A “Unique Selling Proposition” sounds like a fancy catch phrase, but it’s very important when it comes to marketing your business. It’s also very important when it comes to attracting media attention, because without knowing your Unique Selling Proposition you really cannot come up with compelling story angles to entice reporters to write about your business.
So, what is a “Unique Selling Proposition”? A Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is that thing or things about a business that differentiates it in a positive way from its competitors.
It’s important to note that you don’t have to be the only one in the world offering a particular product or service to make it part of your Unique Selling Proposition. These days it’s very difficult to be “one of a kind” in any industry.
You just have to find what it is that you do differently (i.e. – better) than your competitors. What makes you stand out in your field? For example:
-Do you offer a product that comes with the longest warranty in the business?
-Do you offer your clients a particular industry expertise that your competitors lack?
-Are you a “boutique” company competing in a field of big players and offering the same products/services with more personalized service?
Whatever it is, if you can identify what makes you unique in your industry, then you’ve found your USP.
Here’s an example very close to home for me.
At my partner's and my PR agency, Reeves Laverdure Public Relations, our Unique Selling Proposition is that we specialize in one particular niche of public relations – media publicity. This differentiates us from other PR firms in our marketplace, who usually dabble in many different aspects of marketing ranging from event planning to Web site design to direct mail.
This “jack of all trades” mentality of our competitors really works to our advantage, since when clients looking for publicity ask why they should hire us, our answer is easy – because it is all we do.
It also helps us to weed out prospects who are not well-suited for our services.
Now, we’re obviously not the only PR agency in the world that concentrates strictly on publicity, but that doesn’t matter. All that matters is that we have made this uniqueness our own, and that it differentiates us enough from our competitors that it serves a strong selling tool.
You, too, have a uniqueness about your business that you can capitalize on, both in communicating to your clients/customers and in identifying what is newsworthy about you.
The challenge in identifying your USP is that it is often very difficult for a person to take an objective step back from his or her own business in order to determine what is unique about it.
I’ll bet that you take for granted what you do everyday. I know that’s true of our clients, and of us. That’s why it’s good to get an opinion from someone who can objectively look at your business from the “outside.”
When identifying your Unique Selling Proposition, I suggest that you do not go it alone. If you do, you are certain to have a slanted and even myopic opinion. What’s more, you may miss out on what indeed is most unique about you. Therefore, I suggest calling on the people who are most important to your business – your customers – to help you out.
After all, who better to identify what is unique about you than the people you are serving every day?
I suggest distributing a brief questionnaire to your customers, with questions that are designed to help you uncover possible Unique Selling Propositions. Such questions might include:
· What do you like best about our product/service?
· Why did you initially choose to do business with our company?
· Did you ever do business with any of our competitors?
· If so, what do you feel makes us different?
· Would you recommend us to your friends/associates?
· If so, why?
This is just a brief sampling of questions you can ask that are designed to help identify your Unique Selling Proposition.
Of course, in return for asking your clients/customers to fill out such a questionnaire, you must “entice” them with a special “thank you” offer. Be sure to give them a free product sample, a free service, or whatever it is that applies to your business. Never ask them to do you a favor without adequately thanking them in return.
Every business has at least one, if not more than one thing, aspect to it that differentiates it from its competition. By uncovering what makes you and your business different, you will also begin to uncover what is “newsworthy” about you.
And, although my goal in this newsletter is to take you through the steps that will help increase your media coverage, I feel compelled to state that once you have determined your USP, it should become the focal point of all of your marketing – from publicity to advertising to your Web site and whatever else applies to your business.
Your Unique Selling Proposition is what makes you “special.” It will not only help you to identify great story angles to help generate publicity, but it should also become an important part of your brand.
copyright 2007, Diana Laverdure (a/k/a the "pr princess") www.proactivepublicity.net
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Six No-Fail Ways to Form a Winning Relationship with the Media
For many people, the biggest impediment to getting publicity is taking that important first step – introducing themselves to the media. They’re not quite sure what to say, or how to begin forming a relationship, and they’re even afraid the reporter will hang up on them if they call.
It’s true that reporters do work on tight deadlines and don’t have a lot of patience for idle chit-chat while they’re at work, which is why the way you approach them is so important. But as I always maintain, reporters are people, too, and if you go about it the right way, you can form lasting, meaningful – and mutually beneficial relationships with them.
Here are a six tips to get you on the right path:
Reporters don’t need more friends. They need solid news and great sources.
