The Reluctant Entrepreneur: Turning Dreams into Profits

THE USP: MAKING YOUR PRODUCT STAND OUT FROM THE COMPETITION

If you can’t compete on price—and most new businesses can’t—you have to compete with your product itself. And that means positioning it as somehow different from and better than other products of its kind. You do that by establishing a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and emphasizing that in your advertising.

Here are some tips for coming up with a strong USP:

The Best USPs Have the Appearance of Uniqueness

The feature or benefit you decide to promote with your USP does not necessarily have to be unique to your product. But it does have to seem like it is. If, for example, you’re a tailor and you wash and iron every item of clothing you mend, make the washing and ironing your USP. Other tailors may be performing those same services—but if they’re not mentioning it in their advertising, it will make you appear to be the only one.

The Best USPs Have a Trendy Appeal

The appearance of uniqueness is not enough. If the feature or benefit you’re promoting is not desirable, it will do you no good. The best USPs are those that tap into trends. The big screen on Apple’s iPhone, for example, is a feature emphasized in all its ads. It plays into a growing demand for bigger and more technically-refined TV screens.

The Best USPs Are Conceptually Simple

If your product’s USP is trendy, it is almost certainly simple too. Very few complicated things ever become trendy. And keep in mind that you have to sell the USP. And nothing sells well ...