How To Craft Your Uniqueness Statement

The average person has an attention span of merely 15 seconds. You don’t have a lot of time when someone asks you the inevitable question, “What do you do?” In the personal branding process, it’s imperative to have a Uniqueness Statement that establishes rapport and sets you apart from the rest. 

A Uniqueness Statement (often referred to as a Unique Selling Proposition or USP) is an opportunity to make an emotional connection with your target market by touching on the qualities and values that you stand for, and by highlighting the benefits that a potential client will receive by working with you. There’s nothing worse than being caught off guard when someone asks you about your work, or feeling unprepared or flustered, and not taking advantage of an opportunity to make a powerful connection.

A Uniqueness Statement will:

• Increase your confidence when speaking about what you do
• Help you present yourself with polish and professionalism
• Build credibility
• Differentiate you from the rest of the pack
• Help build rapport with your prospect
• Create excitement about your products and services

So how do you build a powerful Uniqueness Statement? Here are four steps to get you started:

1. Identify Your Target Market – Who are your clients? Who do you most want to be working with?
2. Communicate Your Area of Specialization – What is your “Zone of Genius?” What do you do better than anyone else?
3. Highlight the Benefits of Working With You – How have your clients benefited from working with you? What have they achieved as a result of your working together?
4. Motivate Them Into Action – After meeting you, how could they learn more about you or even work with you?

For example, you’re not just a fashion stylist. You help female executives over 40 build chic, well-curated wardrobes and present themselves with flair and confidence. Your last three clients purged half of their closets and now can’t wait to get dressed each morning. One of them received a promotion at work and another met her husband-to-be. Anyone can sign up on your website for your weekly tips on “How To Build A Wardrobe That You Love.”

Or, you’re not just an herbal acupuncturist, you help mothers between the ages of 35-55 who have struggled with chronic fatigue syndrome regain their energy and vitality through custom immune-building programs and treatments. Within six months, most of your clients have renewed energy and are sleeping better than they have in years. A recent client just climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro after battling chronic fatigue for more than 10 years. For more information and to get your article “Ten Tips For Increasing Your Energy TODAY,” potential clients can sign up at your website.

You get the idea. Anyone can be a doctor, lawyer, event planner, financial planner, personal trainer or freelance writer. But only you can be YOU – in all of your unique glory.

Much of the work in crafting your Uniqueness Statement is in practicing your message and perfecting its delivery. Remember, this is a living, breathing statement about who you are, so it’s going to be a work in progress and will evolve over time.

I know you’re wondering, so here’s mine – as of today.

I teach female entrepreneurs and small business owners how to build powerful, confident personal brands that attract more clients and position themselves as experts . Through my proprietary system I help them develop and implement an effective marketing strategy that will build their buzz online and off. Results often come quickly; recently two different clients tripled their business in less than a year by gaining clarity around their personal brand and implementing a solid marketing plan. If you are interested in learning more (as I hand them my business card which has this exact information on the back of the card), you can sign up for my free e-book “101 Ways To Build A Powerful Personal Brand” at www.shebrand.com. You will also get a subscription to my bi-weekly newsletter, “SheBuzz” that is filled with marketing and client attraction tips and ideas. Clients are waiting. Are you ready?

©Liz Dennery Sanders 2010

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Why Should I Choose You?

When a potential client asks, “why you?,” do you have an answer? Are you prepared to communicate your unique message about what makes you special and different from everyone else in your industry? Why should someone work with you?

A brand is either positive, negative or neutral. If you don’t decide what your own personal brand is, others will do it for you. You exude your personal brand in everything you do – from the clothes you wear, the tone of your voice, the manner in which you treat people to how you communicate your brand message. Your personal brand is the great separator – it distinguishes you from everyone else and it’s what makes you stand apart from the rest.

In the personal branding process, it’s imperative to have a uniqueness statement that sets you apart. The average person has an attention span of merely 15 seconds, so that’s about the amount of time you have to effectively communicate your message. A Uniqueness Statement (often referred to as a Unique Selling Proposition or USP) is an opportunity to make an emotional connection with your target market by touching on the qualities and values that you stand for, and by highlighting the benefits that a potential client will receive by working with you.

