Hell, there are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something.

      – Thomas A. Edison

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.

     - Colin Powell

You probably are a bit fearful of gambling your money on expensive marketing campaigns that may or may not work. So you have chosen, wisely, I might add to try online marketing. I say wisely because even though it can sometimes be hard to understand and implement it’s actually the most cost effective marketing system currently available. But, to get the biggest return on the time and money you’ve invested in making it work you need to develop your Unique Selling Proposition or USP.

This is actually true regardless of the type of media you choose to market your business. To say developing a strong USP is a key component in successfully marketing your business would be an understatement. Why . . .? Creating a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is the key ingredient in getting noticed by your target audience. Unique Selling Proposition is a worldwide term for setting your business apart from others. It says what’s unique about your business and let’s potential customers know why they should pick you over all the other screaming voices yelling “Pick me! Pick me!” right alongside you.

Do you have a USP, do you know how to create one? If you’re like many home-based business owners you probably don’t have a clue how to determine your unique selling point. But it’s important to figure it out because in business terms, it’s very much like being unaware of your own identity. Establishing a USP is the focal point around which the success of your company and the sale of your products and services are built. That’s why it absolutely needs to be stated clearly, delivered honestly and fulfilled honorably and effectively, every time, all the time.

To be most effective it is always offered in terms of what the benefit is to your customers. It also needs to be positioned or stated in a way that will ring true within your targeted market place to potential customers and be accepted by them at every level.

Take a good look at those USPs  each proposition is clear, attainable and unpretentious. They get  the attention of potential clients because they answer the question. They tell the client what’s in it for them and they do it in a way that can be accepted as believable.  When you can figure out how to do that for your business you’ll be well on your way to home-business success.

I want to put a ding in the universe.
– Steve Jobs

My presentation at the New Hartford Library for First Thursdays – “How to Choose The Right Business Structure for Your New Business” went great yesterday. And the day before my iTunes Podcast went live and I feel great. It’s a wonderful way to start my personal new year.

Plus, my teenage son and his friends called me from school at lunch time to do a happy birthday
shoutout . . . How cool is that!

You can subscribe for free and download the weekly podcast to your ipod, mp3player, blackberry or other smartphone or even your computer so you can listen to it whenever you’re ready.  The link is: http://www.HomeBizCoachoniTunes.com

I’d love it if you go take a listen and offer your feedback and rating at iTunes.

Thanks

One of the ways I’ve found to help do that is to really be clear about who your target audience is. You are always actually only talking to one person, not an audience. That means you need to think of your ad copy, marketing brochure and even video and podcast material as a conversation between two people who know each other.

I actually have an avatar, an imaginary person who is a member of my idea audience and I direct all my material to her, like I am speaking with her about whatever it is I’m talking about or creating at that moment.

Download the episode here

-Tom Peters