Saturday, October 31, 2009
Eleven Easy Ways to Destroy Your Company
Eleven Easy Ways to Destroy Your Company
provided by The New York Times
Businesses make hundreds or thousands of decisions every year, many of which seem inconsequential. But the smallest details can have business-changing or even business-ending consequences. Here are 11 of my favorites to watch out for:
1. The lowly extension cord. People get cold feet. They get a space heater. They plug it into a two-pronged extension cord. They forget to unplug it when they leave work. That night, while you are sleeping, your entire business burns down. Your brilliant marketing plan, your three-year projections, all of your records, your new product samples.. You get the idea. This is not something that most business owners think about, but insurance companies know that extension cords and space heaters are major fire hazards. It is good practice not to allow any extension cords in your business that aren't three-pronged.
2. Bad receivables. Let's assume that you are using good judgment as to which customers get credit and how much. Even so, it is very easy to get into a business-life-threatening situation because of a big customer that goes broke. Months before the bankruptcy filing, the following statements will be made to you: "I'm not going anywhere. We've been short on cash before, and we always come out of it. You have my personal word." And you will respond: "We've been doing business together for 30 years. I'm not worried about it." Bad things happen to good people. Good and honest intentions do not always result in getting paid. It is very painful and difficult to cut off an old customer, especially when you need the business. But many companies go broke because of bad receivables.
3. Interviewing. It is both art and science. Like a bad science experiment, it can cause explosions. Having someone who hasn't been properly trained interview prospective employees is a recipe for disaster. There are many questions that you cannot ask without risking a nasty lawsuit that will cost plenty of time and money.
4. Hiring without doing background checks. There are some bad people out there looking for jobs. Even with a background check, there is no guarantee that you won't have a problem, but it will certainly improve the odds.
5. Vehicles. They are rolling liabilities. Allowing someone who is not insured properly through the company to drive one can have disastrous results if there is an accident. You will be seen as having "deep pockets" -- even if your pockets are empty.
6. Vehicles, again! With the demise of the full-service gas station and longer intervals between oil changes, many people are driving around on under-inflated tires, which are much less noticeable since the advent of the radial tire. Under-inflated tires are more likely to cause a blowout, which can result in very bad things. We check all of our vehicles once a month.
7. And again! Texting while driving is the new drunk driving. Do not allow it.
8. Insurance. I asked my insurance broker what the three biggest small-business insurance failings were. His response: 1) understating insurance to value; 2) not having employment-practices insurance; 3) not having business-income replacement coverage to replace lost revenue until the company is up and running again. It is no secret that the insurance companies are in a much bigger hurry to settle a claim when they are paying out money every week to replace that income.
9. The wrong accountant. Many accountants just do tax returns and are not qualified to act as an outside voice and keep an eye on the health of the company. I have seen more than one company fail because the owners didn't know what they didn't know.
10. Bad controls. Many companies have gone broke because of theft or embezzlement. Your accountant should help you set up these systems.
11. Bad company policies. I was just in a spa. There was a sign posted that said that tips must be paid in cash. I asked why. (Apparently, they get asked about this a lot.) The receptionist explained that the employees didn't necessarily claim all of the tips and the company did, so there could be a discrepancy if either got audited. Not a great story. I am sure that some customers -- 5 percent? 20 percent? -- will either find it inconvenient to use cash or will resent supporting tax evasion. If I am right and they lose customers, the spa will undoubtedly blame the losses on competition or the economy.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Benjamin Franklin was a good businessman.
Carleadbest owns Marketing Strategies & HR consultant business in Penang, Malaysia.
provided by The New York Times
Businesses make hundreds or thousands of decisions every year, many of which seem inconsequential. But the smallest details can have business-changing or even business-ending consequences. Here are 11 of my favorites to watch out for:
1. The lowly extension cord. People get cold feet. They get a space heater. They plug it into a two-pronged extension cord. They forget to unplug it when they leave work. That night, while you are sleeping, your entire business burns down. Your brilliant marketing plan, your three-year projections, all of your records, your new product samples.. You get the idea. This is not something that most business owners think about, but insurance companies know that extension cords and space heaters are major fire hazards. It is good practice not to allow any extension cords in your business that aren't three-pronged.
2. Bad receivables. Let's assume that you are using good judgment as to which customers get credit and how much. Even so, it is very easy to get into a business-life-threatening situation because of a big customer that goes broke. Months before the bankruptcy filing, the following statements will be made to you: "I'm not going anywhere. We've been short on cash before, and we always come out of it. You have my personal word." And you will respond: "We've been doing business together for 30 years. I'm not worried about it." Bad things happen to good people. Good and honest intentions do not always result in getting paid. It is very painful and difficult to cut off an old customer, especially when you need the business. But many companies go broke because of bad receivables.
3. Interviewing. It is both art and science. Like a bad science experiment, it can cause explosions. Having someone who hasn't been properly trained interview prospective employees is a recipe for disaster. There are many questions that you cannot ask without risking a nasty lawsuit that will cost plenty of time and money.
4. Hiring without doing background checks. There are some bad people out there looking for jobs. Even with a background check, there is no guarantee that you won't have a problem, but it will certainly improve the odds.
5. Vehicles. They are rolling liabilities. Allowing someone who is not insured properly through the company to drive one can have disastrous results if there is an accident. You will be seen as having "deep pockets" -- even if your pockets are empty.
6. Vehicles, again! With the demise of the full-service gas station and longer intervals between oil changes, many people are driving around on under-inflated tires, which are much less noticeable since the advent of the radial tire. Under-inflated tires are more likely to cause a blowout, which can result in very bad things. We check all of our vehicles once a month.
7. And again! Texting while driving is the new drunk driving. Do not allow it.
8. Insurance. I asked my insurance broker what the three biggest small-business insurance failings were. His response: 1) understating insurance to value; 2) not having employment-practices insurance; 3) not having business-income replacement coverage to replace lost revenue until the company is up and running again. It is no secret that the insurance companies are in a much bigger hurry to settle a claim when they are paying out money every week to replace that income.
9. The wrong accountant. Many accountants just do tax returns and are not qualified to act as an outside voice and keep an eye on the health of the company. I have seen more than one company fail because the owners didn't know what they didn't know.
10. Bad controls. Many companies have gone broke because of theft or embezzlement. Your accountant should help you set up these systems.
11. Bad company policies. I was just in a spa. There was a sign posted that said that tips must be paid in cash. I asked why. (Apparently, they get asked about this a lot.) The receptionist explained that the employees didn't necessarily claim all of the tips and the company did, so there could be a discrepancy if either got audited. Not a great story. I am sure that some customers -- 5 percent? 20 percent? -- will either find it inconvenient to use cash or will resent supporting tax evasion. If I am right and they lose customers, the spa will undoubtedly blame the losses on competition or the economy.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Benjamin Franklin was a good businessman.
Carleadbest owns Marketing Strategies & HR consultant business in Penang, Malaysia.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Six Simple Steps To Creating
An Amazing Change Vision
www.oaktraining.com
Have you ever wondered how the great change leaders get people involved in their change efforts.
Well it is quite simple really – they have an amazing ability to create a vision for the change they wish to follow and want others to share it.
Let’s look how you can create an amazing change vision.
1. Create A Imaginable Picture Of The Future
In those quiet moments we all like to think that we know the way forward and imagine inspiring others to follow us.
However, when it comes down to it we have some parts of the change picture but can’t really communicate it with others.
We think that it is like painting by numbers and you need to first know what the picture is.
You then need to start adding the numbers for others to follow/paint.
2. Appeal To The Long Term Interests Of People
With your picture in hand you then need to show people what things will be like in the future.
What’s in it for me?
What is it going to be like for me?
Basic interests are often what will drive people to participate in the change efforts.
Be sure to include short, medium and long-term interests for the people involved.
3. Include Realistic And Attainable Goals
Change must be possible and grounded in realistic goals.
World domination might sound great but at the end of the day you should leave this to the dictators of the world.
Be brave and wake-up to the basic fact that change takes time.
4. Being Clear Enough To Guide Decision Making
A vision of change must be simple.
Look at all the great websites and products in the world.
Apple’s Think Different approach clearly demonstrated what the company was doing – two professional and two consumer products. The change Steve Jobs created even should inspire the most conservative change leaders.
Google – quite simply a search portal (that we all know has grown to be so much more???).
Blogger – create a blog it’s free!
This simple approach will then allow you to make decisions easy to make.
5. Being Flexible
Things change.
Even the best laid plans need to adapt to these changes.
Your approach needs to recognize this and encourage individuals to use their initiative while at the same to allow for changing situations.
6. Keep It Simple, Stupid
Embrace the KISS principle of Keep It Simple Stupid and you will always have an amazing change vision.
If you ever think that your change vision is getting too complicated then it probably is.
Keep asking yourself and other’s does this make sense?
If the answer is NO, then you are on the wrong track.
An Amazing Change Vision
www.oaktraining.com
Have you ever wondered how the great change leaders get people involved in their change efforts.
Well it is quite simple really – they have an amazing ability to create a vision for the change they wish to follow and want others to share it.
Let’s look how you can create an amazing change vision.
1. Create A Imaginable Picture Of The Future
In those quiet moments we all like to think that we know the way forward and imagine inspiring others to follow us.
However, when it comes down to it we have some parts of the change picture but can’t really communicate it with others.
We think that it is like painting by numbers and you need to first know what the picture is.
You then need to start adding the numbers for others to follow/paint.
2. Appeal To The Long Term Interests Of People
With your picture in hand you then need to show people what things will be like in the future.
What’s in it for me?
What is it going to be like for me?
Basic interests are often what will drive people to participate in the change efforts.
Be sure to include short, medium and long-term interests for the people involved.
3. Include Realistic And Attainable Goals
Change must be possible and grounded in realistic goals.
World domination might sound great but at the end of the day you should leave this to the dictators of the world.
Be brave and wake-up to the basic fact that change takes time.
4. Being Clear Enough To Guide Decision Making
A vision of change must be simple.
Look at all the great websites and products in the world.
Apple’s Think Different approach clearly demonstrated what the company was doing – two professional and two consumer products. The change Steve Jobs created even should inspire the most conservative change leaders.
Google – quite simply a search portal (that we all know has grown to be so much more???).
Blogger – create a blog it’s free!
This simple approach will then allow you to make decisions easy to make.
5. Being Flexible
Things change.
Even the best laid plans need to adapt to these changes.
Your approach needs to recognize this and encourage individuals to use their initiative while at the same to allow for changing situations.
6. Keep It Simple, Stupid
Embrace the KISS principle of Keep It Simple Stupid and you will always have an amazing change vision.
If you ever think that your change vision is getting too complicated then it probably is.
Keep asking yourself and other’s does this make sense?
If the answer is NO, then you are on the wrong track.
Do You Use These Simple Approaches
Do You Use These Simple Approaches
To Creating Lasting Change
www.oaktraining.com
Change is all around you.
In the back of your mind you also know that these times are not only about survival but are also about creating a lasting change in your company.
Here are the 5 solid approaches to keep in mind when you want to create lasting change.
1. Be Honest & Create Trust
Your approach must start by addressing the problem, concern, desire, or need that your staff or company already has.
Fresh approaches that are always honest will attract active participation and deliver successful results.
You will know from experience that when people are involved in change that there is a greater possibility that they will be involved in the change.
2. Be Open To New Ideas
Your approach must stand out from the crowd but you also must be open to new ideas.
Wake-up as you might not be the only one with ideas of how the change will happen and also will last.
3. Mentor Without Restrictions
People don’t want to know ?what? you can do, they want to know ?how? it’s done and how they can also ?do-it?.
Enough said.
4. Celebrate Success and Learning
Love them or hate them, celebrate the success of your staff.
Don’t forget to also recognize the mistakes made and these are often the greatest sources of learning. Remember this will also help you not make the same mistakes again.
5. Don’t Hide Anything
Like the first and fourth approaches, be honest and don’t hide the unsuccessful attempts as they will come out.
6. Have Fun
Need we say anymore!
Well we really think that we should. Having fun with change is always mentioned but few add the accompanying point.
Lasting change is not a single point in time. Instead it is an unending perspective. Your not planning to go backwards so it is important that everything is approached from a positive position of enjoying the journey.
