Every business needs to have a unique selling
position(USP)...something that makes them different from
the competition. There are a multitude of different unique
selling positions you could make, and we will explore some
of them in a future article. But the First(and in my
opinion the Best) way to get people to do business with you
is to Personalize your business. What do I mean by that?
Well, let's look at some examples of what I call
"personalization"
1) Kentucky Fried Chicken-Actually, they have used 2 USPs.
First, they used personalization with Col Harlan Sanders.
It was "Colonel Sanders Kentucky Fried Chicken" with a logo
of the gray headed and bearded Colonel at every resturaunt,
on every bucket of chicken, on every cup of soda, etc. The
second USP was the slogan "the Colonels secret blend of
11(or 18 or whatever it was) herbs and spices." Again,
they made it personal.
2) Wendys Hamburgers-Originally, the red-haired Wendy was
the daughter of the founder of Wendys-Dave Thomas. However,
that did NOT really do the job of selling the product. When
Wendys needed to really boost sales, they had Dave Thomas,
the down home, slow talking "regular" guy, appear in the
commercials. Dave Thomas and his picture started appearing
in more and more Wendys restaraunts and the sales kept
climbing.
3) Chrsyler and Lee Iacocca-When Chrysler was facing
bankruptcy, their new CEO took the bull by the horns. He
immediately dropped his salary to $1 per year and started
appearing in ads for the new Chrysler models. He also got
involved in things like restoring the Statue of Liberty and
other humanitarian efforts. Whatever Iacocca did, it became
news! And any time you thought of him, you thought of
Chrysler. Needless to say, Sales skyrocketed and Lee
Iacocca was considered a marketing genius. He also made
himself millions of dollars by exercising stock options
that he was given in light of the way he turned Chrysler
around.
4) Maytag and the lonely repairman-You can not get much
more basic than a washer and dryer. It is just a basic
commodity. How can you make selling that unique? Maytag had
a brilliant concept-create a repairman that has nothing to
do(because, they want you to reason, the product is so good
it never breaks down.) Obviously, this is not a real
person, but a concept, almost subconcous, that makes you
think you must buy a Maytag if you do not want to spend
money on repairs.
5) Mcdonalds-They have lots of USPs but the personalized
one I want to talk about is Ronald Mcdonald. Again, like
the Maytag repairman, he is a fictional character, but he
is a clown (happy, fun) and he does good things, like run
the Ronald Mcdonald House for charity. Ronald appeals to
children and encourages them to want a "happy meal." Burger
King has kind of tried to copy this, but their "King" is
just a guy with a mask, so you can NOT see his face move
when he talks. In MY opinion, this is really dumb on the
part of Burger King. They should get a "real" person or
just forget the idea.
6) Ken Nugent-"One call, that's all"- Ken Nugent is a real
attorney, but he has satelite offices in many major cities.
Ken probably is not even practicing law anymore, but he is
the personalization of a network of law firms. Many people
do not like the idea of meeting with a lawyer, especially a
stranger. Ken Nugent has put a face to lawyers everywhere.
Now they can call and talk to "Ken." This is really a
brialliant marketing strategy.
There are countless other examples, but I think the 6
listed give us a good foundation to prove that
personalizaton works. So how can You use it in your home
business or internet business? Start by asking yourself
the questions that your potential customer will ask. Do I
want to do business with a nameless corporation? Do I want
to be regarded as a number instead of as a person? What
happens if I need a product replaced or even a total refund?
How I "personalize" everything I do
To asnwer those questions, I realize that people want to do
business with a person-not a "company." For that reason, in
my business, every business card, every website, every
blog, EVERY resource of my business has my name, picture,
phone number, and address. That does two things:
1) First of all, it lets people know I am a REAL person.
They can see what I look like, call me on the phone or even
know what part of the country I live in. It shows that I am
not a stranger and I am, hopefully, on the way to becoming
a friend.
2) Because my name is on everything, it helps me avoid the
temptation to take shortcuts! In other words, since I do
value my reputation, you can be darn sure that I will do
everything I can to make sure my customers are completely
satisfied when doing business with me. Conversly, a lot of
shabby internet marketers hide behind a P O Box and use
automatted phone services. I may use these as well, but I
am also using my REAL name and picture and not hiding
behind a false address.
What this means to you
Since the internet can be a cold, impersonal tool, I
strongly suggest you do everything you can to make it more
warm and friendly. I suggest that you include your picture,
your personality and your individuality into your internet
business. Don't just be one of the numbers. Be the unique
individual that you are! And, if you provide a good service
at a good price, I am sure you also will not just be an
internet marketer, but you will become a wealthy marketer
as well!
----------------------------------------------------
John Abbott, a former radio broadcaster, is a successful
Author, Speaker and Business Owner. He helps others achieve
success in their own business. He specializes in Real
Estate Investing and Internet Marketing. For more
information, visit: http://www.wealthymarketer888.com
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