How to Create a USP by Explaining What You Do

If you sell a service, here's a shortlist of how you can set yourself apart from the competition:

• Who - Who is your target client? Who are you? Whom do you donate 5% of profits to?
• What - What do you do? What don't you do?
• When - When are your office hours? When will you meet clients?
• Where - Where is your office? Where will you meet clients?
• Why - Why do you do what you do? Why did you open your business?
• How - How fast/slow/expensively/cheaply/high-tech/low-tech do you do what you do?

None of these is trivial. Each has the makings of a unique selling proposition, or USP.

Your USP is the answer to the question in your prospect's mind: "Why should I give my money to you and not some other business?"

To illustrate, let's pick where from the list above.

You might not think twice about where you work. But at the Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott law firm in Chicago, their office includes a basketball court, which delights clients -- and sets their firm apart.

According an interview with managing partner, Sidney N. (Skip) Herman, in Forbes magazine:

We call the basketball court the Forum, like the one in ancient Rome where people would come to exchange ideas. We have 10-foot whiteboards, movable tables and chairs and network connectors built into the floor. We can sweep it all away at any minute to pick up a game of basketball.

Clients travel here all the way from New York and Los Angeles. They eye that basketball all day and finally someone rolls the ball that's been sitting in the corner. They smile. They take a shot. Pretty soon we're scrambling to protect the laptops and overhead projectors! Next time they come, they come without the tie.

Do clients travel from either coast to visit your office?

I'm not saying that a basketball court is a marketing panacea. But ... if your USP is strong enough (and your services good enough), you can attract clients like kids to a playground.

You'll find more ideas like these in my Free Report, Guaranteed Marketing.