To Creating Lasting Change
www.oaktraining.com
Change is all around you.
In the back of your mind you also know that these times are not only about survival but are also about creating a lasting change in your company.
Here are the 5 solid approaches to keep in mind when you want to create lasting change.
1. Be Honest & Create Trust
Your approach must start by addressing the problem, concern, desire, or need that your staff or company already has.
Fresh approaches that are always honest will attract active participation and deliver successful results.
You will know from experience that when people are involved in change that there is a greater possibility that they will be involved in the change.
2. Be Open To New Ideas
Your approach must stand out from the crowd but you also must be open to new ideas.
Wake-up as you might not be the only one with ideas of how the change will happen and also will last.
3. Mentor Without Restrictions
People don’t want to know ?what? you can do, they want to know ?how? it’s done and how they can also ?do-it?.
Enough said.
4. Celebrate Success and Learning
Love them or hate them, celebrate the success of your staff.
Don’t forget to also recognize the mistakes made and these are often the greatest sources of learning. Remember this will also help you not make the same mistakes again.
5. Don’t Hide Anything
Like the first and fourth approaches, be honest and don’t hide the unsuccessful attempts as they will come out.
6. Have Fun
Need we say anymore!
Well we really think that we should. Having fun with change is always mentioned but few add the accompanying point.
Lasting change is not a single point in time. Instead it is an unending perspective. Your not planning to go backwards so it is important that everything is approached from a positive position of enjoying the journey.
Six Reasons Why Change Doesn't Work
Six Reasons Why Change Doesn't Work
www.oaktraining.com
Whether you’re trying to solve a tough problem at work, starting a new business or getting attention for new products, you will need to understand why change doesn’t work.
The process boils down to looking at things differently than you currently do and making change work for you.
So why does change not work for you?
1. It’s The Wrong Idea
One of the main reasons why change doesn’t work is that it is the wrong idea. There’s often more than one right approach, and the second one you come up with might be better than the first.
You then need to explore many visions for the change you are planning.
Involve others and listen to them – just because it may be your job to come up with the change vision does not mean that you are always right.
Eating humble pie can taste good too!
2. It’s The Right Idea At The Wrong Time
If only real-life change could be the same as the books we read on change. They always sound so great and you may often ask were the authors so clear on the change when they began their early steps.
Well we all know it is easy to look back and be justified.
Real-life change situations can often be ambiguous. You might have the right idea but the timing can be off. This may mean that the right people to make the change happen may not be in place or there are too many things outside your control happening.
Just as the business history books talk of Right Time Right Place situations they also need to start referring to Right Idea Wrong Time when change goes wrong!
3. The Reasons For The Change Are Wrong
Change for change sake is not enough!
Try to evaluate the actual reasons for the planned change. Allow these to exist on their own for a bit.
Think about the reasons. Talk to others and make sure they make sense and not just in your head.
4. It’s Not Authentic
A vision of change must be authentic. It must be the right thing to do, at the right time and for the right reasons.
This simple approach will then allow decisions to be easy to make.
5. Reality Is A Long Way Away From The Promise
It’s good to be brave with change but don’t forget that you must be able to deliver on your promises.
6. Bad Luck
It sounds like an excuse but sometimes change fails because of pure and simple bad luck.
Everything is approached in the right way and it still fails.
But this should not mean that you shouldn’t start again!
www.oaktraining.com
Whether you’re trying to solve a tough problem at work, starting a new business or getting attention for new products, you will need to understand why change doesn’t work.
The process boils down to looking at things differently than you currently do and making change work for you.
So why does change not work for you?
1. It’s The Wrong Idea
One of the main reasons why change doesn’t work is that it is the wrong idea. There’s often more than one right approach, and the second one you come up with might be better than the first.
You then need to explore many visions for the change you are planning.
Involve others and listen to them – just because it may be your job to come up with the change vision does not mean that you are always right.
Eating humble pie can taste good too!
2. It’s The Right Idea At The Wrong Time
If only real-life change could be the same as the books we read on change. They always sound so great and you may often ask were the authors so clear on the change when they began their early steps.
Well we all know it is easy to look back and be justified.
Real-life change situations can often be ambiguous. You might have the right idea but the timing can be off. This may mean that the right people to make the change happen may not be in place or there are too many things outside your control happening.
Just as the business history books talk of Right Time Right Place situations they also need to start referring to Right Idea Wrong Time when change goes wrong!
3. The Reasons For The Change Are Wrong
Change for change sake is not enough!
Try to evaluate the actual reasons for the planned change. Allow these to exist on their own for a bit.
Think about the reasons. Talk to others and make sure they make sense and not just in your head.
4. It’s Not Authentic
A vision of change must be authentic. It must be the right thing to do, at the right time and for the right reasons.
This simple approach will then allow decisions to be easy to make.
5. Reality Is A Long Way Away From The Promise
It’s good to be brave with change but don’t forget that you must be able to deliver on your promises.
6. Bad Luck
It sounds like an excuse but sometimes change fails because of pure and simple bad luck.
Everything is approached in the right way and it still fails.
But this should not mean that you shouldn’t start again!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Sales Process
There are 4 parts to the sales process....
1. You need a product (physical or digital that
solves a problem)
2. A market who is interested in that product
(a group of people with a common interest and
a need/want eg. body builders want to get big!)
3. An attractive offer (that is right for your market)
4. Delivery of the product (fulfill the order via
website or postage)
You take away any one of these parts and you're not
going to be in business very long.
However, there is a special formula to make these
pieces work together for profit.
** You need the right market
** You need the right product
** You need the right time
Just think of it like fishing.
Go to the wrong place and the fish won't bite.
Use the wrong bait..the fish won't bite.
Go at the wrong time....no fish!
Whatever you do..don't be trying to sell diet pills
to guys going bald...that's the wrong offer to the
wrong market.
Don't sell Takaful product to the people was sick...
that is wrong approach and wasted your time.
Be smart..
We can't control time but we can control people's
emotions and impulses to a certain extent.
Direct marketing is all about getting prospects to
"act now" or take some type of action...either try
your product or buy it.
And that brings me to another important point.
Action is needed by you, the marketer to get
things done.
Do some research, find a market, find a product,
present your offer and deliver the goods.
That's the formula for marketing success.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
10 Ways to Define Your USP.
10 Ways to Define Your USP.
As varied as positioning statements may be in tone and content, they generally fall into one of 10 main categories:
1. Low Price
Guaranteeing the lowest price has been used
as a USP for many merchants. However, cutting profit margins too deeply is rarely healthy for a business or product. So, unfortunately, many who have chosen low price for a USP are no longer in business. The philosophy is low margins, but high volume.
If your business is small, however, you run the risk of setting off a price war. Larger players in your market who, due to economies of scale, can afford to match or beat your prices short term can easily force you out of the market long term. So think twice before focusing on price.
2. High Quality
The high quality USP is based on a high margin, lower volume philosophy. This USP is often found hand in hand with other USPs such as "Superior Service" and "Strongest Guarantee".
One brand that immediately comes to mind when you think about quality is the international watch leader Rolex. Rolex also has a short USP statement that communicates volumes.
Rolex - "Quality Takes Time"
3. Superior Service
Providing superior customer service is a wonderful way to add value as well as develop long-term customer loyalty. So superior service is an excellent USP. What I am talking about here is the "above and beyond" type of customer service. To surpass the competition, you must go beyond simply satisfying customers, you have to AMAZE them. A good example of a company that has adopted "Superior Service" as their USP is the web-based business Rackspace Managed Hosting. Rackspace sums up their USP statement in two words.
Rackspace - Fanatical Support
4. Size/Selection
Providing the largest selection of items can be a powerfully effective USP. The classic example of this is Amazon.com. For years Amazon's USP was "Earth's Biggest Bookstore"
Even though they were not the first and today they have intense competition from both online and brick-and-mortar bookstores such as Barnes and Noble, and Borders, Amazon.com still leads the pack in online bookselling because they clearly differentiated themselves early on by being the biggest.
5. Convenience
By removing as many obstacles to ordering, receiving or using your product or service as possible, you are placing the customers' convenience at the center of your business model. The "convenience" USP is based on centering your business on your customers' needs.
6. Knowledgeable Advice, Recognised Authority
This type of USP communicates the idea that, "I am the top in my field. You can trust my knowledge and experience."
It works well for professionals and other skill-or service-based organisations.
7. Customisation/Most Options
'Personalised' is a powerful option in a mass market world. That makes the offer of more options and custom-building to individual specifications powerfully alluring in a USP.
8. Speed
The speed at which your product or service is delivered can be a powerful USP in today's fast-paced world. Offering overnight or second day shipping as your standard service can give you a strong competitive advantage.
Federal Express changed the shipping world when it began guaranteeing overnight delivery of packages in this powerful USP:
FedEx - "When It Absolutely Has To Be There Overnight"
9. New and Unique
Sometimes your product is so new and unique that the product itself is the USP. Being the original or first mover in the market is a USP that nobody can duplicate. An online example of this is OilOnline.com.
OilOnline.com - "The Original Online Source for the Oil Industry"
Inevitably, a competitor will emerge with a knock-off or copy of your product, but until then, you can promote the newness and uniqueness of your product as the USP.
When the competition heats up, you can switch your USP so that it positions your business as the 'first' or 'original' one of its kind.
10. Strongest Guarantee
A clear, strong guarantee turns what is assumed into what is assured. Your goal is to make your guarantee so strong that it makes what your competition offers seem stingy by comparison.
Craftsman Tools is a prime example of this USP category. Like all carefully crafted USPs, the Craftsman statement leaves no doubt what their main advantage is.
Craftsman Tools - "Hand tools so tough, they're guaranteed forever"
As varied as positioning statements may be in tone and content, they generally fall into one of 10 main categories:
1. Low Price
Guaranteeing the lowest price has been used
as a USP for many merchants. However, cutting profit margins too deeply is rarely healthy for a business or product. So, unfortunately, many who have chosen low price for a USP are no longer in business. The philosophy is low margins, but high volume.
If your business is small, however, you run the risk of setting off a price war. Larger players in your market who, due to economies of scale, can afford to match or beat your prices short term can easily force you out of the market long term. So think twice before focusing on price.
2. High Quality
The high quality USP is based on a high margin, lower volume philosophy. This USP is often found hand in hand with other USPs such as "Superior Service" and "Strongest Guarantee".
One brand that immediately comes to mind when you think about quality is the international watch leader Rolex. Rolex also has a short USP statement that communicates volumes.
Rolex - "Quality Takes Time"
3. Superior Service
Providing superior customer service is a wonderful way to add value as well as develop long-term customer loyalty. So superior service is an excellent USP. What I am talking about here is the "above and beyond" type of customer service. To surpass the competition, you must go beyond simply satisfying customers, you have to AMAZE them. A good example of a company that has adopted "Superior Service" as their USP is the web-based business Rackspace Managed Hosting. Rackspace sums up their USP statement in two words.
Rackspace - Fanatical Support
4. Size/Selection
Providing the largest selection of items can be a powerfully effective USP. The classic example of this is Amazon.com. For years Amazon's USP was "Earth's Biggest Bookstore"
Even though they were not the first and today they have intense competition from both online and brick-and-mortar bookstores such as Barnes and Noble, and Borders, Amazon.com still leads the pack in online bookselling because they clearly differentiated themselves early on by being the biggest.
5. Convenience
By removing as many obstacles to ordering, receiving or using your product or service as possible, you are placing the customers' convenience at the center of your business model. The "convenience" USP is based on centering your business on your customers' needs.
6. Knowledgeable Advice, Recognised Authority
This type of USP communicates the idea that, "I am the top in my field. You can trust my knowledge and experience."
It works well for professionals and other skill-or service-based organisations.
7. Customisation/Most Options
'Personalised' is a powerful option in a mass market world. That makes the offer of more options and custom-building to individual specifications powerfully alluring in a USP.
8. Speed
The speed at which your product or service is delivered can be a powerful USP in today's fast-paced world. Offering overnight or second day shipping as your standard service can give you a strong competitive advantage.
