AUGUST 2010
Greetings & Salutations:
Are You In Search of the Unique?
Here lately, I've had a number of calls saying ...
"I really need to find a unique product to sell by
mail or on the Internet" - or -
"My product doesn't have anything unique about it"
- or -
"How can I make my product more unique."
The first thing I tell them is to "go back and read the
book," again. -- Not my book, Dan Kennedy's book (or newsletter).
Dan Kennedy, as you should know, is the chief proponent of
using a "Unique Selling Point" ... or "Unique
Selling Proposition" (either way, I'll use USP from
now on) ... to market your products or services.
But, Dan does not say you have to have a "unique"
product, or find something "unique" about your product,
or make your product more "unique."
It is the "selling point" (or "selling proposition")
itself that has to be "unique" ... which may, or may
not, have to do with your product or service being unique.
As an example: Coffee is pretty much coffee ... isn't
it? -- But, Folgers is "Mountain Grown" coffee; while
Maxwell House coffee is "Good To The Last Drop."
Whoa! You say "Mountain Grown" coffee is unique.
Wrong ... caffeine breathe. All coffee is grown in the
mountains ... even Folgers ... because that's the only
place coffee plants grow.
Folgers used "Mountain Grown" as its USP for their
coffee back before most people knew coffee was only grown in
the mountains. -- Beyond that, once Folgers used that USP, no
other coffee company would dare say their coffee was grown in
the mountains, too. It would sound too much like they were
trying to copy Folgers.
Back when I was in the banking business, the USP I used for
our bank was "We Never Forget What Gives Money Its Value
... Somebody Exchanged Work For It!"
When you begin creating a marketing program for your products
(or services), before you do anything else, you need to make
two lists.
The first list is your Fact List. -- In that list,
you annotate everything about the properties of your product
... what it's made of ... where it comes from ... what it does
... what it doesn't do ... how it does what it does (Sometimes,
I go so far as to take a product apart and separately list every
component in it.)
Once you have your Fact List, you need to make a Benefits
List. -- I usually make two Benefits Lists. One is
labeled "Tangible Benefits" and the other
list is "Intangible Benefits." -- The
"Tangible" list may include the words "light weight,"
while the "Intangible" list may say, "you
can lift it with one finger." -- I try to write at least
one benefit ... preferably more ... for every item on the Fact
List. -- Get the idea?
When you have all your Facts and Benefits written down, read
those lists over and over until something "unique"
hits you between the eyes. It might be a phrase from your
Benefits List ... like "Good To The Last Drop" ...
or a descriptive from your Fact List ... like "Mountain
Grown."
Remember, it is the "selling point" that has to
be "unique" ... not necessarily your product or service.
-- But, you might not want to carry it too far.
Although I have wracked my feeble brain ... squeezed my little
grey cells until they cried ... I can't for the life of me remember
who it was who commented on an ad they had read. I can't
remember whether it was in one of Johnny Carson's monologues;
or some stand-up comic's routine, or if the ad being commented
on was even real but, the punch line; supposedly from the ad
itself, was ...
"Made From Real Plastic!"
That might be carrying the concept of the USP just a step
too far. Then again, it might just be "unique"
enough to grab the reader's attention and get them to read the
rest of the ad.
Well ... that's it for this month. -- In order to make every
issue responsive to YOUR needs, please send me your questions;
or tell me what sources or resources you need to build your business;
or give me any thoughts you want to share with your fellow members.
Believe it or don't ... I ain t a mind-reader. -- If n you
doesn't tell me what you need, I may never touch upon the information,
sources or resources you need.
This is your publication for you to use to your benefit ...
I am just your moderator.
Until next month, keep well ...
J.F. (Jim) STRAW
Grande Panjandrum
Thoughts For The Month!
- You can t live a perfect day without doing something
for someone who will never be able to repay you." -- John
Wooden
"Do something everyday that you don't want to do; this is
the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without
pain." -- Mark Twain
Can you stump the old master? --
Betcha can't!
Over the past 50 years (man and boy), I have made bundles
of money in direct selling, service contracting, wholesale merchandising,
entertainment (I was a professional Trumpet player, vocalist
& Radio Announcer), freight forwarding, import/export, retail
merchandising, warehousing, real estate, electronics manufacturing,
finder's fees, closeout merchandising, financial brokerage, business
consulting, steel fabrication, gold and coal mining, offshore
banking, mailorder, writing, and publishing. -- That being the
case ...
No matter what business you're in ... whether you're just
starting, well on your way, or at the top of the heap ... I've
probably been where you are, done what you are doing. -- So ...
Anytime you have a question about 'how' to do something in
your business - or - if you have any comments about anything
I've said in issues of this e-Letter; or if you want to add your
2 cents worth ... just "ask" me or "tell"
me.
Send your Questions, Comments or 2 Cents Worth
to ...
with "Question" - "Comment"
- or, "2 Cents Worth" in the SUBJECT.
If I, personally, don't have an answer to any question you
may ask, I will contact some of the professionals in your field
of endeavor (I will probably know one or more personally) to
get the real 'skinny' for you.
Note: If you want to ask a question anonymously
just tell me so when you send in the question. -- Nobody but
you and I will know who asked the question.
Copyright - 20010, J.F. (Jim) Straw. All rights reserved.