Online Business Freedom

Can I get your opinion on something?

I just noticed a trend within our blogging community, and I wanted your thoughts on whether I am off base in my thinking, or if it’s a valid concern.

Darn that Tim Gary, his post got me thinking on a Wednesday

But let me explain what I’m talking about with a quick story.

Rosser Reeves was the first copywriter to coin the term “Unique Selling Proposition” in the early 1940’s.

A USP communicates to your prospects that your product or service has at least one benefit or advantage that makes it absolutely different from any other product or service in the same field or industry.

In a sales message, whether written or otherwise, this unique benefit or advantage should be shouted from the rooftops as THE reason why your product is superior to any of your competitors.

Here are some examples of famous Unique Selling Propositions that were pioneers when they were introduced:

The point of a USP is that your reader sees the distinct advantage in choosing YOUR product or service over your competitors.

The underlying point (for marketer’s eyes only!) is that you don’t actually have to HAVE a competitive advantage.

In fact, YOUR product and all your competitor’s products could all have the same bells and whistles.

It’s just that YOUR USP communicates your benefits better than they do, that’s all.

Get it?

Anyhow, this is one of the core principles of direct marketing.

Since online marketing is simply direct marketing practiced through the medium of the Internet, I noticed an interesting trend in our blogosphere lately.

(By OUR blogosphere I mean those of us who have obviously gained inspiration from similar sources. We have similar WordPress themes, have the same people on our blogrolls, and comment about each other in our blog posts.)

From what I can see (remember, this is from my perspective only) there are around two to three dozen blogs that have had the patience and fortitude to post consistently, sell products, and generate traffic.

Of the two to three dozen, around a dozen stand out as having distinct voices, stand alone opinions, and are closer to the “guru” side of the fence than the others.

Of the dozen, around half a dozen are officially at that “guru” status, where the roles have reversed, and their blogs and products are now taking care of THEM, not vice-versa.

But here’s what I thought was interesting.

I can’t apply a single USP to any of the three dozen blogs, from the most famous Internet Marketer’s blog, to the newest guy on the block.

If you put a gun to my head and made me tell you, in one concise sentence, what was different about ANY of these blogs, the only thing I could tell you was that a few of them were Internet Copywriting blogs.

That made me think. And my thinking goes 2 ways.

1. This is by design: Smart Internet Marketers know that USP’s aren’t needed for blogs because…

*Blogs are not products. And since the Internet Marketer’s information products all have USP’s (maybe), that’s what matters

* Blogs don’t have to follow just one, specific niche, because a proven recipe for success has been to consistently write about IM from all different angles, throw in a dash of success advice, put out information products, and then post about the information products

(This is a darn good reason, by the way. If the model’s not broken, why fix it, right?)

* There is no such thing as “niches.” And working niches is a sure path to the poorhouse

* Blogs are not soley used for specific information, but for the purposes of getting to know the blogger better, and thereby creating a virtual “relationship” with him

* There is no competition amongst blogs since it’s just information. Readers can go from one to the next, with no harm done

OR…

2. Bloggers are not aware that having a USP would be beneficial:

* So they watch what other marketers have done in our community. And they copy the more successful blogs

So my question is, is not having a USP something that should be addressed in our blogging community?

Would it benefit marketers to create a clear cut reason why THEIR blog is better than their competitors?

As Internet Marketers I do believe in stressing our individuality to a degree.

But don’t get me wrong.

I understand that the principles of direct marketing and salesmanship haven’t changed since the beginning of time.

When one caveman offered another caveman a slab of mastodon meat in exchange for his cave with a better view, that was salesmanship.

It’s the same salesmanship that is still used today in infomercials selling Ginzu knives, radio ads pitching home loans, and websites selling information products.

I know that we ALL swipe and steal techniques, principles, and ideas from each other.

I know that there is no such thing as a “new” marketing tactic under the sun.

But what I’m talking about here is the noticeable absence of a tried and true direct marketing principle that would seem to give a distinct identity to each and every blogger who gave some thought to creating one (a USP).

Personally, it kind of scares me when too many people are doing the same thing.

So, you may see a few changes on my blog soon. You may not. We’ll see. Just had to get this out there.

To all you smart marketers out there… am I missing the mark here? Do you see the same thing I do? What do YOU think?

-James D. Lee

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