Federal Express changed the shipping world when it began guaranteeing overnight delivery of packages in this powerful USP:
FedEx - "When It Absolutely Has To Be There Overnight"
9. New and Unique
Sometimes your product is so new and unique that the product itself is the USP. Being the original or first mover in the market is a USP that nobody can duplicate. An online example of this is OilOnline.com.
OilOnline.com - "The Original Online Source for the Oil Industry"
Inevitably, a competitor will emerge with a knock-off or copy of your product, but until then, you can promote the newness and uniqueness of your product as the USP.
When the competition heats up, you can switch your USP so that it positions your business as the 'first' or 'original' one of its kind.
10. Strongest Guarantee
A clear, strong guarantee turns what is assumed into what is assured. Your goal is to make your guarantee so strong that it makes what your competition offers seem stingy by comparison.
Craftsman Tools is a prime example of this USP category. Like all carefully crafted USPs, the Craftsman statement leaves no doubt what their main advantage is.
Craftsman Tools - "Hand tools so tough, they're guaranteed forever"
6 Steps to Creating a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
6 Steps to Creating a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
by Alyssa Gregory
Last week, I wrote about business plans and explored if they’re really necessary as a part of your business planning process. In that post, I briefly talked about creating a unique selling proposition (USP) and why it’s so valuable. Today, I’m going to provide a step-by-step process for creating a USP that will help you make the most of your marketing and business planning activities.
What is a USP?
A USP is one of the fundamental pieces of any solid marketing campaign. Simply stated, it’s a summary of what makes your business unique and valuable to your target market. It answers the question: How do your business services benefit your clients better than anyone else can?
In my previous post, I suggested replacing your traditional business plan with three key pieces, one of which is your USP. This is because a USP can give a great deal of clarity to your business model, what your company does and why you do it. It can define your business and most important business goals in just a sentence.
Successful USPs can be used as a company slogan and should be incorporated into all of your marketing activities.
OK, now that we’re clear on what a USP is and why it’s so valuable, let’s start creating one.
Step 1: Describe Your Target Audience
Before you can even start marketing your services, you need to know who you are targeting. In this step, you want to be as specific as possible. For example, if you are a Web developer with a CMS expertise, instead of targeting anyone who needs helping building or modifying a CMS, you may identify your target client as a small business owner who is looking for a developer well-versed in MODx to customize his/her site.
Step 2: Explain the Problem You Solve
From your prospective clients’ perspective, what is the individual need or challenge they face that your business can solve for them?
Step 3: List the Biggest Distinctive Benefits
In this step, list 3-5 of the biggest benefits a client gets from choosing to work with you that they could not get from someone else (i.e., what sets you apart from your competition). Again, thinking from the clients’ perspective, these benefits should explain why your services are important to them and why they would choose you over another provider.
Step 4: Define Your Promise
A big part of a successful USP is making a pledge to your clients. While this can be implied instead of spelled out in your USP, write down this promise you make to your clients in this step.
Step 5: Combine and Rework
Once you’ve completed steps 1-4, take all of the information you listed and combine it into one paragraph. There should be some recurring ideas and thoughts, so you’ll want to start merging statements and rewriting in a way that flows and makes sense.
Step 6: Cut it Down
In this step, take your paragraph from step 5 and condense it even more into just a sentence. You want your final USP to be as specific and simple as possible.
Take your time while doing this exercise and do several drafts over the course of a week until you arrive at your final USP. A fresh mind and perspective is essential, so I would recommend doing this at the beginning of your day versus at the end when you are tired. You also may want to come back and do this exercise again, once you try out your USP for a while, or if anything changes with your business.
To see what the final result should look like, Wikipedia has some good examples of successful USPs.
Do you have a USP? If not, do you think you’ll take time to create one?
Image credit: Dave Smith
by Alyssa Gregory
Last week, I wrote about business plans and explored if they’re really necessary as a part of your business planning process. In that post, I briefly talked about creating a unique selling proposition (USP) and why it’s so valuable. Today, I’m going to provide a step-by-step process for creating a USP that will help you make the most of your marketing and business planning activities.
What is a USP?
A USP is one of the fundamental pieces of any solid marketing campaign. Simply stated, it’s a summary of what makes your business unique and valuable to your target market. It answers the question: How do your business services benefit your clients better than anyone else can?
In my previous post, I suggested replacing your traditional business plan with three key pieces, one of which is your USP. This is because a USP can give a great deal of clarity to your business model, what your company does and why you do it. It can define your business and most important business goals in just a sentence.
Successful USPs can be used as a company slogan and should be incorporated into all of your marketing activities.
OK, now that we’re clear on what a USP is and why it’s so valuable, let’s start creating one.
Step 1: Describe Your Target Audience
Before you can even start marketing your services, you need to know who you are targeting. In this step, you want to be as specific as possible. For example, if you are a Web developer with a CMS expertise, instead of targeting anyone who needs helping building or modifying a CMS, you may identify your target client as a small business owner who is looking for a developer well-versed in MODx to customize his/her site.
Step 2: Explain the Problem You Solve
From your prospective clients’ perspective, what is the individual need or challenge they face that your business can solve for them?
Step 3: List the Biggest Distinctive Benefits
In this step, list 3-5 of the biggest benefits a client gets from choosing to work with you that they could not get from someone else (i.e., what sets you apart from your competition). Again, thinking from the clients’ perspective, these benefits should explain why your services are important to them and why they would choose you over another provider.
Step 4: Define Your Promise
A big part of a successful USP is making a pledge to your clients. While this can be implied instead of spelled out in your USP, write down this promise you make to your clients in this step.
Step 5: Combine and Rework
Once you’ve completed steps 1-4, take all of the information you listed and combine it into one paragraph. There should be some recurring ideas and thoughts, so you’ll want to start merging statements and rewriting in a way that flows and makes sense.
Step 6: Cut it Down
In this step, take your paragraph from step 5 and condense it even more into just a sentence. You want your final USP to be as specific and simple as possible.
Take your time while doing this exercise and do several drafts over the course of a week until you arrive at your final USP. A fresh mind and perspective is essential, so I would recommend doing this at the beginning of your day versus at the end when you are tired. You also may want to come back and do this exercise again, once you try out your USP for a while, or if anything changes with your business.
To see what the final result should look like, Wikipedia has some good examples of successful USPs.
Do you have a USP? If not, do you think you’ll take time to create one?
Image credit: Dave Smith
The Art of Finding Your Unique Selling Proposition
Unique Selling Proposition:
The Art of Finding Your Unique Selling Proposition
Positioning is about making your offering different from, and more valuable than, your competitors' offerings--and placing that idea in the minds of a target group of customers. Positioning attracts customers by creating a positive and unique identity for your company and its offerings. Positioning is vital for distinguishing your offering from everybody else's.
In a world where there are more and more products and services every day, your customers are on advertising overload all the time. So they pick something to believe and hold that notion until a message breaks through and persuades them to change.
People can't hold warring ideas in their heads. They can't believe that the Norton Anthology is the best study guide for English literature, then study from a set of Cliffs Notes and believe they're doing the best they can to pass their exams. They can't believe that all paper towels are pretty much alike, buy one that costs more than most, and think that they are wise shoppers. The point is, positioning is your effort to claim a high ground in that overloaded prospect's head and hold it against competition.
There may be very little difference between your product and your competitors'--but if you can't find a way to communicate uniqueness and connect it to a need of your target, you might as well quit fighting your competition and sell out to them. There are many different ways to stake out a position. Just remember, your position reflects your unique selling proposition, and it is what makes your offering more valuable to your customers than what's being offered by your competition.
Perception of your Business
How will your business be perceived as different from your competition in the minds of your targeted customers? To figure this out, you must look for your best customer and then design a position that matches his or her wants and needs to an advantage that only you can offer. Remember, you can't be all things to all people, but you can be the vendor of choice for a group of them.
Positioning Affects Every Aspect of Your Communications--And Your Business
Positioning is the basis for all your communications--your packaging and product design, sales promotions, advertising, and public relations. Everything you do must reinforce that position--otherwise you just undermine your marketing efforts and sow confusion instead of confidence. Positioning is serious business. You must choose the right position, for now and down the road.
Do the work now to develop a clear position for your business vis-Ã -vis your competitors. You'll ensure that you get the most from your advertising budget. The truth is that with enough money, you can buy success in advertising. Mediocre, unfocused messages from a company without a clear position will generate sales surprisingly well if that company buys enough time or space to pound the message home. But think how much farther that budget could take you if you had a focused message, a unique selling proposition, and a target audience for your offering. Positioning--and the creative approach that grows from it--make the difference.
Developing the Positioning Statement and the Tagline
To begin creating your own sense of positioning for your business, answer the following questions with short, articulate answers that relate your offering to your customers' needs.
1. What does your business do?
2. For whom?
3. What is your biggest benefit to them?
4. Prove your claim. To what do you attribute that benefit?
5. How will your customers perceive this benefit, relative to the competition?
* Source Streetwise Do-It-Yourself Advertising
The Art of Finding Your Unique Selling Proposition
Positioning is about making your offering different from, and more valuable than, your competitors' offerings--and placing that idea in the minds of a target group of customers. Positioning attracts customers by creating a positive and unique identity for your company and its offerings. Positioning is vital for distinguishing your offering from everybody else's.
In a world where there are more and more products and services every day, your customers are on advertising overload all the time. So they pick something to believe and hold that notion until a message breaks through and persuades them to change.
People can't hold warring ideas in their heads. They can't believe that the Norton Anthology is the best study guide for English literature, then study from a set of Cliffs Notes and believe they're doing the best they can to pass their exams. They can't believe that all paper towels are pretty much alike, buy one that costs more than most, and think that they are wise shoppers. The point is, positioning is your effort to claim a high ground in that overloaded prospect's head and hold it against competition.
There may be very little difference between your product and your competitors'--but if you can't find a way to communicate uniqueness and connect it to a need of your target, you might as well quit fighting your competition and sell out to them. There are many different ways to stake out a position. Just remember, your position reflects your unique selling proposition, and it is what makes your offering more valuable to your customers than what's being offered by your competition.
Perception of your Business
How will your business be perceived as different from your competition in the minds of your targeted customers? To figure this out, you must look for your best customer and then design a position that matches his or her wants and needs to an advantage that only you can offer. Remember, you can't be all things to all people, but you can be the vendor of choice for a group of them.
Positioning Affects Every Aspect of Your Communications--And Your Business
Positioning is the basis for all your communications--your packaging and product design, sales promotions, advertising, and public relations. Everything you do must reinforce that position--otherwise you just undermine your marketing efforts and sow confusion instead of confidence. Positioning is serious business. You must choose the right position, for now and down the road.
Do the work now to develop a clear position for your business vis-Ã -vis your competitors. You'll ensure that you get the most from your advertising budget. The truth is that with enough money, you can buy success in advertising. Mediocre, unfocused messages from a company without a clear position will generate sales surprisingly well if that company buys enough time or space to pound the message home. But think how much farther that budget could take you if you had a focused message, a unique selling proposition, and a target audience for your offering. Positioning--and the creative approach that grows from it--make the difference.
Developing the Positioning Statement and the Tagline
To begin creating your own sense of positioning for your business, answer the following questions with short, articulate answers that relate your offering to your customers' needs.
1. What does your business do?
2. For whom?
3. What is your biggest benefit to them?
4. Prove your claim. To what do you attribute that benefit?
5. How will your customers perceive this benefit, relative to the competition?
* Source Streetwise Do-It-Yourself Advertising
Your Winning Difference
Take 15 Minutes to Find
Your Winning Difference
by Sonia Simone
The unique selling proposition (USP) is one of the cornerstones of marketing. There has to be a reason people do business with you and not someone else – a winning difference that sets you apart and makes you the only real choice.
Traditional marketing advice will have you lock yourself in a cave for weeks listing all of the features of your business, translating them into benefits, then somehow finding that one compelling point that will differentiate you from everyone else you could possibly compete with.
There’s nothing wrong with this approach if it works for you. But if it doesn’t, try throwing it out the window and doing it the cheap and easy way instead.
If you’re not trying to launch FedEx, you don’t need a USP as robust as FedEx’s. Try each of these five-minute exercises and see if it doesn’t shake loose a USP that will work for your site.
Remember that information consumers don’t go to just one blog, subscribe to just one site, or buy just one product. They want anything and everything about the topic they love.