I’m not sure why, but a lot of people are under the mistaken impression that the way to ingratiate themselves with reporters is to meet them for lunch, dinner or drinks. This is one of the most ridiculous PR fallacies I have ever heard. Reporters have enough friends. And they are busy. And they certainly can’t accept any free meals. So before you plan your dinner invite, regroup and understand what they really want – news. Which brings me to my next tip:
Understand their “beat.”
A reporter’s beat is, simply, the types of stories they cover. There might be several business reporters at your local paper, all covering different beats within the business category (medical business, real estate business, small business, international business, etc.). So before you contact a reporter, make sure you are targeting the proper person for your industry.
Bring them trends. Reporters love trends, pure and simple. Are you a lawyer noticing that more senior citizens are getting divorced? Let your local lifestyle and legal reporters know. Whatever your industry, tapping yourself into larger trends is a great way to form relationships with reporters and to get publicity for yourself. And don’t forget to localize trends you are noticing nationally. Reporters love that.
Offer yourself as an ongoing expert source.
Reporters are always looking for sources to lend credibility to their stories with “expert” quotes. By offering yourself as an expert to reporters covering your industry, you will be making their lives easier and opening the door for some great media coverage for yourself. Just make sure that when you offer yourself as a source to a journalist, you validate your credentials and offer to send a brief bio. Then, make sure that whey they do call, you respond. Otherwise don’t expect a second chance.
Give them a “scoop.” Every reporter wants to break that important, big story – the “scoop.” But to a local reporter that scoop doesn’t have to be akin to Watergate or Iran/Contra. It might be a big real estate deal that just took place in your city (with you just happening to be the broker of record). When offering your scoop, tell the reporter that you will give her an “exclusive,” meaning that you will let her be the first to publish the story. The unspoken understanding is that since you are making this consideration for her, she will in return give you major play in her story.
Thank them for a great story. When you do achieve your first publicity placement with a reporter, drop her a note thanking her for such an interesting, accurate story. An e-mail note will do just fine. But never, ever send her a gift, or say anything in the e-mail to imply that you in any way controlled the outcome of her story. Those are two sure-fire ways to never hear from her again.
The PR industry is definitely not for wallflowers, so take a deep breath, pick up the phone and be determined to break the ice. Just be sure to follow the steps above.
Copyright 2007, Diana Laverdure
For many people, the biggest impediment to getting publicity is taking that important first step – introducing themselves to the media. They’re not quite sure what to say, or how to begin forming a relationship, and they’re even afraid the reporter will hang up on them if they call.
It’s true that reporters do work on tight deadlines and don’t have a lot of patience for idle chit-chat while they’re at work, which is why the way you approach them is so important. But as I always maintain, reporters are people, too, and if you go about it the right way, you can form lasting, meaningful – and mutually beneficial relationships with them.
Here are a six tips to get you on the right path:
Reporters don’t need more friends. They need solid news and great sources.
I’m not sure why, but a lot of people are under the mistaken impression that the way to ingratiate themselves with reporters is to meet them for lunch, dinner or drinks. This is one of the most ridiculous PR fallacies I have ever heard. Reporters have enough friends. And they are busy. And they certainly can’t accept any free meals. So before you plan your dinner invite, regroup and understand what they really want – news. Which brings me to my next tip:
Understand their “beat.”
A reporter’s beat is, simply, the types of stories they cover. There might be several business reporters at your local paper, all covering different beats within the business category (medical business, real estate business, small business, international business, etc.). So before you contact a reporter, make sure you are targeting the proper person for your industry.
Bring them trends. Reporters love trends, pure and simple. Are you a lawyer noticing that more senior citizens are getting divorced? Let your local lifestyle and legal reporters know. Whatever your industry, tapping yourself into larger trends is a great way to form relationships with reporters and to get publicity for yourself. And don’t forget to localize trends you are noticing nationally. Reporters love that.
Offer yourself as an ongoing expert source.
Reporters are always looking for sources to lend credibility to their stories with “expert” quotes. By offering yourself as an expert to reporters covering your industry, you will be making their lives easier and opening the door for some great media coverage for yourself. Just make sure that when you offer yourself as a source to a journalist, you validate your credentials and offer to send a brief bio. Then, make sure that whey they do call, you respond. Otherwise don’t expect a second chance.
