This week I will share with you the “Art of How to Market Yourself and Your Business, “ Part 1.
Art of Marketing Yourself
And Your Business, While Looking for New Clients
There may be no single thing more important
In our efforts to achieve meaningful work
And fulfilling relationships than to learn
To practice the art of communication.
—MAX DE PREE
IN THIS BLOG POST, the emphasis will be on the art of marketing yourself in your pursuit of your new clients as well as personal branding. There are several ways in which you can accomplish these aims.
In the following posts, I will discuss ways to market your- self and create your personal brand. I will also help you develop your “elevator pitch” and your unique selling proposition (USP). In addition, I will offer some advice on using Social Media and your own professional blog as ways to market yourself, your company and product/service.
Creating Your Unique Selling Proposition (UPS)
First introduced in the 1940s by Rosser Reeves of Ted Bates and Company, the term unique selling proposition is today used in other fields. It is also tossed around casually to refer to any aspect of an object that differentiates it from similar objects.
In his book Reality in Advertising, Reeves laments that the USP is widely misunderstood. He goes on to give a precise definition in three parts, as explained by Wikipedia:
- Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer. It must not be just words, not just product puffery, not just show-window advertising. Each advertisement must say to every reader, “Buy this product, and you will get this specific benefit.”
- The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot or does not offer. It must be unique—either in the uniqueness of the brand or as a claim that is not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising.
- The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions (i.e., pull over new customers to your product).
Applying the Unique Selling Proposition method to the job search, your UPS should:
- Tell the prospective client, “Hire me and you will get this ____________ benefit for your organization.”
- Pinpoint what you feel is unique about you and what you can bring to the organization. Alternatively, it should highlight something unique that can bring value to the company that other potential vendors cannot or are unable to communicate that they can.
- Showcase so strongly and compellingly the benefit and value you bring to the organization that the hiring authority is moved to hire you over all the other vendors they’re considering.
This is the shortest of the marketing tools we will be discussing in this series of posts. Basically your unique selling proposition should be kept to one sentence, two at the most. With your USP, you are stating how you, your company and or product/ service are unique and different from all the other vendors the decision maker is considering.
When devising your proposition, ask yourself, “What is the most unique benefit or value I, or my product/service will bring to this organization?”
Once finalized, your USP is a versatile marketing tool. You can use your unique selling proposition verbally, in cover letters, marketing brochures, web site and social media.
It is here where you “hook” your potential buyers’ interest enough that they reach out to you and ask you for more information. This is precisely what you’re trying to do any time you use your UPS, either verbally or in writing. You want the person you’re communicating with to engage with or connect with you. That is when you become more of a real person and you start to build a relationship with them.
People purchase from people they like and who can solve a problem that is currently not being resolved within their organization. Simply put, companies hire people’s product or service that will either save them money or make them money!
That being the case, you want your major company’s or products/service major benefit here to be expressed in a quantifiable way—in other words in dollars saved, increased (sales) revenue, time saved that translated into money saved, or a major problem your product solves that translated to increased money for your another client.
Make sure you’re comfortable with saying your unique selling proposition out loud. You want it to sound natural, like you, not like a robot.
If you would need professional help in the area of determining whether or not your team is working together as best as they could. Are they helping your organizational goals, or slowing the progress down? Please call us at 847-577-2000, or 1-800-227-5802 to discuss your options on understanding your team more fully in terms of their ability to support and achieve the corporate success you are looking for this year.
Have a great week and productive week, managing the changes and challenges that are currently going on in your company.
I wish you a wonderfully successful and productive week ahead.
Eleanor Anne Sweet
Corporate Success Expert
Eleanor Anne Sweet
Corporate Success Expert, Speaker, Trainer, Author
Eleanor Anne Sweet
President/CEO
Your Corporate Success Consultant, Trainer, Speaker and Author
Corporate Success Partners.com
www.CorporateSuccessPartners.com
sweet@CorporateSuccessPartners.com
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