That means your USP doesn’t have to beat everyone else out. It just has to play nicely with the other offerings in your group.
The Crossroads USP
To create a crossroads USP, take two seemingly unrelated ideas and bring them together.
The hit movie Speed was famously pitched as “Die Hard on a bus.” Clueless is Jane Austen’s Emma set in 1995 Beverly Hills.
You can create a crossroads USP by taking something well-known and presenting it to a new audience. Maybe you’ll offer Yoga for Stockbrokers, or Business Blogging for Veterinarians.
Copyblogger is a crossroads blog, showing how to use direct response techniques to create better, more compelling blog content. And as the site and the world around us evolve, we’re finding ourselves at a new crossroads, between internet marketing and social media.
You’re looking for two roads that are different enough that you create some energy, but not so different that you can’t realistically bring the roads together. The Complete Guide to Flower Arrangement for NFL Players probably won’t find the audience you’re hoping for.
The Metaphor USP
Sometimes you can find an overarching metaphor that will snap everything into place.
For example, Duct Tape Marketing offers something you can find in lots of places—marketing advice for small businesses.
But that “duct tape” metaphor tells you a lot. It tells you the approach is practical, effective, and not terribly fancy. It probably skews slightly toward men, but not exclusively. It can be used in lots of different ways. And it doesn’t take itself too seriously.
No one’s ever going to confuse Duct Tape Marketing with a site called Green Planet Marketing or Mama Bear Marketing. Each creates its own USP just by using a metaphor to define the market, the approach, and the angle.
The Persona-Driven USP
If all else fails and you can manage to be reasonably interesting, your USP can simply be . . . you.
As Scott Stratten recently posted on Twitter, “If you are your authentic self in your business, you have no competition.”
Seth Godin, Donald Trump, Martha Stewart, Tony Robbins, Cal Worthington (and his dog Spot), Frank Kern and Gary Vaynerchuk have all created persona-driven brands. They started with something fairly ordinary (business advice, housekeeping tips) and made it extraordinary through the force of their personality, their passion and their individual expression.
To some degree, this is limiting. The business can’t ever get any bigger than you are. But each of those people has learned to partner and delegate in order to create companies that go far beyond a single individual. (You don’t really think Martha Stewart plants all those tulips herself, do you?)
If you’re going to create a persona-driven USP, you’ll need to keep showing up. It’s your job to stand front and center and say something interesting. You’ll provide the voice and the flavor for the site.
But don’t think you have to have a “shock jock” personality for the persona-driven USP to work for you. Chris Garrett and Darren Rowse are both soft-spoken, helpful gentlemen who have created wonderfully successful businesses by focusing on what they cared most about and how they could help others. They used their own experience as a filter for their audiences, with powerful results.
Why you?
At the end of the day, the only reason you need a USP at all is to answer that question. Why you?
Why should anyone read your blog? Why should anyone buy your product or retain your services? What do you have to offer that makes it worth anyone’s time and/or money?
It can be a painful question, but it doesn’t have to be one that ties you in knots for weeks on end. Keep it simple, and keep moving forward. The strongest USP on earth won’t help you if you don’t back it up with all the other actions that create a successful business.
About the Author: Sonia Simone is Senior Editor of Copyblogger and the founder of Remarkable Communication.
Your Winning Difference
by Sonia Simone
The unique selling proposition (USP) is one of the cornerstones of marketing. There has to be a reason people do business with you and not someone else – a winning difference that sets you apart and makes you the only real choice.
Traditional marketing advice will have you lock yourself in a cave for weeks listing all of the features of your business, translating them into benefits, then somehow finding that one compelling point that will differentiate you from everyone else you could possibly compete with.
There’s nothing wrong with this approach if it works for you. But if it doesn’t, try throwing it out the window and doing it the cheap and easy way instead.
If you’re not trying to launch FedEx, you don’t need a USP as robust as FedEx’s. Try each of these five-minute exercises and see if it doesn’t shake loose a USP that will work for your site.
Remember that information consumers don’t go to just one blog, subscribe to just one site, or buy just one product. They want anything and everything about the topic they love.
That means your USP doesn’t have to beat everyone else out. It just has to play nicely with the other offerings in your group.
The Crossroads USP
To create a crossroads USP, take two seemingly unrelated ideas and bring them together.
The hit movie Speed was famously pitched as “Die Hard on a bus.” Clueless is Jane Austen’s Emma set in 1995 Beverly Hills.
You can create a crossroads USP by taking something well-known and presenting it to a new audience. Maybe you’ll offer Yoga for Stockbrokers, or Business Blogging for Veterinarians.
Copyblogger is a crossroads blog, showing how to use direct response techniques to create better, more compelling blog content. And as the site and the world around us evolve, we’re finding ourselves at a new crossroads, between internet marketing and social media.
You’re looking for two roads that are different enough that you create some energy, but not so different that you can’t realistically bring the roads together. The Complete Guide to Flower Arrangement for NFL Players probably won’t find the audience you’re hoping for.
The Metaphor USP
Sometimes you can find an overarching metaphor that will snap everything into place.
For example, Duct Tape Marketing offers something you can find in lots of places—marketing advice for small businesses.
But that “duct tape” metaphor tells you a lot. It tells you the approach is practical, effective, and not terribly fancy. It probably skews slightly toward men, but not exclusively. It can be used in lots of different ways. And it doesn’t take itself too seriously.
No one’s ever going to confuse Duct Tape Marketing with a site called Green Planet Marketing or Mama Bear Marketing. Each creates its own USP just by using a metaphor to define the market, the approach, and the angle.
The Persona-Driven USP
If all else fails and you can manage to be reasonably interesting, your USP can simply be . . . you.
As Scott Stratten recently posted on Twitter, “If you are your authentic self in your business, you have no competition.”
Seth Godin, Donald Trump, Martha Stewart, Tony Robbins, Cal Worthington (and his dog Spot), Frank Kern and Gary Vaynerchuk have all created persona-driven brands. They started with something fairly ordinary (business advice, housekeeping tips) and made it extraordinary through the force of their personality, their passion and their individual expression.
To some degree, this is limiting. The business can’t ever get any bigger than you are. But each of those people has learned to partner and delegate in order to create companies that go far beyond a single individual. (You don’t really think Martha Stewart plants all those tulips herself, do you?)
If you’re going to create a persona-driven USP, you’ll need to keep showing up. It’s your job to stand front and center and say something interesting. You’ll provide the voice and the flavor for the site.
But don’t think you have to have a “shock jock” personality for the persona-driven USP to work for you. Chris Garrett and Darren Rowse are both soft-spoken, helpful gentlemen who have created wonderfully successful businesses by focusing on what they cared most about and how they could help others. They used their own experience as a filter for their audiences, with powerful results.
Why you?
At the end of the day, the only reason you need a USP at all is to answer that question. Why you?
Why should anyone read your blog? Why should anyone buy your product or retain your services? What do you have to offer that makes it worth anyone’s time and/or money?
It can be a painful question, but it doesn’t have to be one that ties you in knots for weeks on end. Keep it simple, and keep moving forward. The strongest USP on earth won’t help you if you don’t back it up with all the other actions that create a successful business.
About the Author: Sonia Simone is Senior Editor of Copyblogger and the founder of Remarkable Communication.
How to Create Your "Unique Selling Proposition" (USP)
How to Create Your "Unique Selling Proposition" (USP)
That Makes Your Marketing Generate More Results
Boost Your Sales And Profits By Positioning Your
Company As The Best Choice In The Market
What makes you more unique, more valuable, and more visible in the market? You've heard the old saying "Differentiate or Die" right? In our highly competitive world, you have to be unique and fill a special niche to be successful in the marketplace. Yet one of the most harmful mistakes small businesses make is not being unique and positioning themselves as the best choice in the market. How do you show that your product or service is the best?
Use a Unique Selling Proposition or "USP". Having a USP will dramatically improve the positioning and marketability of your company and products by accomplishing 3 things for you:
1. Unique - It clearly sets you apart from your competition, positioning you the more logical choice.
2. Selling - It persuades another to exchange money for a product or service.
3. Proposition - It is a proposal or offer suggested for acceptance.
The Force That Drives Your Business And Sales Success
Your USP is the force that drives your business and success. It can also be used as a "branding" tool that deploys strategy with every tactical marketing effort you use such as an ad, a postcard, or web site. This allows you to build a lasting reputation while you're making sales. The ultimate goal of your USP and marketing is to have people say to you... "Oh, yes I've heard of you. You're the company who..." -And then respond by requesting more information or purchasing.
The Federal Express Example:
Federal Express (FedEx) dominated the package shipping market with the following USP: "Federal Express: When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight." The deployment of this USP allowed Federal Express to emerge as the dominant leader in the industry, taking market share rapidly, and also increasing its sales and profits.
In today's competitive market, your business cannot thrive if you are using the same old "me too" marketing that everyone else is using. Your small business absolutely positively has to have a USP that "cuts through the clutter", separates you from the competition, and positions you as the best choice... the ONLY choice.
Building your USP takes some effort, but it is absolutely worth it because of the added advantage you'll have in the market. Using a powerful USP will make your job of marketing and selling much easier, enabling you to more easily increase your sales and profits for the same budget.
Winning USP Examples
The following are 6 powerful USPs that alleviate the "pain" experienced by the consumers in their industries..
Example #1 - Package Shipping Industry
Pain - I have to get this package delivered quick!
USP - "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight." (Federal Express)
Example #2 - Food Industry
Pain - The kids are starving, but Mom and Dad are too tired to cook!
USP - "Pizza delivered in 30 minutes or it's free." (Dominos Pizza)
(This USP is worth $1 BILLION to Dominos Pizza)
Example #3 - Real Estate Industry
Pain - People want to sell their house fast without loosing money on the deal.
USP - "Our 20 Step Marketing System Will Sell Your House In Less Than 45 Days At Full Market Value"
Example #4 - Dental Industry
Pain - Many people don't like to go to the dentist because of the pain and long wait.
USP - "We guarantee that you will have a comfortable experience and never have to wait more than 15 minutes" or you will receive a free exam."
Example #5 - Cold Medicine Industry
Pain - You are sick, feel terrible, and can't sleep.
USP - "The nighttime, coughing, achy, sniffling, stuffy head, fever, so you can rest medicine." (Nyquil)
Example #6 - Jewelry Industry
Pain - The market hates paying huge 300% mark-ups for jewelry.
USP - "Don't pay 300% markups to a traditional jeweler for inferior diamonds! We guarantee that your loose diamond will appraise for at least 200% of the purchase price, or we'll buy it back."
How To Develop Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Your USP is the very essence of what you are offering. Your USP needs to be so compelling that it can be used as a headline that sells your product or service. Therefore, since you want to optimize all your marketing materials for maximum results, create it before anything else (such as advertisements and marketing copy).
Print this article and jot down your ideas to construct a "Unique Selling Proposition" (USP) for your business. Follow this easy 7-step process:
Step 1: Use Your Biggest Benefits:
Clearly describe the 3 biggest benefits of owning your product or service. Let me be blunt. Your prospect doesn't care if you offer the best quality, service, or price. You have to explain exactly WHY that is important to them. Think in terms of what your business does for your customer and the end-result they desire from a product or service like yours. So, what are the 3 biggest benefits you offer? Write them down on a piece of paper...
1.
2.
3.
Step 2: Be Unique:
The key here is to be unique. Basically, your USP separates you from the competition, sets up a "buying criteria" that illustrates your company is the most logical choice, and makes your product or service the "gotta have" item. (Not your competitor's.)
Write your USP so it creates desire and urgency. Your USP can be stated in your product itself, in your offer, or in your guarantee:
PRODUCT: "A unique baseball swing that will instantly force you to hit like a pro."
OFFER: "You can learn this simple technique that makes you hit like a pro in just 10 minutes of batting practice."
GUARANTEE: "If you don't hit like a pro baseball player the first time you use this new swing, we'll refund your money."
Write your ideas on paper now...
Step 3: Solve An Industry "Pain Point" Or "Performance Gap":
Identify which needs are going unfulfilled within either your industry or your local market. The need or "gap" that exists between the current situation and the desired objectives is sometimes termed a "performance gap". Many businesses that base their USP on industry performance gaps are successful.
