Let Your Experience Drive Your Products and Content

After ten years in digital marketing, I’ve seen plenty of businesses place a premium on crafting a unique selling point for their products and services.

For those unfamiliar with the term, a unique selling point (USP) is what you say when someone asks, “Why should we choose you over the other guys?” It’s what makes you stand head and shoulders above the rest.

Businesses spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars crafting their USPs. They perform competitor analysis, market research, and brand identity development. 

They attempt to elbow out a special position in a crowded market. USPs are often product-centered or organization-centered, but one thing I’ve found is this: they are almost never person-centered.

When we focus so much on products and services to deliver unique value, we remove the human element. People don’t like buying from an impersonal business. They want to feel like they’re buying from someone they know, like, and trust.

Don’t misunderstand: there’s nothing wrong with nailing down a solid USP. But you can’t ignore the person behind the product.

What’s more important: the invention, or the inventor? Which would your company rather have, an innovator like Steve Jobs, or one good product, like the iPod?

The most unique inventions around are “unique” because of the people behind them. A hundred thousand other businesses can deliver the same product as you, if not a better one. 

But customers don’t buy from you because of the product or service you provide. Your unique personality, experience, or angle convinces them.

If you want to hear my unique angles, subscribe to the “What’s The Secret?” Podcast.

There’s Nothing New Under The Sun… Except You.

Some of us have a natural skill, so we grow too familiar with it. Like a fish that doesn’t know that it’s wet, we think, “Everyone can do this. I’m nothing special.” So the talent never gets used. But even if thousands of others have similar talents to you, it doesn’t mean they’re leveraging those talents exactly as you would.

Others have experience or subject matter expertise built up over time. But they think, “Everyone knows this. It’s common sense.” They’re reluctant to create content, because “it’s all been said before.” They fail to understand the value their experience can bring to a customer or mentee.

By the way, I offer a free guide that shows you how to turn your ideas, skills, and experience into a major cash cow. 

Nobody has the same combination of talent and experience as you do. The only truly unique thing about your business is you.

How To Become The USP

1. Create Content Based On YOUR Experiences

When an entrepreneur begins content marketing, they want to get consistent, quality content out there as soon as possible. So what do they do? They begin regurgitating things everyone else is saying.

Nobody wants to read a tiresome repetition of what another thought leader already said. What people do want to read is your story, angle and experience.

This brings to mind two impactful voices – Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway. Both became prominent during eras where there were ten thousand other writers, and perhaps a thousand more skilled than they were.

What propelled them to the top of their class? They spoke honestly, about things right in front of them, and then gave their perspective. That’s all. It goes a little something like this.

Your audience is likely to be familiar with the subject matter at hand, but do they know your story, your take, your experience?

I’ll pay for unique takes. I won’t pay for what already shows up on the first page of google.

2. If You’re A Talker, Start Doing

We all know a person who started a podcast or blog about how to be successful in their field before they secured a single customer. Don’t do that. Don’t be the guy who says, “I’m going to show you how to make money online, by showing you how to make money online.”

Often, the loudest and most prolific voices are the ones with the least experience. If you have to tell people that you’re a thought leader, then you’re not a thought leader.

If you’re new to the game, then get to work. Get a client for your product or service, and then overdeliver. Rinse and repeat.

It really is that simple. Don’t start creating content until you have some genuine experience, which gives you something special to say. Before that, it’s just regurgitation.

I recommend you simply get going. As you go, write down some of your experiences and perspectives along the way. Share only the knowledge that you’ve personally applied.

3. If You’re A Doer, Start Talking

We also all know a person who is a wizard at what they do, and has no outlet to share their experience. Maybe that’s you.

People who put their heads down and do the work tend to think they have nothing important to say. They miss out on the opportunity to enrich the world around them, with their growth and experience. 

If you have experience or expertise and don’t talk about it, you’re depriving the next generation. And, you’re cutting yourself out of a potential market.

One way to share your experience and build a lucrative audience is to start a podcast. Here’s a quick guide.

As you do the work first, and then produce content that shares your experience and perspective, you’ll discover that you were the unique selling point all along. Your experiences might even give you a new product idea or two.