Give them a “scoop.” Every reporter wants to break that important, big story – the “scoop.” But to a local reporter that scoop doesn’t have to be akin to Watergate or Iran/Contra. It might be a big real estate deal that just took place in your city (with you just happening to be the broker of record). When offering your scoop, tell the reporter that you will give her an “exclusive,” meaning that you will let her be the first to publish the story. The unspoken understanding is that since you are making this consideration for her, she will in return give you major play in her story.
Thank them for a great story. When you do achieve your first publicity placement with a reporter, drop her a note thanking her for such an interesting, accurate story. An e-mail note will do just fine. But never, ever send her a gift, or say anything in the e-mail to imply that you in any way controlled the outcome of her story. Those are two sure-fire ways to never hear from her again.
The PR industry is definitely not for wallflowers, so take a deep breath, pick up the phone and be determined to break the ice. Just be sure to follow the steps above.
Copyright 2007, Diana Laverdure
Okay, so why create another blog? Simple. Because I have a message that I want to get out there. And there is an audience that I think will greatly benefit from hearing it. What is the message? That there is an enormously powerful way for honest, hard-working, intelligent people to catapult their businesses that they are just not taking advantage of. It is called "publicity."
Sure, talk to anyone and they think they know what publicity is all about. But really, the more I hear the more I realize that even the "smartest," "savviest" business people for the most part don't have a clue. Many company presidents and CEO's for example, have looked at publicity placements I have garnered for my clients and then asked, "So, how much extra will it cost me for that type of a story?"
"NO!" I want to scream.
They just don't get it. It doesn't cost ANYTHING. If it did, it wouldn't have the credibility and power of publicity. It would be an AD.
But through the years of explaining what I do to hundreds of people, it has become obvious to me that most of them just do not understand publicity, how powerful it can be, and its role in the marketing mix.
Hence, this blog.
My posts will concentrate on discussing just how people like me get major stories on their clients (and how you can, too) and how those stories often turn small businesses into, well, not-so-small businesses.
"The pen is mightier than the sword." Surely truer words have never been spoken. But what the media -- wielders of this mighty pen -- don't want to admit is that the majority of their "news" is fed to them by people like me. People they pretend to dispise. That's right, folks. The media gets most of its news from PR people. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
So, for all of you out there who have ever wondered -- how the heck did that story get to be news? this blog is for you. And for anyone who has ever wanted to know how they can break into this mysterious world and benefit from the "power of the press," this blog is also for you.
In it, I hope to educate, entertain and, most of all, provide you with solid, time-tested strategies that you can implement immediately -- and for no cost -- to use publicity to take you to a new level of credibility, name recognition, respect and, yes, even fame, than you ever dreamed possible.
So, welcome aboard. Strap yourself in, and prepare for take-off. I hope you have an enjoyable -- and prosperous -- journey!
Sincerely,
Diana Laverdure
a/k/a the "pr princess"
Sure, talk to anyone and they think they know what publicity is all about. But really, the more I hear the more I realize that even the "smartest," "savviest" business people for the most part don't have a clue. Many company presidents and CEO's for example, have looked at publicity placements I have garnered for my clients and then asked, "So, how much extra will it cost me for that type of a story?"
"NO!" I want to scream.
They just don't get it. It doesn't cost ANYTHING. If it did, it wouldn't have the credibility and power of publicity. It would be an AD.
But through the years of explaining what I do to hundreds of people, it has become obvious to me that most of them just do not understand publicity, how powerful it can be, and its role in the marketing mix.
Hence, this blog.
My posts will concentrate on discussing just how people like me get major stories on their clients (and how you can, too) and how those stories often turn small businesses into, well, not-so-small businesses.
"The pen is mightier than the sword." Surely truer words have never been spoken. But what the media -- wielders of this mighty pen -- don't want to admit is that the majority of their "news" is fed to them by people like me. People they pretend to dispise. That's right, folks. The media gets most of its news from PR people. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
So, for all of you out there who have ever wondered -- how the heck did that story get to be news? this blog is for you. And for anyone who has ever wanted to know how they can break into this mysterious world and benefit from the "power of the press," this blog is also for you.
In it, I hope to educate, entertain and, most of all, provide you with solid, time-tested strategies that you can implement immediately -- and for no cost -- to use publicity to take you to a new level of credibility, name recognition, respect and, yes, even fame, than you ever dreamed possible.
So, welcome aboard. Strap yourself in, and prepare for take-off. I hope you have an enjoyable -- and prosperous -- journey!
Sincerely,
Diana Laverdure
a/k/a the "pr princess"
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