July 12, 2008

What's Beyond Your USP?

I was talking with Mark Joyner, about a new direction for my career.
Now that I've gone through the phases of being a
hypnotic writer, an outrageous marketer, a hypnotic
marketer and a spiritual marketer, what's next for me?

"What's your USP?" Mark asked me.

A USP is a "unique selling proposition." It's one line
that states what you do that is different than what
your competition does. Rosser Reeves invented the term
in the 1950s. Dan Kenney, Jay Abraham and myself have
used it to help our clients get clear about what their
business offers. Mark was helping me to do the same
thing with my own business.

"I've gone through so many USPs that today I don't
even use one," I explained. "I was thinking of just
dropping it altogether."

Mark didn't miss a beat.

"What is Wayne Dyer's USP?" he asked me.

"I have no idea," I replied. "He's a self-help author
of many best-selling books."

"That's right," Mark said. "And what is Deepak
Chopra's USP?"

Again, I couldn't think of one. Deepak is a health
oriented author of many best-selling books. But
as for his USP, I had no idea. There are other
self-help authors and other health authors, so
what is unique about Dyer or Chopra is their
being, or essence, or brand.

Mark's questions were beginning to help me see that at
a certain point you can go beyond a need for a USP.
After all, when I thought about this, I couldn't decide
what the USP was for Dan Kennedy, Jay Abraham,
or even myself, and we're all spokespeople for the
need for USPs!

"What we're really talking about here is building your
own brand," Mark explained to me. "People are on your
email list because they want to know about you and what
you are doing. They are following Dr. Joe Vitale.
Focusing on your brand is probably wiser than
focusing on your USP at this time."

Mark is right, of course.

At a certain point in your business life you have to
leave the USP and focus on the brand. After all, even
Federal Express dropped their USP ("When you absolutely
need it overnight"), and Dominio's also dropped their
USP ("Fresh hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or its
free"). Now they live on their brand images.

So, where are you?

Do you have a USP? Is it truly unique?
And have you had it long enough to drop it
and now create a brand for yourself?

The way to answer these questions is like this:

1. If you already have a USP, good for you.
Be sure it is truly unique. If no one else can
make the claim you do, than it is unique.

2. If you have been using your USP with
great success for more than ten years, you
may be already building a brand image.

3. If your USP has been in circulation over
ten years, your business is ripping and roaring
and making you a millionaire, then you can
consider going beyond your USP. It may
be time to now focus on your brand.

Now take an honest look at your business.
Where do you stand?

The next step is yours.
Go for it!


By Dr. Joe Vitale

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