Geri: The single most powerful tool in the marketing tool box is not just for the Fortune 500. It is within reach of the smallest of entities. We encourage every business we serve to develop and use this tool. We won’t lie, so the bad news first. It isn’t easy to R&D this tool. It was hard for us and we are in advertising.  The good news is that the relative cost is time. (And most small businesses have more time than money.)  

Why you need it:  This tool is a characteristic of every successful business we have served in our professional history. Should you need more reason to consider it, it also improves the effectiveness of every other tool in the box. So-you may be thinking- delay no longer. Spit it out please.

Bear with me. I do not pretend to understand macro-economics. But I do understand the law of supply and demand, as do most people who can balance a checkbook. Simply stated, product availability is directly inverse to its value. If a product can be obtained anywhere, it becomes commoditized.

Imagine an original vanGogh painting. The value is in the millions.  Now imagine that same painting printed on a gazillion tourist postcards. The same image is now worth one dollar.  

So what’s the point? Answer the following question:  What does my business offer its clients that no other company can provide? Or, what can my business say about its services and products that no other company can say?  If you can articulate this difference, you are not a commodity.  If you don’t know the answer and need help to find it, ask your best customers why they continually come back. Finding your real strength becomes the tool. Sharing this strength in your advertising is marketing dynamite. Using classic marketing lingo, the acronym for this tool is the USP- a Unique Selling Proposition. I personally prefer UVP- a Unique Value Proposition, because it isn’t just blowing fancy sales smoke. If a USP  (or UVP) does not reflect actual reality, you will be torn limb from limb one facebook post at a time in the wild jungle of unhappy consumers.

Warning: Please do not imagine that ‘we provide the highest quality product in the industry’ constitutes a bona fide USP. (Tip- don’t even use the word quality.) It must be something no one else can say. Until you can figure this USP thing out, you will have a hard time making any advertising work for you. And if your advertising is falling short of your goals, this could be the reason why.

 The USP is an essential tool for success. It is powerful branding. It is your piece de resistance, and a tool any small business can use to great advantage.