Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP): What's the Big Picture?

If you're a consultant, coach, or service professional and you face commoditization, you MUST do something to stand out in your market.

You probably knew that.

The solution? A USP.

First popularized in 1961 by Rosser Reaves in his book, Reality In Advertising (out of print), USP is short for Unique Selling Proposition, it's your answer to this question: “Why should I buy only from you, at the price you’re asking, now?”

You probably knew that, too.

But I'll bet you didn't know that early USPs were doubly powerful, because they were visual as well as written.

Why? So busy housewives wouldn’t forget the product between then time they saw it on TV at night and went shopping the next day.

Below are two powerful USPs that combine words and pictures (both created by Reaves):

See how visually involving and convincing these graphics are? They're screen caps from TV commercials that ran in the 1960s.


Now, here are 3 modern examples of visual USPs:

Plenty of blenders claim to be fast, convenient, powerful, etc. But only one -- Blendtec blenders -- proves their claims visually like this, with a fun YouTube channel. That's a USP.

Plenty of sushi restaurants claim to offer yummy authentic food that will delight you. But only one -- Ebisu Sushi, in Vancouver, BC -- proves their claims visually like this, with a wall of these unique customer photos. That's a USP.

Plenty of marketing tools claim to make selling easy for you. But only one -- The Selling CardTM -- proves its claims visually like this, by showing you a sales letter masquerading as a business card.

Key question: How can you make your USP visual and well as verbal? That makes it doubly powerful, and can make your business doubly profitable.

Meanwhile, are you an entrepreneur with clients, not customers? Are you doing at least $200,000 in revenue, and want to do better? If so ...

... I can show you more "profit hacks" like the ones you just read in this article. Get them in my next Free Video Training Session. It's for $200k entrepreneurs ONLY, please.

Grab your spot here

Can't make it to that event? My free Client Cloning Kit can help. It's not some cheapo download -- this is a real business-building kit you can hold in your hands. Grab yours now, while you can.

The Death of Free Consultations and Ezines

Do you sell consulting, coaching, or professional services?

If so, you probably offer a free consultation and/or a free ezine on your web site.

One word: STOP. As in, "Stop doing that. Now."

Here's why. Google your competitors. Look at their websites. Look at what they're offering. See any patterns?

If you're like 90% of the consultants, coaches, or service professionals I talk to, your competitors are all offering a Free Consultation, a Free subscription to Advice/Tips/Ezine -- or both. And you're probably doing the same thing.

Guess what?

When you and your competitors all offer the same "get acquainted" options, your prospects can't tell you apart. They will shop around for the lowest price, just as they do with other commodities, like gasoline. And you'll find yourself on a fast track to oblivion.

Instead, do two things: Give your free consultation a different name. Then, offer something besides a free ezine. 

1) Rename your Free Consultation

There are 1,001 other ways to say "Free Consultation." Renaming examples:

• Free Options Review
• Complimentary "Know Your Options" Review
• Free "Know Your Options" Conversation
• Complimentary Property Savings Analysis
• Complimentary Revenue Outline
• No-Cost Project Game Plan
• No-Charge Benefit Snapshot
• No-Cost Risk Assessment

2) Rename and repackage your Free Advice/Tips/Ezine

There are 1,001 other ways to attract leads besides a "Free Ezine." Renaming examples:

• Free Client Cloning Kit
• Monthly Tipsheet
• Money-Saving Cheat Sheet
• Profit Blueprint
• Opportunity Blueprint
• Profit Recovery Kit
• Free Strategic Organizer
• Hidden Money Finder

But don't stop at the name. Repackage your information and deliver it differently. Consider any or all of these delivery mechanisms:

• Print and mail in an envelope, tube, or box
• Video series on YouTube
• Audio series on iTunes
• Printed book
• Printed booklet
• Printed white paper
• Teleseminar series
• Webinar series

Just as a small change to the rudder can change the course of a ship by thousands of miles, these two small changes to your marketing can change the course of your business by thousands -- or millions -- of dollars.

So, stop offering Free Consultations and Free Advice/Tips/Ezine. Rename and repackage what you do.

