All advertising/promotions must make a clear, simple proposition to customer -- buy this, and you will receive a specified benefit. The proposition must be unique -- something competitors cannot claim, or choose not to claim The proposition must be so compelling that it motivates individuals to act. Some examples that illustrate point:

► Fed-Ex - "When you need it there on time." Fed Ex has dominated delivery market by delivering on its UPS promise of on-time delivery, regardless of location.

► Domino's Pizza - "Fresh, hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed." Domino's has cornered pizza delivery market by promising their pizzas will always be hot and on time. Their target market values speedy delivery, not necessarily quality of pizza.

► Visa - "It's everywhere you want to be." Their slogan shows their focus on building global acceptance of this credit card, and how easy it is to get and use.

Creating or focusing on a Unique Selling Proposition?

You should start by understanding your targeted customers (yes it always begins with customer). Define advantage and benefits you bring to your prospective clients. Review competitors in your market arena and find out how you can do things better.

Possible unique selling propositions might include - convenience (more locations, easier to do business, etc.), Product breath (wider choice - good, better, best approach), higher quality (unique process or patented technology), or superior customer service level (orders filled within 2 hours of receipt). All of these can present a powerful reason for your clients to be compelled to do business with your firm - and that's strength of USP concept.

Don't try to be all things to all people. Declaring a unique selling proposition is just that - find a special or unique position to offer your targeted customers. Something that they must purchase from you and you a lone.

Once you are satisfied with your unique selling proposition, you must put it to full work for you and your firm. Integrate it into everything you do. All your promotional material, all you advertising, all you sale pitches, all your correspondence (including invoices) should reflect your USP. Don't waste an opportunity. Each time you communicate with your customers, deliver your unique selling proposition.

What makes your product, service and company standout and how you convey this important point is vital to growth and success in today's fiercely competitive market. If you don't have a UPS, create one today. It will give clear purpose to your company, compelling reasons for customers to buy from you and unparallel success to your stakeholders.

Frank Williams is a marketer. With many post graduate courses in management, leadership, marketing and technology to his credit, Williams is a widely respected speaker, author and technologist. He has significant knowledge in marketing strategies and is the founder and CEO of Global Marketing, Inc. - a leader in business, marketing and sales consulting

The bad news is a productive link exchange program takes quite a bit of time and effort, and will take up to six months or more to do properly.

The good news is there are website promotion professionals who will plan and execute a link exchange program for you as part of a package of promotion services. This makes it very economical. See "website promotion programs".

4. Write Articles in your field of expertise, and distribute them wherever you can

Publishing articles in online publications, directories and ezines is one of most effective and least expensive kinds of website promotion. It is a perfect way to generate interest in your site, and create traffic.

Well written articles can be used to highlight various aspects of your products or services. At same time you will establish yourself as an authority in your field. And articles you write and publish today will continue to be available on web for years to come.

Distributing articles is also an important way to create incoming links. Other websites and ezines publish your articles and in process create links pointing back to your website.

5. Turn visitors into leads

The online sales process starts with traffic — visitors to your site. But traffic is not enough. You want to turn some of these visitors into leads. A "lead" is a visitor who expresses an interest by contacting you. This puts them in "most-likely-to-buy" category, and gives you a clearly defined group of people you can target with more specific sales messages.

To capture leads you need a carefully planned strategy. You need to get beyond usual "send us an email for more information" approach.

Simple online forms backed up with autoresponders are perfect for this task.

6. Use Pay-Per-Click Advertising for instant traffic

Pay-Per-Click advertising — especially Google Adwords — can be an amazingly powerful tool to reach your exact target market and generate pre-qualified, targeted leads almost instantly.

But this service is also becoming increasingly expensive. And when you make mistakes they can be very costly. There are ways of maximizing your Google Adwords results. Ways you have probably not heard about. These techniques can save you thousands of dollars, and greatly increase effectiveness of your Adwords campaigns.

The best website promotion program is one that combines all six of these techniques into an organized program. If you are too busy getting your business started, or too busy servicing your clients, then your best bet is to look for a website promotion professional who can prepare and maintain a program for you.

For more details about such a program see "website promotion programs".