Distinguishing Your Unique Sales Proposition (USP)

No matter what kind of business you are in, you will want to distinguish your Unique Sales Proposition or USP. This is true whether you have a number of competitors, or none. (In which case your USP would be that you are the only source.)

Essentially, your USP is an answer to the customer questions, "Why should I do business with you? What makes you so special?"

Sometimes your USP seems fairly obvious, but even when it seems that way, you might be overlooking something, so it is a good idea to ask existing customers why they come to you in particular. Corey Rudl polled his existing customers to discover what they liked about his eBook and discovered that people's favorite chapter was "How To Buy Or Lease Any Car At $50 Over True Dealer Cost." Consequently, he made it part of his sales copy and sold more books.

I have done this for my sideline business as a massage therapist. I asked my clients why they come to me and discovered that unlike many massage therapists who simply give a standard massage, I ask people what specific areas they want worked on and approach it like a mechanic. They like this, so I started using "The Mechanic" by my name on my business cards. People take notice and when I explain why I use the term, they instantly understand that I do remedial massage.

So the point is: Your existing happy customers probably have a better idea than you do about what your USP is. For this reason it is a good idea to ask them why they come to you and then use the answers to find a way to stand out in your particular field.

Next Installment: Presenting Your Credentials

12-Part Sales Letter In Depth: Providing The Solution

The next part of your 12- part sales letter is the part where you announce that you have the solution. You will necessarily want to make a justifiable claim that it is the BEST solution. (Otherwise, why would anyone want to buy it?)

In college we learn to be conservative with our claims. ("How dare I say I am the best? The professor will cut me to shreds!") I call this the Academic Bias. For this reason alone, many highly educated people with excellent solutions go unrecognized. If they were willing to go out on a limb and claim to be the best at something, people might take notice.

For those who feel it would be disingenuous to claim that they are offering the best solution, they might do well to consider certain qualifiers. For example, if there is a better solution that is more expensive, it might be reasonable to claim that a product is the best solution at a particular price. Or possibly, the product or service might be focused at a particular market. Here is how I would qualify myself:

"I don't make pretty websites so I don't claim to be a webmaster. But I do have a knack with words and frequently find my projects listing near the top of Google, so I call myself a darned good SEO specialist. Combined with my background in technical support, mail-order fulfillment and alternative medicine, I can safely say I am probably one of the best internet marketing consultants with knowledge of the of the alternative medicine market, particularly when it comes to marketing an alternative health book."

Now that is a mouthful when it is placed inside a 12 part sales letter, but it give you some idea of the kind of thing you can say to both tout yourself as the best and remain truthful.

All this points to the need to distinguish your Unique Sales Proposition. Briefly, your Unique Sales Proposition or USP is what makes your product stand out from the crowd. Rather than plunging ahead with the rest of the parts of the sales letter immediately, let's devote an installment to distinguishing your uniques sales proposition.

Next Installment: Distinguishing Your Unique Sales Proposition (USP)

http://internetmarketing.meadrose.com/

12-Part Sales Letter In Depth: Identifying The Problem

After getting their attention with the Headline and reiterating with the Sub-head the next task is to give the reader a real sense that you feel their pain, partly because you are helping them to re-experience it. Why? Because many people simply put up with problems and figure they are just part of life.

Studies show that people tend not to take action unless they are in a state of agitation or irritation. In the process of Identifying the Problem, we need to produce that state in the reader. So first, we need to make the reader feel, "Wow! That describes my situation to a T!" Next we need to help our reader experience the irritation over that particular situation that will make them want to do something about it. So, we must paint a vivid picture of the circumstance in question.

Returning to our example of the lost cell phone:

"Is this you?

In consideration of the other theater patrons, you shut off your cell phone. You have a wonderful evening out, and go to bed early.

The following day you look for your cell phone and can't find it. You dial it from your land line and still can't find it.

A little irritated, you check your jacket pocket. No phone.

You check the car. No phone.

A day later, your date calls to tell you she found your cell phone in the back seat of her car. Meanwhile, you missed 3 important calls; one from your family and two from business contacts.

It almost seems like those companies want you to lose your cell phone just so you'll buy another!"

Even if they haven't had the exact experience, hopefully you have produced some vicarious frustration on their part...and set them up for your solution.