A Uniqueness Statement is not just about winning people over or making a sale. It’s about:

• Managing brand credibility
• Building rapport
• Creating understanding
• Separating yourself from the crowd
• Communicating your values
• Touching on the features and benefits of working with you

You want to be the kind of person and have the kind of business that people want more of. Be interesting. Be dynamic. But don’t be boring. In today’s marketplace, if you aren’t sensational, you’re pretty much average, or worse, invisible.

So how can you be sensational and answer the question, “Why you?” Be interested in other people. Be thoughtful. And create a Uniqueness Statement that illuminates your brand. Determine what emotional appeals and benefits your product or service delivers to your target market and be able to communicate them easily and effectively. Practice, practice, practice. As Michael Jordan once said, “I’m not out there sweating for three hours every day just to find out what it feels like to sweat. “

Much of the work is in practicing your message and perfecting its delivery. Become spectacular at delivering your message, exhaust people with your consistency and you will build powerful brand equity and an emotional connection to your target market.

©Liz Dennery Sanders 2010

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Do You Have A Vision For Your Business?

It’s the time of year when many feel inclined to write out their resolutions for the New Year. I’m a big proponent of writing and reviewing goals every few months, but I have found that having a powerful business vision is what propels me forward and serves as a constant reminder of what I want my business to be. I have also found that true success and personal fulfillment come from living and working in harmony with my purpose in life.

Spend some time before the end of the month thinking about where you want your business to be in a year. Write your business plan as a simple, clear visualization. It should be in the present tense, as if it has already happened. The more descriptive the better. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Where do you want your business to be exactly one year from today?
• How do you want to feel one year from today?
• What have you accomplished?
• What are the most important goals you have achieved in one year’s time?
• What does success feel like?
• What is your dream scenario?

Remember, no dream is too big or outrageous. Give yourself permission to envision exactly what it is that you really want – even if it feels a little scary or even impossible. Nothing is impossible. But you have to set the intention first, and then believe that it can happen.

Even if your conscious mind has a hard time wrapping itself around your plan, your even more powerful subconscious mind will be set in motion. A well-written business plan turns your desire for success into an intention. And once you have the intention to succeed, providence moves and you will find doors opening in unexpected places that lead to success and fulfillment. Stretch yourself a little bit out of your comfort zone and put your ideal scene on paper.

Writing out a business visualization brings your dreams and desires down into concrete terms. An old proverb says, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” Every flight needs a flight plan and a destination. Every successful business and career is based on a vision.

Writing a business plan will help you connect to your higher purpose for being in business in the first place. Our purpose usually involves service of some kind – contributing to and helping others. We have a primary purpose and secondary purpose. Your primary purpose is all about how you are being, every moment of the day. It’s not a matter of doing or having – it’s about how you are being with others, how you treat them and how they remember you.

Your second purpose is your work in the world. This is the work you are here to do – otherwise referred to as your mission, your vocation or your calling. Writing your business plan – how you see yourself and your business one year from today, will enable you to not only live your purpose, but will allow you to live on purpose. Once you have the map, it’s a lot easier to make it to your destination.

©Liz Dennery Sanders 2009

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4 Tips To Build Your Brand

Here are four things you can start doing today to build your personal brand:

1. Work on Your Appearance - First impressions  count. People make up their mind about you in less than one second, so you better make sure that you look the part. The way that you dress supports or detracts from your personal brand.

2. Be Interesting and Interested – Are you well-rounded and dynamic? Do you really care about the people you are speaking with? Be thoughtful and show interest in what others are saying.

3. Build Your 15 Second Commercial – The average person has an attention span of 15 seconds. You better make sure that you can communicate your brand message in a unique and compelling way in this amount of time. And remember, it’s not about making a sale, it’s about building rapport.

4. Spend Time With People Who Are Smarter and More Successful Than You – They say that you become the five people you hang out with the most. You automatically enhance your brand by the caliber of people you spend time with.

The truly great are excellent at what they do because they are willing to put in the effort and go the extra mile. If you don’t spend the time crafting your own personal brand, others will do it for you.

©Liz Dennery Sanders 2009

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