For example, Dominos Pizza used the "Pizza delivered in 30 minutes or it's free" USP to become wildly successful. This worked because of the need or "gap" in the market - After a long day at work Mom and Dad are too tired to cook. But the kids are starving and don't want to wait an hour! They want pizza NOW. Call Domino's.
So, what are the most frustrating things your customer experiences when working with you or your industry in general? Alleviate that "PAIN" in your USP and make sure you deliver on your promises. Write your ideas on paper now...
Step 4: Be Specific And Offer Proof:
Consumers are skeptical of advertising claims companies make. So alleviate their skepticism by being specific and offering proof when possible. Write your ideas on paper now...
Step 5: Condense Into One Clear And Concise Sentence:
The most powerful USPs are so perfectly written, you cannot change or move even a single word. Each word earns you money by selling your product or service. After you get your USP written, your advertising and marketing copy will practically write itself!
Now take all the details about your product/service/offer from the steps above and sculpt them into one clear and concise sentence with compelling salesmanship fused into every single word. Write your ideas on paper now...
Step 6: Integrate Your USP Into ALL Marketing Materials:
Variations of your USP will be included in the ALL your marketing materials such as your...
Advertising and sales copy headlines;
Business cards, brochures, flyers, & signs;
Your "elevator pitch", phone, and sales scripts;
Letterhead, letters, & postcards;
Website & Internet marketing.
Step 7: Deliver On Your USP's Promise
Be bold when developing your USP but be careful to ensure that you can deliver. Your USP should have promises and guarantees that capture your audience's attention and compels them to respond to you. Having a strong USP can make your business a big success, or a big failure if you don't deliver on it thereby ruining your reputation. In the beginning, it was a challenge for Federal Express to absolutely, positively deliver overnight, but they developed the system that allowed them to deliver the promise consistently.
Conclusion:
Using a powerful USP is the driving force that builds your business success. Build your USP and use it to optimize your marketing materials for maximum results.
Contact us now for a free price quote on our marketing optimization services by calling Matt Hockin at 866.279.5785 or by clicking here.
Interactive Marketing, Inc.
61236 Brittle Brush Street • Bend, Oregon 97702
Toll Free: 866.279.5785
Tel: 503.246.1375
Fax: 503.336.5176
That Makes Your Marketing Generate More Results
Boost Your Sales And Profits By Positioning Your
Company As The Best Choice In The Market
What makes you more unique, more valuable, and more visible in the market? You've heard the old saying "Differentiate or Die" right? In our highly competitive world, you have to be unique and fill a special niche to be successful in the marketplace. Yet one of the most harmful mistakes small businesses make is not being unique and positioning themselves as the best choice in the market. How do you show that your product or service is the best?
Use a Unique Selling Proposition or "USP". Having a USP will dramatically improve the positioning and marketability of your company and products by accomplishing 3 things for you:
1. Unique - It clearly sets you apart from your competition, positioning you the more logical choice.
2. Selling - It persuades another to exchange money for a product or service.
3. Proposition - It is a proposal or offer suggested for acceptance.
The Force That Drives Your Business And Sales Success
Your USP is the force that drives your business and success. It can also be used as a "branding" tool that deploys strategy with every tactical marketing effort you use such as an ad, a postcard, or web site. This allows you to build a lasting reputation while you're making sales. The ultimate goal of your USP and marketing is to have people say to you... "Oh, yes I've heard of you. You're the company who..." -And then respond by requesting more information or purchasing.
The Federal Express Example:
Federal Express (FedEx) dominated the package shipping market with the following USP: "Federal Express: When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight." The deployment of this USP allowed Federal Express to emerge as the dominant leader in the industry, taking market share rapidly, and also increasing its sales and profits.
In today's competitive market, your business cannot thrive if you are using the same old "me too" marketing that everyone else is using. Your small business absolutely positively has to have a USP that "cuts through the clutter", separates you from the competition, and positions you as the best choice... the ONLY choice.
Building your USP takes some effort, but it is absolutely worth it because of the added advantage you'll have in the market. Using a powerful USP will make your job of marketing and selling much easier, enabling you to more easily increase your sales and profits for the same budget.
Winning USP Examples
The following are 6 powerful USPs that alleviate the "pain" experienced by the consumers in their industries..
Example #1 - Package Shipping Industry
Pain - I have to get this package delivered quick!
USP - "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight." (Federal Express)
Example #2 - Food Industry
Pain - The kids are starving, but Mom and Dad are too tired to cook!
USP - "Pizza delivered in 30 minutes or it's free." (Dominos Pizza)
(This USP is worth $1 BILLION to Dominos Pizza)
Example #3 - Real Estate Industry
Pain - People want to sell their house fast without loosing money on the deal.
USP - "Our 20 Step Marketing System Will Sell Your House In Less Than 45 Days At Full Market Value"
Example #4 - Dental Industry
Pain - Many people don't like to go to the dentist because of the pain and long wait.
USP - "We guarantee that you will have a comfortable experience and never have to wait more than 15 minutes" or you will receive a free exam."
Example #5 - Cold Medicine Industry
Pain - You are sick, feel terrible, and can't sleep.
USP - "The nighttime, coughing, achy, sniffling, stuffy head, fever, so you can rest medicine." (Nyquil)
Example #6 - Jewelry Industry
Pain - The market hates paying huge 300% mark-ups for jewelry.
USP - "Don't pay 300% markups to a traditional jeweler for inferior diamonds! We guarantee that your loose diamond will appraise for at least 200% of the purchase price, or we'll buy it back."
How To Develop Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Your USP is the very essence of what you are offering. Your USP needs to be so compelling that it can be used as a headline that sells your product or service. Therefore, since you want to optimize all your marketing materials for maximum results, create it before anything else (such as advertisements and marketing copy).
Print this article and jot down your ideas to construct a "Unique Selling Proposition" (USP) for your business. Follow this easy 7-step process:
Step 1: Use Your Biggest Benefits:
Clearly describe the 3 biggest benefits of owning your product or service. Let me be blunt. Your prospect doesn't care if you offer the best quality, service, or price. You have to explain exactly WHY that is important to them. Think in terms of what your business does for your customer and the end-result they desire from a product or service like yours. So, what are the 3 biggest benefits you offer? Write them down on a piece of paper...
1.
2.
3.
Step 2: Be Unique:
The key here is to be unique. Basically, your USP separates you from the competition, sets up a "buying criteria" that illustrates your company is the most logical choice, and makes your product or service the "gotta have" item. (Not your competitor's.)
Write your USP so it creates desire and urgency. Your USP can be stated in your product itself, in your offer, or in your guarantee:
PRODUCT: "A unique baseball swing that will instantly force you to hit like a pro."
OFFER: "You can learn this simple technique that makes you hit like a pro in just 10 minutes of batting practice."
GUARANTEE: "If you don't hit like a pro baseball player the first time you use this new swing, we'll refund your money."
Write your ideas on paper now...
Step 3: Solve An Industry "Pain Point" Or "Performance Gap":
Identify which needs are going unfulfilled within either your industry or your local market. The need or "gap" that exists between the current situation and the desired objectives is sometimes termed a "performance gap". Many businesses that base their USP on industry performance gaps are successful.
For example, Dominos Pizza used the "Pizza delivered in 30 minutes or it's free" USP to become wildly successful. This worked because of the need or "gap" in the market - After a long day at work Mom and Dad are too tired to cook. But the kids are starving and don't want to wait an hour! They want pizza NOW. Call Domino's.
So, what are the most frustrating things your customer experiences when working with you or your industry in general? Alleviate that "PAIN" in your USP and make sure you deliver on your promises. Write your ideas on paper now...
Step 4: Be Specific And Offer Proof:
Consumers are skeptical of advertising claims companies make. So alleviate their skepticism by being specific and offering proof when possible. Write your ideas on paper now...
Step 5: Condense Into One Clear And Concise Sentence:
The most powerful USPs are so perfectly written, you cannot change or move even a single word. Each word earns you money by selling your product or service. After you get your USP written, your advertising and marketing copy will practically write itself!
Now take all the details about your product/service/offer from the steps above and sculpt them into one clear and concise sentence with compelling salesmanship fused into every single word. Write your ideas on paper now...
Step 6: Integrate Your USP Into ALL Marketing Materials:
Variations of your USP will be included in the ALL your marketing materials such as your...
Advertising and sales copy headlines;
Business cards, brochures, flyers, & signs;
Your "elevator pitch", phone, and sales scripts;
Letterhead, letters, & postcards;
Website & Internet marketing.
Step 7: Deliver On Your USP's Promise
Be bold when developing your USP but be careful to ensure that you can deliver. Your USP should have promises and guarantees that capture your audience's attention and compels them to respond to you. Having a strong USP can make your business a big success, or a big failure if you don't deliver on it thereby ruining your reputation. In the beginning, it was a challenge for Federal Express to absolutely, positively deliver overnight, but they developed the system that allowed them to deliver the promise consistently.
Conclusion:
Using a powerful USP is the driving force that builds your business success. Build your USP and use it to optimize your marketing materials for maximum results.
Contact us now for a free price quote on our marketing optimization services by calling Matt Hockin at 866.279.5785 or by clicking here.
Interactive Marketing, Inc.
61236 Brittle Brush Street • Bend, Oregon 97702
Toll Free: 866.279.5785
Tel: 503.246.1375
Fax: 503.336.5176
How To Create A Unique Selling Proposition
How To Create A Unique Selling Proposition
By Jay Abraham
Even while you creatively imitate others, remember that it's also important to be different. Distinguish your business or practice from all the rest. Make your enterprise special in the eyes of your customer or client. That is the goal I want you to pursue.
How do you get your business differentiated? By creating a Unique Selling Proposition - or USP.
A USP is that distinct and appealing idea that sets you and your business, or practice, favorably apart from every other generic competitor. The long-term marketing and operational successes I help you achieve will, ultimately, be helped or hurt by the USP you decide upon.
The possibilities for building a USP are unlimited. It's best, however, to adopt a USP that dynamically addresses an obvious void in the marketplace that you can honestly fill. Beware: It's actually counter-productive to adopt a USP if you cannot fulfill the promise.
Most business owners don't have a USP, only a "me too," rudderless, nondescript, unappealing business that feeds solely upon the sheer momentum of the marketplace. There's nothing unique; there's nothing distinct. They promise no great value, benefit, or service -- just "buy from us" for no justifiable, rational reason.
It's no surprise then that most businesses, lacking a USP, merely get by. Their failure rate is high, their owners are apathetic, and they get only a small share of the potential business. But other than a possible convenient location, why should they get much patronage if they fail to offer any appealing promise, unique feature or special service?
Would you want to patronize a firm that's just "there," with no unique benefit, no incredible prices or selection, no especially comforting counsel, service or guarantee? Or would you prefer a firm that offers you the broadest selection in the country? Or one with every item marked up less than half the margin other competitors charge? Or one that sells the "Rolls Royce" of the industry's products?
Can you see what an appealing difference the USP makes in establishing a company's perceived image or posture to the customer? It's ludicrous to operate any business without carefully crafting a clear, strong, appealing USP into the very fabric of the daily existence of that business.
The point is to focus on the one niche, need or gap that is most sorely lacking, provided you can keep the promise you make.
You can even create hybrid USPs -- combinations that integrate one marketing gap with another. Before you decide on a USP, though, be sure you can always deliver that USP through your whole organization. You and your staff must consistently maintain high levels of quality or service.
If you decide your USP is that your company offers the broadest selection of products or services "instantly available" or "always in stock," but in reality you only stock six out of 25 items and only a few of each item, then you're falling down on the essence of your USP promise, and your marketing will probably fail. It is critical to always fulfill the "big promise" of your USP.
If you don't honestly believe you can deliver on your USP, pick another one to build your business on. Just be sure it's unique and that you can fulfill it.
Remember, the USP is the nucleus around which you will build your success, fame, and wealth, so you better be able to state it. If you can't state it, your prospects won't see it. Whenever a customers needs the type of product or service you sell, your USP should bring your company immediately to mind.
Clearly conveying the USP through both your marketing and your business performance will make your business great and success inevitable. But you must reduce your USP to its sinewy bare essence.
