Steal These Ideas!: Marketing Secrets That Will Make You a Star, 2nd Edition

How to Create a USP

So how do you create a compelling USP? I promise, this effort is not even close to an exact science.

It often comes down to one overpowering idea about your product or service that sits there, staring you in the face. Sometimes it is so obvious that it is difficult to recognize its potential power. You have to step back, gain some perspective, and be honest enough to say—this fact, good or bad, is what my product or service really boils down to.

Sometimes a healthy dose of irony does the trick like the tagline created during the cold war for America's frontline nuclear missile and bomber arm—“Peace is our profession.”

The best USPs often are discovered by accident. Epiphanies are not planned events, and it is important to ...