Next Installment: 12-Part Sales Letter In Depth: Provide The Solution

http://internetmarketing.meadrose.com/

12-Part Sales Letter In Depth: Getting Their Attention The Sub-Headline

Assuming we got their attention with the Headline, now we need to get our audience of prospects to keep reading. To do so, we need to engage our audience both emotionally and intellectually. We do this by clearly identifying a problem which the reader has. Sometimes this requires a sub-headline, sometimes a paragraph and sometimes both.

What matters is that:

• The reader feels that someone understands a problem they have
• The reader is reminded of the experience of the pain of the problem
• The reader is becomes somewhat agitated as a consequence

For example, let's say we are selling an audible finder device. Our headline might read:

"I Turned Off My Cell Phone And Now I Can't Find It!" (Get their attention)

Our sub-headline might read:

"Don't you hate it when you turn off your cell phone at a meeting and then you can't call it to find it?" (Remind them of a problem)

Our sub-paragraph might read:

"Why is a cell phone and all-or-nothing deal? You turn it off in a meeting or theater, and then you misplace it...and you can't dial it to find out where it is, since it's turned off! How frustrating! To make it worse, you might be expecting a time-sensitive call. Sure you could select a quite ringtone, but if you are like most people you don't have the time to dig into the menus to change it!"

If we are doing our job well, we have succeeded in irritating the reader enough so they might:

• Want to throw their cell phone at the wall
• Write to a cell phone manufacturer suggesting an improvement
  
• Buy our handy-dandy voice-activated chirping cell-phone locator
  

At this point we have already verged into Identify the Problem. More on that in the next installment.

Next Installment: 12-Part Sales Letter In Depth: Identifying The Problem

12-Part Sales Letter In Depth - Getting Their Attention The Headline

The first part of a 12-part sales letter is called Getting Their Attention.

Usually this is done with some sort of hard-to-ignore headline. Time-tested headlines include:

• Secrets of X Revealed!
• How to X
• Warning! Don't Even Think Of Doing Y Until You Learn X

However, in the ever-more-jaded internet marketplace, other approaches can work, such as the Echoed Complaint:

"Arrgh! This Pile of Bills Only Gets Deeper!"

or the Amazing Results Testimonial Quote:

"My Sales Increased 400% In One Quarter When I Hired X"

or even the What The Heck Question:

"Does Your Doctor Want To Keep You From Getting Well?"

The point of all these headlines is to make what you have to say impossible to ignore. You can experiment to find what gets your viewers to keep reading.

Next Installment: 12-Part Sales Letter In Depth: Getting Their Attention The Sub-Headline

http://internetmarketing.meadrose.com/

The 12-Part Sales Letter: What It Is & Why You Need It

Let's say you have a product, service, book or some other offering that you feel certain would be of benefit to a certain market segment and you need to get the word out about it. If you simply put up an announcement, some people may respond but the majority will tend to ignore it. Most people's experience is that things in life are pretty much consistently mediocre. How can you convince them that what you have to offer is something special?

One time-tested method is the 12-Part Sales Letter. Briefly, these are the 12 parts:

1. Get their attention (Make a provocative statement that makes them want to read further)
   
2. Identify a problem (Paint a picture of a difficult situation most of us find ourselves in)
3. Announce your solution (Make a bold assertion that you can solve their problem)
   
4. Present your credentials (Give them a reason to believe you, with a degree or a story)
   
5. Show the benefits (Paint a picture of how they will be better off with your solution)
   
6. Give social proof (Cite the positive experiences of others with testimonials)
   
7. Make your offer (Tell them how your solution is worth more than what they will pay)
   
8. Inject scarcity (Inform them that the present opportunity will expire)
   
9. Guarantee Satisfaction (Let them know they get their money back if they are not happy)
   
10. Call to action (Request that they BUY NOW)
    
11. Predict Consequences (Paint a picture of continuing problems)
    
12. Use a Power Postscript (Drive the point home one more time)
    

Each of these steps is worthy of in-depth exploration, and although the general structure is known, the particulars vary from audience to audience. Allow me to provide a self-serving and hopefully humorous example. See if you can spot the sections:

"AARGH! THIS INTERNET MARKETING STUFF IS TOO MUCH TO DEAL WITH!"

