowledge, confidence, health, nothing)

What does it not do for the customer (opposite of what it does do)

How does it do this (makes noise, automated, rings a bell,)

Once you have Facts start at the top of your list and work
on Features. I find overlaps when comparing my Facts
with Features. What I do is put a check mark on the overlaps
because they are likely the very ones others in my market are
focusing on.

Finally, I turn the questions around based on those facts.
Here's how this works:

Would I pay $500 for this (paper, water, ink, electrons, etc.)?
Don't add anything more. 'Yeah, if it would save my life'
is not part of the question!

Would I pay $500 because this came from (UK, India, used to be made from cow spit?)

Would I pay $500 to have (knowledge, confidence, health, nothing)

Would I pay $500 if it doesn't give me (knowledge, confidence, health, nothing)

Would I pay $500 because it does (increase mobility, limits fats, rings a bell)

Now you are beginning to look at what you offer that has real benefits
from your customers perspective and how to get that across in your marketing.

Before you go, understand this: your unique selling point may
come from your Fact list or your Benefits list. It is the
"selling point" that has to be "unique" not necessarily your
product or service.

That's it for today and I leave you with this -

Do what you do so well that they will want to see
it again and bring their friends.~ Walt Disney