12 replies
I understand that John Carlton pays a lot of attention to defining your USP as a first step in copywriting.

What are the best free resources (or book) dealing with USP.

Many thanks

BT
#define #usp
  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    "Scientific Advertising" by Claude Hopkins. It's old and in
    the public domain, and was written before the term USP
    was coined in the 1940s by Rosser Reeves, but it deals
    with the fundamentals of how to look for and develop a
    competitive advantage in marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rick Johansson
    Another good free resource is the "10 Commandments of Power Positioning" by Michel Fortin. I read this 5 years ago and still refer to it on occasion. You can google it up...it covers how to make your product/service unique.

    Rick
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  • Profile picture of the author Tina Williams
    There are so many great resources out there for defining your USP. John Carlton definitely has some of the best. As an Offline Consultant, I also ask this question of my clients and help them answer it with some of these questions:

    1. What are the benefits of your business?
    2. Who is your target audience/market?
    3. How do you solve the problem your target audience has?
    4. What makes your solution more unique than the next guys?
    5. Why would I choose you over the next guy?

    Then we break down their business into niches and repeat the process. I hope this helps!

    Have a great day!

    Tina
    Tina Williams (Tina_Williams) on Twitter
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  • Profile picture of the author superaffiliate007
    Be unique, give more bonuses and special price for a limited numbers of customers. And don't forget to mention your product benefit and don't forget to say thanks for me Hope this helps
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  • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
    Originally Posted by Bigtree View Post

    I understand that John Carlton pays a lot of attention to defining your USP as a first step in copywriting.

    What are the best free resources (or book) dealing with USP.

    Many thanks

    BT
    Here's the best article I've seen on the subject:

    Jay Abraham: How To Create A Unique Selling Proposition

    Alex
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    • Profile picture of the author Rick Johansson
      Alex,

      Thanks for the awesome Jay Abraham article...never came across it before.

      Rick
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  • Profile picture of the author Daniel Scott
    Vin gave me the definition that works best for me...

    "What do you have that no one else has."

    Simplified, perhaps... and I definitely encourage you to check out the resources cited in this thread...

    But when I think about USPs that's the line that comes to me.

    -Dan
    Signature

    Always looking for badass direct-response copywriters. PM me if we don't know each other and you're looking for work.

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    • Profile picture of the author AP
      [DELETED]
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      • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
        Another way to describe it is, "unique buying advantage". Truth is, if the buyer's not interested in your product or service, doesn't matter how unique it is.

        Alex
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        • Profile picture of the author Bigtree
          Thanks everyone, thats been really helpful.

          The JA piece is particularly interesting.

          BT
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  • Profile picture of the author netwiseprofits
    Read Make Your Words Sell by Joe Robson and Ken Evoy. It talks in great detail about USP and also how to discover your USP. Here's a direct link, just scroll down the page and download the book it's free Make Your Words Sell!
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