Try it. With paper and pen, prepare a one-paragraph statement of your new USP. At first, you will have trouble expressing it tightly and specifically. It may take two or three paragraphs or more. That's okay. Ruthlessly edit away the generalities, and tenaciously focus on the crispest, clearest, most specific promise you could possibly hold out. Then, rework it and hack away the excess verbiage or hazy statements until you have a clearly defined, clearly apparent Unique Selling Proposition a customer can immediately seize upon. And then, integrate your USP into every marketing aspect of your business, such as display advertising, direct mail and field selling.
Let's say you run display-type ads, and your USP is that you have better selection and follow-up service than any other competitor. There are several ways to integrate these qualities into your ads. For example: State the selection USP in the ad headline:
"We Always Have 168 different Widgets in No Less than 12 Different Sizes and 10 Desirable Colors, in price ranges from $6 to $600."
Or, if good service at an affordable price is your USP, use this as a model:
"ABC Tree Trimmers will trim and maintain your trees and shrubs six times a year, once every two months, and all it costs you is $16 a month, billed quarterly."
By now you should have the general idea that you should carefully integrate your newly adopted USP into the headline and body copy of every ad you run. And in every direct-mail piece you send out.
But integrating your USP into just your ads and mailing pieces isn't enough. You must integrate its positioning statement into every form of your marketing. When your salespeople call on prospects, everything they say should clearly reinforce your USP. They should explain the USP to the customer in a clear, concise statement.
For example:
"Hello, Mr. Prospect. I know your time is short, so I'll get right to the point. Your company manufactures widgets. You buy steel and copper from a competitor.
You're currently paying $100 a ton for steel and $75 a ton for copper, of which you waste roughly 25%. My firm will sell you a higher grade steel and a higher alloy copper for $95 and $69 a ton, respectively, freight prepaid, which saves you an extra $3 a ton. Plus, we'll guarantee our metal will produce a waste factor of 15% or less, and we'll replace any wasted coverage, free. One last point, Mr. Prospect. It could be important. We'll furnish you with 50, 20 gauge titanium rivets and cap assemblies free with every 10 tons of steel you order this month. May I have your order?"
Throughout the sales pitch, your sales reps should refer to the USP benefits or advantages, showing the prospect why it's vastly superior to take advantage of your USP rather than your competitor's USP, if he or she even has one.
Don't try and merely have your salespeople "wing it." Insist that they do their homework. Make them sit down (figuratively speaking) and express the essence of your USP. Be sure they can clearly and powerfully express your USP in 60 seconds (the oral equivalent of a written paragraph), and then compellingly state how it benefits the prospect. Furnish your prospects with plenty of examples of how you honestly deliver your USP.
When an old, tired company or profession adopts a powerful, new, and appealing USP, it gives new life, new excitement, new interest and new appeal to the marketing plan. You're suddenly different, instead of just being another interloper preying on customers you've trapped into hearing your sales pitch! Now you're on the customer's side.
However, remember this axiom: You will not appeal to everybody. In fact, certain USPs are designed to appeal to only one segment of a vast market. There is a vast gulf between the upscale clients and the bargain seekers, and you probably can't reach them both. Which do you want to stake out as your market niche?
Don't forget my earlier advice. Don't adopt a USP that you can't deliver, or further marketing is useless. Also, analyze the market potential of various USP positions in terms of volume, profits and repeat business.
For example, the highest marketing niche may be in the exclusive, expensive USP, but the biggest money may be made in the discount-volume USP. There's a place for both, but if you try to ride two horses, you'll probably bite the dust. Remember too, that your USP is giving advice, assistance and superior service; it can't stop with mere sales rhetoric. It must become total company conduct. If someone calls in with a question, the people answering the call must extend themselves. The same goes for every person who interacts with that customer, from the cashier and the delivery person to the service or repair people. You and your employees must live, breathe, and act your USP at all times.
Sit down and write a synopsis of your USP for your staff, how you're trying to carry it out, and how everyone can project that USP to the world. Make their cooperation a condition of employment. The entire company must adhere to the USP.
Talk to your staff, write scripts, hold contests, and reward people who distinguish themselves in promoting your USP. Set an example so that your staff can see the USP in action.
How can you ensure that you are in the hearts and minds of your customers after the sale? Here are a few good approaches:
Immediately following a sale, write, call or visit your customers. During this follow-up effort, see that the customers feel important and special, and that their initial purchases are "resold." Repeat your USP and remind the customers how it helped them make their purchasing decision. Reassure customers about their wise decisions, and show how the same USP that served them this time will be there to serve them in the future.
And again, state your USP, telling customers why you've adopted it, and why it's such an advantage to them. People rarely understand the benefits you provide them, unless you carefully educate them to appreciate your efforts on their behalf.
A post-purchase follow-up incorporating the essence of your USP is vital, regardless of how frequently you "back-end" or resell to that customer. You enhance the customer's loyalty and value to your business by following up after the sale. At the very least, a follow-up call, letter, or sales appeal drastically reduces or eliminates cancellations, returns, refunds, complaints, adjustments and disputes, and reassures customers of the prudence of their recent purchase.
Good marketing requires that you give customers rational reasons for their emotional buying decision. There is a formula for success, and the USP, my dear friends, is truly an integral part of that formula.
Depending on the business, I usually advise my clients to offer frequent special promotions to their customers by mail, telephone or in person. Everyone wants to feel appreciated and personally acknowledged. By offering your customers genuine, specially priced deals or first choice, you endear yourself to them. At the same time, you enhance your customers' perception of your Unique Selling Proposition.
If your USP is service, your preferred promotions will be service-based rather than price-based. Give them extended service -- for instance, a special offer of your basic service, or one year of free consulting or assistance not normally given.
Also, don't underestimate the profit potential inherent in special offers. Acquiring first-time customers usually costs a small fortune. Space ads have to reach tens of thousands of readers to produce a few hundred customers, so it may cost you $10 or more to acquire a customer. The same goes for TV, radio, or direct mail. Field salespeople may have to call on 15 to 30 prospects before they make one sale, so the cost of acquiring a new customer may be "hundreds" of dollars.
But once you satisfactorily deliver your product or service and have a core customer base, you can continuously rework and resell at a very modest cost per sale. When you have a list of customers who have already shown their willingness to spend money on your products or services, it costs very little to go to them with additional special offers.
If you have 10,000 customers, it will probably cost $3,000 to mail them a letter. (At best, that same $3,000 for display advertising would probably generate only 100 new customers at a cost of $30 per customer.) Calling all 10,000 prospects on the phone would take five telephone sales people about a month. If they were on salary, that might cost you about $10,000 (for that month) or only about $1.00 a contact.
If broad choice is your USP, have a customer-service representative contact your customers to see if everything is satisfactory. If everything is not, offer to replace, repair or correct the product or service. Your customer-service people should know just as much about available choices and options as your salespeople.
Give them reasonable authority to replace, repair or reinstall if there is any dissatisfaction. Make them aware that their jobs depend on ensuring that the promise behind your USP is fulfilled. They should provide evidence to any customer with a problem, complaint or question that the USP is real and that the entire company is enthusiastically committed to doing whatever it takes to promptly fulfill the USP promise.
Anyone in your employ who does not, cannot, or will not promote your USP should be immediately replaced with someone who can and will. Your real wealth comes from repeat or residual business which will only happen if every aspect of your business is a continuous extension of your USP.
You can send a personal thank-you note, letter, or a computer-typed letter to customers. You can send a gift or a gift certificate. You can send items to correspond with holidays: A box of candy on Valentine's Day; a poinsettia, a turkey or ham at Christmas; a birthday card -- the possibilities are many. If you add up the customer's value in future business or repeat sales, you can probably justify a sizable investment in his or her goodwill. Everyone likes to be acknowledged and feel they are special.
You should even integrate your USP into every contact with dissatisfied customers!
Whenever someone asks for a refund, replacement, or adjustment, instead of resenting the fact that you have to give back money, use that opportunity to reconvey the essence of your USP -- either in person or by letter. If you have an exchange department, instruct that staff to courteously and sincerely reiterate your firm's USP, and assure the dissatisfied customer of the firm's commitment to offer more service, greater selection, better guarantees or whatever. Then, if you issue credit or a check, include a prepared letter expressing your deep commitment to your USP, and apologizing for any inconvenience, disappointment or dissatisfaction. With every refund, send a letter expressing disappointment that you did not fulfill the customers expectations, and strongly restate your firm's USP and your commitment to it.
Then ask the dissatisfied customer to please give you another chance to make good! And make it worth their while by giving them a discount certificate, a special bonus, offering three widgets for the price of two, or some other preferential treatment that shows unhappy customers you want their business back, that you appreciate them, and that you will make good.
Above everything else, never, ever lose track of the fact that USP is all about the customer or the client. It is not about me, you, the company or the profession. Don't make the mistake of aggrandizing your business. Instead, help your customer or client do some aggrandizing.
By Jay Abraham
Even while you creatively imitate others, remember that it's also important to be different. Distinguish your business or practice from all the rest. Make your enterprise special in the eyes of your customer or client. That is the goal I want you to pursue.
How do you get your business differentiated? By creating a Unique Selling Proposition - or USP.
A USP is that distinct and appealing idea that sets you and your business, or practice, favorably apart from every other generic competitor. The long-term marketing and operational successes I help you achieve will, ultimately, be helped or hurt by the USP you decide upon.
The possibilities for building a USP are unlimited. It's best, however, to adopt a USP that dynamically addresses an obvious void in the marketplace that you can honestly fill. Beware: It's actually counter-productive to adopt a USP if you cannot fulfill the promise.
Most business owners don't have a USP, only a "me too," rudderless, nondescript, unappealing business that feeds solely upon the sheer momentum of the marketplace. There's nothing unique; there's nothing distinct. They promise no great value, benefit, or service -- just "buy from us" for no justifiable, rational reason.
It's no surprise then that most businesses, lacking a USP, merely get by. Their failure rate is high, their owners are apathetic, and they get only a small share of the potential business. But other than a possible convenient location, why should they get much patronage if they fail to offer any appealing promise, unique feature or special service?
Would you want to patronize a firm that's just "there," with no unique benefit, no incredible prices or selection, no especially comforting counsel, service or guarantee? Or would you prefer a firm that offers you the broadest selection in the country? Or one with every item marked up less than half the margin other competitors charge? Or one that sells the "Rolls Royce" of the industry's products?
Can you see what an appealing difference the USP makes in establishing a company's perceived image or posture to the customer? It's ludicrous to operate any business without carefully crafting a clear, strong, appealing USP into the very fabric of the daily existence of that business.
The point is to focus on the one niche, need or gap that is most sorely lacking, provided you can keep the promise you make.
You can even create hybrid USPs -- combinations that integrate one marketing gap with another. Before you decide on a USP, though, be sure you can always deliver that USP through your whole organization. You and your staff must consistently maintain high levels of quality or service.
If you decide your USP is that your company offers the broadest selection of products or services "instantly available" or "always in stock," but in reality you only stock six out of 25 items and only a few of each item, then you're falling down on the essence of your USP promise, and your marketing will probably fail. It is critical to always fulfill the "big promise" of your USP.
If you don't honestly believe you can deliver on your USP, pick another one to build your business on. Just be sure it's unique and that you can fulfill it.
Remember, the USP is the nucleus around which you will build your success, fame, and wealth, so you better be able to state it. If you can't state it, your prospects won't see it. Whenever a customers needs the type of product or service you sell, your USP should bring your company immediately to mind.
Clearly conveying the USP through both your marketing and your business performance will make your business great and success inevitable. But you must reduce your USP to its sinewy bare essence.
Try it. With paper and pen, prepare a one-paragraph statement of your new USP. At first, you will have trouble expressing it tightly and specifically. It may take two or three paragraphs or more. That's okay. Ruthlessly edit away the generalities, and tenaciously focus on the crispest, clearest, most specific promise you could possibly hold out. Then, rework it and hack away the excess verbiage or hazy statements until you have a clearly defined, clearly apparent Unique Selling Proposition a customer can immediately seize upon. And then, integrate your USP into every marketing aspect of your business, such as display advertising, direct mail and field selling.