All you want to do is sell your book online. It should be a simple matter. You put your heart and soul into it for years. It is a polished piece of work that will make a difference to anyone who reads it BUT... (See if this sounds like you):

• "I paid a web designer several thousand to make a site that gets no traffic"
• "I pay all over again every time I need to make a change"
  
• "I bought a domain name that no one looks for"
• "I am on page 5 of Google for my own name"
  
• "I am losing my shirt on pay-per-click"
• "I got flagged as a spammer sending to my confirmed subscribers"
  

If you are like may others, you find the details of internet marketing to be a daunting array of puzzles where the rules are always changing. Aside from the technical details, even the basic business stuff seems challenging. Why do it yourself? Why not hire an expert?

Good news! If you are reading this, you have found your expert. I am your guy.

My name is Mead Rose. I am an internet marketer by profession. I lucked into this by a series of fortunate circumstances:

• I learned how to code HTML in '97 at the request of a boss
• I composed my first professional site in 2002 in repayment of a chiropractic bill for my girlfriend at the time. http://losaltosfamilychiropractic.com/
• Another patient of the chiropractor clued me in to SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Steve at http://www.frontendtech.com/
• Another doctor at the clinic, author of My Doctor Says I'm Fine, So Why Do I Feel So Bad? approached me to implement an internet marketing plan.
• After working with her for a year, I met the owner of Best Of Hawaii who had a longtime association with the folks who had written the plan I had been implementing. I took on writing her newsletter, Hawaiian Travel News. She was quite helpful in effectively structuring a site for monetization.
  
• Since then I have been experimenting in an attempt to keep up with the ever-changing world of internet marketing. Although most of it is pretty standard, I have made some discoveries that I tend to keep secret.

Imagine having a simple, functional, monetized website that sends you ever-increasing revenues in exchange for about one workday per week of your time and you do most of it yourself. From time to time you receive an email from me with suggestions about what to do next along with a schedule of my consulting fees. Easy, no?

"In one hour of consulting with Mead I learned ways to make my traffic climb with minimal effort"

"In one weekend, Mead put together a site that has brought me several thousand dollars worth of clients last year"

"His marketing feasibility study was impressive."

My business partners and I originally paid several thousand dollars to learn these secrets. Now I offer them to you for a few hundred...because I want to build my client base rapidly. I consult for $60 per hour. It's a steal at that rate.

But these rates won't last forever. As my clientèle grows, my rates will go up.

Here's the good news: If you don't think what I tell you is well worth what I charge, KEEP YOUR MONEY. We can shake hands and discontinue our interaction. I am betting you will come back time after time to learn more.

So call me at 720-436-5133. Don't wait.

You could wind up being sold a bill of goods by some kid who makes a point of keeping you in the dark about the technology. You could discover that you are pitching the wrong product to the wrong people using the wrong words...and that by spending a little up front you could have saved yourself some headaches.

P.S. Why make all the mistakes beginners make on the path to doing it right? Get an expert on your side at no risk and get a head start.

Next Installment: 12-Part Sales Letter In Depth: Getting Their Attention the Headline

http://internetmarketing.meadrose.com

Establishing Credibility

"There's one born every minute." - P.T. Barnum

There is a tremendous amount of fraud in the world and the internet makes it easier. This is a problem for those of us who want to market a legitimate product or service at a fair price.

A few years ago people were willing to plunk down serious cash for information in electronic form. The situation has changed so there needs to be a way to corroborate claims made on a sales offer. This is easy enough to to if you are selling something in your neighborhood, since all someone has to do is drop by to check it out for themselves. It is another matter if someone is halfway across the country.

Sometimes trust can be established by carefully crafting the look and feel of a website, but since phishers are honing their skills daily, this practice is falling by the wayside.

There are basically three ways to establish trust on the internet:

1. Verifiable Assertions (Credentials and real people's testimonials listed onsite with a contact option)
   
2. Customer delight (Consistently exceeding customer expectations resulting in word-of-mouth referrals)
3. Reputation building (Affiliates, radio and television appearances, cross-listing in yellow pages, space ads, podcasting, etc.)
   

These three methods build on one another. Let's take a look at how the first step is accomplished.

Next installment: The 12-Part Sales Letter

Visit http://www.whipthenet.com