USP Truths And Secrets

This week I’m sharing some of my favorite takeaways from The System, an internet marketing conference I had the great pleasure to attend last weekend. You’ll find previous posts here.

One of my favorite parts of The System was getting to hear Perry Marshall, even for a short time. For those who don’t know him, Perry was the first guy to really grasp the power & potential of Google Adwords, then rocketed to fame and fortune as THE foremost authority on the subject.

Perry is usually a System presenter, but this year he took a break and was in the audience as an attendee. Nonetheless, he graciously joined the presenters onstage during the last session to take questions.

I can’t remember what the question was, but one of Perry’s answers really struck me:

“Everything comes down to your USP.”

The USP seems like a little thing, but underneath the question “what makes me different?” is a host of other stuff. It’s really about getting to the heart of who you are and what you bring to the table, what you offer the world. These are not easy questions! And they can push all sorts of emotional hot buttons. At least, they did for me.

As I struggled to get my first clients in my copywriting business, I did what comes naturally when you don’t have a clue and you’re looking for answers. I looked at what everyone else was doing, and “modeled” them.

Only it wasn’t modeling. It was a little too much copying.

I didn’t copy to be malicious or to rip others off. The excessive reliance on copying was all about insecurity and looking for answers. I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing! And these other people must be doing it “right.”

Well, maybe they were, and maybe they weren’t. But spending all that time trying to fit myself into someone else’s box… convincing myself I had to do things this way or that way because I’d fail otherwise…

As you can imagine, it only took me further away from the path. And - oh yeah, I was pretty miserable, too.

“Tell your story,” the experts advised me. (It’s good advice - you’ll hear it from me, too.)

OK, so I told my story. One version of it, anyway. The version I thought everyone wanted to hear. The one that made me wonder, “Who is that person?”

If I had to do it all again, what would I do differently?

I’d give myself plenty of time. Finding your USP is a creative act. Like all creative acts, it takes time and energy.

I’d be patient. Your USP is out there. It just needs to be uncovered and developed.

I’d not be afraid to be myself. Because here’s the coolest thing about the USP: once you have it, you’ll begin to attract the clients you’re meant to work with, the folks who resonate with you. Your perfect clients.

[If the idea of finding your USP seems a little daunting, you’re not alone! I’ll be covering USP in depth and giving you plenty of exercises to help you uncover your USP in my Painless Metaphysical Marketing teleseminars. Next class starts June 10. Details here: http://www.metaphysicalmarketing.com.]