Let's say you run display-type ads, and your USP is that you have better selection and follow-up service than any other competitor. There are several ways to integrate these qualities into your ads. For example: State the selection USP in the ad headline:
"We Always Have 168 different Widgets in No Less than 12 Different Sizes and 10 Desirable Colors, in price ranges from $6 to $600."
Or, if good service at an affordable price is your USP, use this as a model:
"ABC Tree Trimmers will trim and maintain your trees and shrubs six times a year, once every two months, and all it costs you is $16 a month, billed quarterly."
By now you should have the general idea that you should carefully integrate your newly adopted USP into the headline and body copy of every ad you run. And in every direct-mail piece you send out.
But integrating your USP into just your ads and mailing pieces isn't enough. You must integrate its positioning statement into every form of your marketing. When your salespeople call on prospects, everything they say should clearly reinforce your USP. They should explain the USP to the customer in a clear, concise statement.
For example:
"Hello, Mr. Prospect. I know your time is short, so I'll get right to the point. Your company manufactures widgets. You buy steel and copper from a competitor.
You're currently paying $100 a ton for steel and $75 a ton for copper, of which you waste roughly 25%. My firm will sell you a higher grade steel and a higher alloy copper for $95 and $69 a ton, respectively, freight prepaid, which saves you an extra $3 a ton. Plus, we'll guarantee our metal will produce a waste factor of 15% or less, and we'll replace any wasted coverage, free. One last point, Mr. Prospect. It could be important. We'll furnish you with 50, 20 gauge titanium rivets and cap assemblies free with every 10 tons of steel you order this month. May I have your order?"
Throughout the sales pitch, your sales reps should refer to the USP benefits or advantages, showing the prospect why it's vastly superior to take advantage of your USP rather than your competitor's USP, if he or she even has one.
Don't try and merely have your salespeople "wing it." Insist that they do their homework. Make them sit down (figuratively speaking) and express the essence of your USP. Be sure they can clearly and powerfully express your USP in 60 seconds (the oral equivalent of a written paragraph), and then compellingly state how it benefits the prospect. Furnish your prospects with plenty of examples of how you honestly deliver your USP.
When an old, tired company or profession adopts a powerful, new, and appealing USP, it gives new life, new excitement, new interest and new appeal to the marketing plan. You're suddenly different, instead of just being another interloper preying on customers you've trapped into hearing your sales pitch! Now you're on the customer's side.
However, remember this axiom: You will not appeal to everybody. In fact, certain USPs are designed to appeal to only one segment of a vast market. There is a vast gulf between the upscale clients and the bargain seekers, and you probably can't reach them both. Which do you want to stake out as your market niche?
Don't forget my earlier advice. Don't adopt a USP that you can't deliver, or further marketing is useless. Also, analyze the market potential of various USP positions in terms of volume, profits and repeat business.
For example, the highest marketing niche may be in the exclusive, expensive USP, but the biggest money may be made in the discount-volume USP. There's a place for both, but if you try to ride two horses, you'll probably bite the dust. Remember too, that your USP is giving advice, assistance and superior service; it can't stop with mere sales rhetoric. It must become total company conduct. If someone calls in with a question, the people answering the call must extend themselves. The same goes for every person who interacts with that customer, from the cashier and the delivery person to the service or repair people. You and your employees must live, breathe, and act your USP at all times.
Sit down and write a synopsis of your USP for your staff, how you're trying to carry it out, and how everyone can project that USP to the world. Make their cooperation a condition of employment. The entire company must adhere to the USP.
Talk to your staff, write scripts, hold contests, and reward people who distinguish themselves in promoting your USP. Set an example so that your staff can see the USP in action.
How can you ensure that you are in the hearts and minds of your customers after the sale? Here are a few good approaches:
Immediately following a sale, write, call or visit your customers. During this follow-up effort, see that the customers feel important and special, and that their initial purchases are "resold." Repeat your USP and remind the customers how it helped them make their purchasing decision. Reassure customers about their wise decisions, and show how the same USP that served them this time will be there to serve them in the future.
And again, state your USP, telling customers why you've adopted it, and why it's such an advantage to them. People rarely understand the benefits you provide them, unless you carefully educate them to appreciate your efforts on their behalf.
A post-purchase follow-up incorporating the essence of your USP is vital, regardless of how frequently you "back-end" or resell to that customer. You enhance the customer's loyalty and value to your business by following up after the sale. At the very least, a follow-up call, letter, or sales appeal drastically reduces or eliminates cancellations, returns, refunds, complaints, adjustments and disputes, and reassures customers of the prudence of their recent purchase.
Good marketing requires that you give customers rational reasons for their emotional buying decision. There is a formula for success, and the USP, my dear friends, is truly an integral part of that formula.
Depending on the business, I usually advise my clients to offer frequent special promotions to their customers by mail, telephone or in person. Everyone wants to feel appreciated and personally acknowledged. By offering your customers genuine, specially priced deals or first choice, you endear yourself to them. At the same time, you enhance your customers' perception of your Unique Selling Proposition.
If your USP is service, your preferred promotions will be service-based rather than price-based. Give them extended service -- for instance, a special offer of your basic service, or one year of free consulting or assistance not normally given.
Also, don't underestimate the profit potential inherent in special offers. Acquiring first-time customers usually costs a small fortune. Space ads have to reach tens of thousands of readers to produce a few hundred customers, so it may cost you $10 or more to acquire a customer. The same goes for TV, radio, or direct mail. Field salespeople may have to call on 15 to 30 prospects before they make one sale, so the cost of acquiring a new customer may be "hundreds" of dollars.
But once you satisfactorily deliver your product or service and have a core customer base, you can continuously rework and resell at a very modest cost per sale. When you have a list of customers who have already shown their willingness to spend money on your products or services, it costs very little to go to them with additional special offers.
If you have 10,000 customers, it will probably cost $3,000 to mail them a letter. (At best, that same $3,000 for display advertising would probably generate only 100 new customers at a cost of $30 per customer.) Calling all 10,000 prospects on the phone would take five telephone sales people about a month. If they were on salary, that might cost you about $10,000 (for that month) or only about $1.00 a contact.
If broad choice is your USP, have a customer-service representative contact your customers to see if everything is satisfactory. If everything is not, offer to replace, repair or correct the product or service. Your customer-service people should know just as much about available choices and options as your salespeople.
Give them reasonable authority to replace, repair or reinstall if there is any dissatisfaction. Make them aware that their jobs depend on ensuring that the promise behind your USP is fulfilled. They should provide evidence to any customer with a problem, complaint or question that the USP is real and that the entire company is enthusiastically committed to doing whatever it takes to promptly fulfill the USP promise.
Anyone in your employ who does not, cannot, or will not promote your USP should be immediately replaced with someone who can and will. Your real wealth comes from repeat or residual business which will only happen if every aspect of your business is a continuous extension of your USP.
You can send a personal thank-you note, letter, or a computer-typed letter to customers. You can send a gift or a gift certificate. You can send items to correspond with holidays: A box of candy on Valentine's Day; a poinsettia, a turkey or ham at Christmas; a birthday card -- the possibilities are many. If you add up the customer's value in future business or repeat sales, you can probably justify a sizable investment in his or her goodwill. Everyone likes to be acknowledged and feel they are special.
You should even integrate your USP into every contact with dissatisfied customers!
Whenever someone asks for a refund, replacement, or adjustment, instead of resenting the fact that you have to give back money, use that opportunity to reconvey the essence of your USP -- either in person or by letter. If you have an exchange department, instruct that staff to courteously and sincerely reiterate your firm's USP, and assure the dissatisfied customer of the firm's commitment to offer more service, greater selection, better guarantees or whatever. Then, if you issue credit or a check, include a prepared letter expressing your deep commitment to your USP, and apologizing for any inconvenience, disappointment or dissatisfaction. With every refund, send a letter expressing disappointment that you did not fulfill the customers expectations, and strongly restate your firm's USP and your commitment to it.
Then ask the dissatisfied customer to please give you another chance to make good! And make it worth their while by giving them a discount certificate, a special bonus, offering three widgets for the price of two, or some other preferential treatment that shows unhappy customers you want their business back, that you appreciate them, and that you will make good.
Above everything else, never, ever lose track of the fact that USP is all about the customer or the client. It is not about me, you, the company or the profession. Don't make the mistake of aggrandizing your business. Instead, help your customer or client do some aggrandizing.
Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Definition: The factor or consideration presented by a seller as the reason that one product or service is different from and better than that of the competition
Before you can begin to sell your product or service to anyone else, you have to sell yourself on it. This is especially important when your product or service is similar to those around you. Very few businesses are one-of-a-kind. Just look around you: How many clothing retailers, hardware stores, air conditioning installers and electricians are truly unique?
The key to effective selling in this situation is what advertising and marketing professionals call a "unique selling proposition" (USP). Unless you can pinpoint what makes your business unique in a world of homogeneous competitors, you cannot target your sales efforts successfully.
Pinpointing your USP requires some hard soul-searching and creativity. One way to start is to analyze how other companies use their USPs to their advantage. This requires careful analysis of other companies' ads and marketing messages. If you analyze what they say they sell, not just their product or service characteristics, you can learn a great deal about how companies distinguish themselves from competitors.
For example, Charles Revson, founder of Revlon, always used to say he sold hope, not makeup. Some airlines sell friendly service, while others sell on-time service. Neiman Marcus sells luxury, while Wal-Mart sells bargains.
Each of these is an example of a company that has found a USP "peg" on which to hang its marketing strategy. A business can peg its USP on product characteristics, price structure, placement strategy (location and distribution) or promotional strategy. These are what marketers call the "four P's" of marketing. They are manipulated to give a business a market position that sets it apart from the competition.
Sometimes a company focuses on one particular "peg," which also drives the strategy in other areas. A classic example is Hanes L'Eggs hosiery. Back in an era when hosiery was sold primarily in department stores, Hanes opened a new distribution channel for hosiery sales. The idea: Since hosiery was a consumer staple, why not sell it where other staples were sold--in grocery stores?
That placement strategy then drove the company's selection of product packaging (a plastic egg) so the pantyhose did not seem incongruent in the supermarket. And because the product didn't have to be pressed and wrapped in tissue and boxes, it could be priced lower than other brands.
Here's how to uncover your USP and use it to power up your sales:
• Put yourself in your customer's shoes. Too often, entrepreneurs fall in love with their product or service and forget that it is the customer's needs, not their own, that they must satisfy. Step back from your daily operations and carefully scrutinize what your customers really want. Suppose you own a pizza parlor. Sure, customers come into your pizza place for food. But is food all they want? What could make them come back again and again and ignore your competition? The answer might be quality, convenience, reliability, friendliness, cleanliness, courtesy or customer service.
• Remember, price is never the only reason people buy. If your competition is beating you on pricing because they are larger, you have to find another sales feature that addresses the customer's needs and then build your sales and promotional efforts around that feature.
• Know what motivates your customers' behavior and buying decisions. Effective marketing requires you to be an amateur psychologist. You need to know what drives and motivates customers. Go beyond the traditional customer demographics, such as age, gender, race, income and geographic location, that most businesses collect to analyze their sales trends. For our pizza shop example, it is not enough to know that 75 percent of your customers are in the 18-to-25 age range. You need to look at their motives for buying pizza-taste, peer pressure, convenience and so on.
• Cosmetics and liquor companies are great examples of industries that know the value of psychologically oriented promotion. People buy these products based on their desires (for pretty women, luxury, glamour and so on), not on their needs.
• Uncover the real reasons customers buy your product instead of a competitor's. As your business grows, you'll be able to ask your best source of information: your customers. For example, the pizza entrepreneur could ask them why they like his pizza over others, plus ask them to rate the importance of the features he offers, such as taste, size, ingredients, atmosphere and service. You will be surprised how honest people are when you ask how you can improve your service.
If your business is just starting out, you won't have a lot of customers to ask yet, so "shop" your competition instead. Many retailers routinely drop into their competitors' stores to see what and how they are selling. If you're really brave, try asking a few of the customers after they leave the premises what they like and dislike about the competitors' products and services.
