In Bryan Todd’s “Breakthrough USP” training, he pointed out that in the real world, a business has not one but THREE facets of its USP:
1) The Front Page News,
2) The Back Page News, and
3) Unreported News.
Front Page News is:
Why Obama Won
HOW did Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney?
SHALLOW ANSWER: Obama’s talking points were more astute, his ads better, his campaign better organized. Democrats raised & spent more money than the Republicans.
REAL ANSWER:
John Fancher: The World's Best Testimonial
Finn Peacock from Down Under wrote this testimonial for copywriter John Fancher:
When customer becomes Dictator
Flaccid USP Warning Sign #3 is when: Your customer is more in control of the transaction that you are.
He DEMANDS terms, concessions, price & delivery. When the receptionist puts his call through, she says, “Fidel Castro on line 2.”
Do people call you up or email you and say…
USP King vs. Fiverr Slave
Fiverr is the place where people do almost anything for you for five bucks – from the ridiculous to the sublime. It’s fast and easy and surprisingly reliable.
People will do nutty jobs for you like sing happy birthday to your wife in Farsi. But they’ll also do really useful stuff like background checks or research or quick & dirty Photoshop jobs.
If you’re a buyer, it’s fantastic – it’s freakin’ unbelievable…
Why Google will now un-ban your AdWords account
Google’s market cap dropped $24 billion in 30 minutes yesterday. The aftershock so stunned Wall Street, market trading halted for two hours.
Reason why: Google’s printer accidentally published Q3 earnings 5 hours early (OOPS!!!). AdWords revenue was 3% below targets and income was down. BAM – the entire company’s value plummets 9% in minutes.
If Google dumped you for a handsomer boyfriend in the past, I betcha sometime in the next 3 months she sends you an “FIRSTNAME, I’m sorry for my past sins, maybe we could meet for coffee” note.
The man who 4X'd his business since 2011
One of my Roundtable members is a fine gentleman named Ben. He came to a 4-Man Intensive last spring.
Ben is a typical Planet Perry guy: *Extremely* competent at what he does, and on top of that bends over backwards to help a customer. He’s very empathetic, so he’s eternally susceptible to “Well, I can’t really engage with you as a full client but if you could just help me with this little problem here…”
And he gets on a $0 or $2,000 distraction that…
Apple vs. Samsung & the Billion Dollar USP
Everybody who’s into marketing is “supposed to” know what a Unique Selling Proposition, a USP is. And I suppose most do.
But hardly anybody recognizes the true power of it. Allow me to illustrate:
Samsung was just ordered to pay Apple $1 billion dollars for infringing on Apple’s patents and unique designs. Things like…
What Joe Polish Taught Me about Lead Generation
Joe Polish is a legend in the marketing world. He’s a former carpet cleaner turned marketing guru He’s pals with the likes of Richard Branson and Paula Abdul. The running joke about Joe is, he always says “Let me introduce you to my good friend ____” because EVERYBODY is Joe’s good friend.
Social Media Epiphany at a Neal Morse concert
The other night I went to a concert in Chicago, with multi-instrumentalist Neal Morse and his extraordinary percussionist Mike Portnoy. Between Neal’s band and two guest bands, it was five hours of Progressive Rock musical bliss.
I noticed something strange and interesting during the concert: