Work It Wednesday & The Snow Moon

Knowing that a lot of Mercantile Muse followers are also small business owners, Work it Wednesday is a way for me to share my experience as the owner and operator of my own Advertising/Public Relations/Marketing firm, Speakeasy, for nearly 18 years.  Those of you who aren’t business owners will find that a lot of Work It Wednesday information can be applied to you as an individual whether you’re trying to get a new job, negotiate a raise, pitch your project at work, trying to land a big contract. I’m sure a lot could be applied to situations on the home front as well, it’s just in the way you look at it.

Marketing 101, Part 2: Your Unique Product Benefit

Let’s be clear. Really clear. This is about you being able to understand and effectively communicate about what you sell and why people should buy from you; buy specifically from YOU.

It’s easy to say: “I sell romantic jewelry that I create with my own hands" or "I sell vintage housewares".  Here's an important point to let percolate........so do a lot of other people.

As you work at marketing your business, you need to consider what sets your product or service apart; what makes it stand out from the crowd.

The result of establishing ‘that special thing that you offer and no one else does in quite-the-same-way’, is referred to as a Unique Selling Proposition. However, that might be putting the cart before the horse. Before you can create a Unique Selling Proposition, you need to determine what the unique benefit that your product/service provides to your customers.

Let’s start at square one so you can figure out your Unique Product Benefit. Ask yourself a few questions:

*What is your product or service?

*What background do you have that adds value to your product?

*What does your product do for your customers?

*What is your product’s Unique Product Benefit?

Still not sure how to answer the above questions? Think about this example:

*What is your product or service?

Example: TUMS©, an antacid.

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*What does your product do for your customers?

Example: It stops acid indigestion.

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*What background (credentials, experience, awards, schooling, etc.) do you have that adds value to your product?

Example: TUMS© is formulated by scientists and doctors ( I don’t really know this, I’m just using as an example- though I hope it’s true.)

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*What is your product’s Unique Product Benefit?

Example: It relieves discomfort making people feel better…. fast.

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Does that make it clearer? 

Once you establish your Unique Product Benefit, you can move onto creating a Unique Selling Proposition which I’ll discuss next week. The Unique Selling Proposition is important to the marketing of your product or service because most of us aren’t in this ‘just for the fun of it’ (though that’s a nice bonus), but rather because we’re business owners who want to succeed and turn a profit. 

You are more than welcome to share your work on your Unique Product Benefit in the comments section. I think it would help everyone fine tune their UPB, as well as learn from each other.

(If you'd like to share this information in anyway, you may do so with proper credit to me and a link back to this post. Thank you. ©Pamela J. Bates)

The Beautiful Snow Moon

I did get away from my desk yesterday afternoon for another walk with the dog. I admit it, I had hopes that the Snow Moon would rise the way it had the day before. It just wasn't to be, but when I got up this morning and looked out my West window, there it was as big, bright and as orange as the sun.

Pajama girl scurried for her camera, slapped a coat and mittens on and went across to the field. I'll just tell you, I couldn't get the shot I wanted. Settings were off, need a tripod, it was freezing.......obviously there were numerous reasons. Regardless, it was awesome and these pictures don't even come close to capturing it. 

I'm including this really blurry one, just to give you a better idea of what it really looked like. Huge and amazing. 

Did anyone else see it this morning?

All for now.

See you on the flip side,