Meanwhile, are you an entrepreneur with clients, not customers? Are you doing at least $200,000 in revenue, and want to do better? If so ...

... I can show you more "profit hacks" like the ones you just read in this article. Get them in my next Free Video Training Session. It's for $200k entrepreneurs ONLY, please.

Grab your spot here
Can't make it to that event? My free Client Cloning Kit can help. It's not some cheapo download -- this is a real business-building kit you can hold in your hands. Grab yours now, while you can.

How to Make Your Business Remarkable

Want clients for life? People who buy from your business again and refer others?

One way to get them is to make your business remarkable, so that clients literally remark about you to their friends.

And if you want a simple way to become remarkable -- and create clients for life -- try this: If you sell a service, give away a product; if you sell a product, give away a service. Examples:

Service --> Product

1. Give clients an unexpected PRODUCT with the service, like a cookie, book, or gift card. Example: The maid who puts a mint on your pillow after making up your room is remarkable
2. Mail them a printed monthly newsletter. Don't have time to write one? Mail a copy of a helpful article, with a 5-word sticky note: "Saw this, thought of you." (If you don't have time for that, you don't have a business -- you have a hobby.)
3. Mail a "Quick Start Guide" or a "What to Expect" report after the first order

Product --> Service

1. Give clients an unexpected SERVICE with the product, like coaching or answering questions. Example: The web site that gives you free express shipping with your product is remarkable
2. Call to thank clients after every order, and ask what their #1 question is going forward. Answer that question (and listen for upsell and referral signals)
3. Refer clients to other vendors who can fill their needs for products/services you don't provide (which makes you a center of influence -- and makes you remarkable)

None of this is rocket surgery, by the way. You don't need 1,000 Facebook likes or a $30,000 web site overhaul to make it work. Just a little creative thinking. Thinking -- that's a remarkable feat which, by itself, can make your business remarkable.

Meanwhile, are you an entrepreneur with clients, not customers? Are you doing at least $200,000 in revenue, and want to do better? If so ...

... I can show you more "profit hacks" like the ones you just read in this article. Get them in my next Free Video Training Session. It's for $200k entrepreneurs ONLY, please.

Grab your spot here

Can't make it to the training? My free Client Cloning Kit can help. It's not some cheapo download -- this is a real business-building kit you can hold in your hands. Grab yours now, while you can.

The Upsell: Key to Higher Profits and Satisfaction

What is an upsell?

Short answer: Free money. Because a certain percentage of your clients want to buy more and almost all of them can buy more. The only question is, are you willing to sell it to them?

Academic answer: Asking people to buy more during or after the sale. Also called a bump or a cross-sell.

Upsell example: Tim, a photographer in St. Paul, Minnesota, added $4,000 in extra revenue in 6 months -- on track for $8,000 extra each year -- without working any harder.

How?

He added an upsell to his wedding photo packages. In addition to low and a medium, he now offers a premium-priced package to clients. He starts every presentation with “Here’s the best package,” and then works down. No hard selling required (Tim is very laid-back).

Results: More than 20% of his clients sell themselves. And Tim will bank an extra $8,000 from the same amount of work this year -- enough to fully fund his IRA and take his family on an exquisite vacation or two, with no extra work.

Moral: If you don't have an upsell, you are leaving money on the table.

But this is NOT about greed and you are NOT an evil 1% wannabe for offering an upsell. No.

When you offer more to buyers who already have their credit card out, you deliver two benefits to them:

1) better results (by delivering more of what they need, such as faster download speeds for Internet access) and

2) better feelings (because many people want to spend more to feel good about themselves -- otherwise, we would all drive a $12,780 Nissan Versaa, the cheapest new car in America).

When you offer a high-quality upsell to clients, you help them and you help yourself. Win-win.

Meanwhile, are you an entrepreneur with clients, not customers? Are you doing at least $200,000 in revenue, and want to do better? If so ...

... I can show you more "profit hacks" like the ones you just read in this article. Get them in my next Free Video Training Session. It's for $200k entrepreneurs ONLY, please.

Grab your spot here

Can't make it to the training? My free Client Cloning Kit can help. It's not some cheapo download -- this is a real business-building kit you can hold in your hands. Grab yours now, while you can.