I was on
phone with my friend Mark Joyner, president of Aesop Marketing, Internet pioneer and best-selling author. We were talking about a new direction for my career. Now that I've gone through phases of being a hypnotic writer, an outrageous marketer, a hypnotic marketer and a spiritual marketer, what's next for me?
"What's your USP?" Mark asked me.
A USP is a "unique selling proposition." It's one line that states what you do that is different than what your competition does. Rosser Reeves invented term in 1950s. Dan Kenney, Jay Abraham and myself have used it to help our clients get clear about what their business offers. Mark was helping me to do same thing with my own business.
"I've gone through so many USPs that today I don't even use one," I explained. "I was thinking of just dropping it altogether."
Mark didn't miss a beat.
"What is Wayne Dyer's USP?" he asked me.
"I have no idea," I replied. "He's a self-help author of many best-selling books."
"That's right," Mark said. "And what is Deepak Chopra's USP?"
Again, I couldn't think of one. Deepak is a health oriented author of many best-selling books. But as for his USP, I had no idea. There are other self-help authors and other health authors, so what is unique about Dyer or Chopra is their being, or essence, or brand.
Mark's questions were beginning to help me see that at a certain point you can go beyond a need for a USP. After all, when I thought about this, I couldn't decide what USP was for Dan Kennedy, Jay Abraham, or even myself, and we're all spokespeople for need for USPs!