Once you've gone through this three-step market intelligence process, you need to take the next--and hardest--step: clearing your mind of any preconceived ideas about your product or service and being brutally honest. What features of your business jump out at you as something that sets you apart? What can you promote that will make customers want to patronize your business? How can you position your business to highlight your USP?
Don't get discouraged. Successful business ownership is not about having a unique product or service; it's about making your product stand out--even in a market filled with similar items.
Definition: The factor or consideration presented by a seller as the reason that one product or service is different from and better than that of the competition
Before you can begin to sell your product or service to anyone else, you have to sell yourself on it. This is especially important when your product or service is similar to those around you. Very few businesses are one-of-a-kind. Just look around you: How many clothing retailers, hardware stores, air conditioning installers and electricians are truly unique?
The key to effective selling in this situation is what advertising and marketing professionals call a "unique selling proposition" (USP). Unless you can pinpoint what makes your business unique in a world of homogeneous competitors, you cannot target your sales efforts successfully.
Pinpointing your USP requires some hard soul-searching and creativity. One way to start is to analyze how other companies use their USPs to their advantage. This requires careful analysis of other companies' ads and marketing messages. If you analyze what they say they sell, not just their product or service characteristics, you can learn a great deal about how companies distinguish themselves from competitors.
For example, Charles Revson, founder of Revlon, always used to say he sold hope, not makeup. Some airlines sell friendly service, while others sell on-time service. Neiman Marcus sells luxury, while Wal-Mart sells bargains.
Each of these is an example of a company that has found a USP "peg" on which to hang its marketing strategy. A business can peg its USP on product characteristics, price structure, placement strategy (location and distribution) or promotional strategy. These are what marketers call the "four P's" of marketing. They are manipulated to give a business a market position that sets it apart from the competition.
Sometimes a company focuses on one particular "peg," which also drives the strategy in other areas. A classic example is Hanes L'Eggs hosiery. Back in an era when hosiery was sold primarily in department stores, Hanes opened a new distribution channel for hosiery sales. The idea: Since hosiery was a consumer staple, why not sell it where other staples were sold--in grocery stores?
That placement strategy then drove the company's selection of product packaging (a plastic egg) so the pantyhose did not seem incongruent in the supermarket. And because the product didn't have to be pressed and wrapped in tissue and boxes, it could be priced lower than other brands.
Here's how to uncover your USP and use it to power up your sales:
• Put yourself in your customer's shoes. Too often, entrepreneurs fall in love with their product or service and forget that it is the customer's needs, not their own, that they must satisfy. Step back from your daily operations and carefully scrutinize what your customers really want. Suppose you own a pizza parlor. Sure, customers come into your pizza place for food. But is food all they want? What could make them come back again and again and ignore your competition? The answer might be quality, convenience, reliability, friendliness, cleanliness, courtesy or customer service.
• Remember, price is never the only reason people buy. If your competition is beating you on pricing because they are larger, you have to find another sales feature that addresses the customer's needs and then build your sales and promotional efforts around that feature.
• Know what motivates your customers' behavior and buying decisions. Effective marketing requires you to be an amateur psychologist. You need to know what drives and motivates customers. Go beyond the traditional customer demographics, such as age, gender, race, income and geographic location, that most businesses collect to analyze their sales trends. For our pizza shop example, it is not enough to know that 75 percent of your customers are in the 18-to-25 age range. You need to look at their motives for buying pizza-taste, peer pressure, convenience and so on.
• Cosmetics and liquor companies are great examples of industries that know the value of psychologically oriented promotion. People buy these products based on their desires (for pretty women, luxury, glamour and so on), not on their needs.
• Uncover the real reasons customers buy your product instead of a competitor's. As your business grows, you'll be able to ask your best source of information: your customers. For example, the pizza entrepreneur could ask them why they like his pizza over others, plus ask them to rate the importance of the features he offers, such as taste, size, ingredients, atmosphere and service. You will be surprised how honest people are when you ask how you can improve your service.
If your business is just starting out, you won't have a lot of customers to ask yet, so "shop" your competition instead. Many retailers routinely drop into their competitors' stores to see what and how they are selling. If you're really brave, try asking a few of the customers after they leave the premises what they like and dislike about the competitors' products and services.
Once you've gone through this three-step market intelligence process, you need to take the next--and hardest--step: clearing your mind of any preconceived ideas about your product or service and being brutally honest. What features of your business jump out at you as something that sets you apart? What can you promote that will make customers want to patronize your business? How can you position your business to highlight your USP?
Don't get discouraged. Successful business ownership is not about having a unique product or service; it's about making your product stand out--even in a market filled with similar items.
Unique selling proposition- defination
Unique selling proposition
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Unique Selling Proposition (also Unique Selling Point) is a marketing concept that was first proposed as a theory to explain a pattern among successful advertising campaigns of the early 1940s. It states that such campaigns made unique propositions to the customer and that this convinced them to switch brands. The term was invented by Rosser Reeves of Ted Bates & Company. Today the term is used in other fields or just casually to refer to any aspect of an object that differentiates it from similar objects.
Today, a number of businesses and corporations currently use USPs as a basis for their marketing campaigns.
Origin
In the early 1940s, Ted Bates & Company carried out extensive market research on successful advertising campaigns. In particular they identified two desirable attributes: the penetration and the usage pull (Reeves 1961, p. 10).
The pattern they found among campaigns that produced a high usage pull was the basis for the theory of the USP. It may also be known as the unique selling point.
Definition
In Reality in Advertising (Reeves 1961, pp. 46–48) Reeves laments that the U.S.P. is widely misunderstood and gives a precise definition in three parts:
1. Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer. Not just words, not just product puffery, not just show-window advertising. Each advertisement must say to each reader: "Buy this product, and you will get this specific benefit."
2. The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot, or does not, offer. It must be unique—either a uniqueness of the brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising.
3. The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions, i.e., pull over new customers to your product.
Examples
Some good current examples of products with a clear USP are:
• Head & Shoulders: "You get rid of dandruff"
• Olay: "You get younger-looking skin"
Some unique propositions that were pioneers when they were introduced:
• Domino's Pizza: "You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less -- or it's free."
• FedEx: "When your package absolutely, positively has to get there overnight"
• M&M's: "The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand"
• Wonder Bread: "Wonder Bread Helps Build Strong Bodies 12 Ways"
References
Reeves, Rosser (1961), Reality in Advertising, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, LCCN 61007118
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Unique Selling Proposition (also Unique Selling Point) is a marketing concept that was first proposed as a theory to explain a pattern among successful advertising campaigns of the early 1940s. It states that such campaigns made unique propositions to the customer and that this convinced them to switch brands. The term was invented by Rosser Reeves of Ted Bates & Company. Today the term is used in other fields or just casually to refer to any aspect of an object that differentiates it from similar objects.
Today, a number of businesses and corporations currently use USPs as a basis for their marketing campaigns.
Origin
In the early 1940s, Ted Bates & Company carried out extensive market research on successful advertising campaigns. In particular they identified two desirable attributes: the penetration and the usage pull (Reeves 1961, p. 10).
The pattern they found among campaigns that produced a high usage pull was the basis for the theory of the USP. It may also be known as the unique selling point.
Definition
In Reality in Advertising (Reeves 1961, pp. 46–48) Reeves laments that the U.S.P. is widely misunderstood and gives a precise definition in three parts:
1. Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer. Not just words, not just product puffery, not just show-window advertising. Each advertisement must say to each reader: "Buy this product, and you will get this specific benefit."
2. The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot, or does not, offer. It must be unique—either a uniqueness of the brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising.
3. The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions, i.e., pull over new customers to your product.
Examples
Some good current examples of products with a clear USP are:
• Head & Shoulders: "You get rid of dandruff"
• Olay: "You get younger-looking skin"
Some unique propositions that were pioneers when they were introduced:
• Domino's Pizza: "You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less -- or it's free."
• FedEx: "When your package absolutely, positively has to get there overnight"
• M&M's: "The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand"
• Wonder Bread: "Wonder Bread Helps Build Strong Bodies 12 Ways"
References
Reeves, Rosser (1961), Reality in Advertising, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, LCCN 61007118
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Difference between Wishes, Dreams & Goals
Difference between Wishes, Dreams & Goals
Wishes
In Achieve Planner, we use the concept of wishes to capture things that you potentially desire or want without having to commit to actually doing them. This is an important distinction because it allows you to brainstorm freely about the things you want without your judgments regarding how/when to accomplish them getting in the way.
Use a Wish List
Your wish list is the list of everything that you may need, want or desire someday, but that you are not actively pursuing at this time. You can build your wish list first, and then prioritize and decide which of these wishes to pursue further.
When you find a wish that you really want to accomplish, you simply convert it into a dream or goal. If you find a wish that you no longer need or want, simply demote it (give it a low priority) and choose something else instead.
Difference Between Dreams and Goals
The difference between dreams and goals is a bit more subtle. In the end, a goal is nothing more than a well-defined target. While doing our research, we found that there are two major types of targets used in goal setting.
The first type of target is what is commonly called a SMART goal. SMART is an acronym used to describe "good" goal statements. It stands for Specific, Measurable, Action-Oriented, Realistic/Relevant and Time-Specific.
The best SMART goals are focused, specific, short-term targets that involve things that are under your direct control. This is what makes goals such powerful achievement tools, but it is also what can limit them.
If you only use SMART goals, you run the risk of losing sight of the big picture, the reasons why you are setting goals in the first place. SMART goals can help you climb the ladder of success step-by-step, only to find that it is leaning against the wrong wall!
That's where the concept of dreams comes in to play to help bridge the gap. A dream is also a type of target: it is the ultimate realization of your desire or wish, and it is not limited by the SMART constraints.
Dreams can be big and seem unrealistic at first glance. They also don't have to be as focused or specific as goals. Some dreams could look five to ten years into your future; others could even span your entire lifetime.
Dreams are your ultimate destination, while goals are the intermediate stops along the way. Dreams represent what you want and why, while goals represent your plan to get you there.
Goals and dreams complement each other. If you only have dreams without any goals to support them, you can easily feel overwhelmed by the enormity of your dream. The shorter-term goals provide achievable intermediate targets that serve as stepping stones toward your dream.
If you only have goals but no dreams, you can easily fall into the trap of focusing so much on the steps that you lose sight of your destination. You run the risk of forgetting "why" you are pursuing these goals in the first place. Specific short-term goals are not terribly motivating by themselves either; their power comes from their connection to a big inspiring dream.
When you focus only on the next steps, you might also fail to notice wonderful opportunities that would allow you to leapfrog several steps ahead. Dreams allow you to be on the look for these golden opportunities that may not be in line with your current goals, but that are strongly aligned with your dream.
Dreams also help you evaluate whether your overall strategy and associated goals are working or not. Without the dream, you can accomplish goal after goal and not really make any progress. If you focus only on moving from one step to the next and never look up at your destination, you may not notice you are walking around in circles.
We decided to make a distinction between dreams and goals in the Achieve Planner goal setting software system because the planning process is different for each of them. In general, goals require more detail than dreams, but they are also more shortsighted because they represent specific and focused targets.
Dream vs. Goal Example
A simple example may help to clarify the difference between dreams and goals. One of your dreams in the health & fitness area might look something like this: "I have a healthy and fit body that gives me energy and allows me to enjoy my life."
Based on the SMART formula, this would not be a very good goal statement. It is not specific enough, it's difficult to measure, it contains elements outside your control, and it doesn't have a clear timeline. Smarter goals derived from this dream statement might look something like this:
• I weigh a healthy XXX pounds
• I take 20-minute jogs 3 to 5 times a week
• I eat a reasonable and healthy diet
• I have eliminated my habit (take your pick) that negatively impacted my health
• I keep myself informed by researching a health related topic once a month
You may even want to break down the goal of eating a reasonable and healthy diet into smarter goals since it is not very specific or measurable. For instance, you might decide on the following goals:
• I eat 3 to 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day
• I limit deserts and pastries to no more than one serving a week
• I eat half a portion when going out and save the rest for later
• I limit myself to at most one soft-drink each day
As you can see, the goals are much more specific and focused than the dream that inspired them. However, having the dream allows you to keep sight of the big picture and periodically evaluate the goals to determine if they are still helping you move towards your dream.
If they are no longer working for you, or you find an even better alternative, you can change your strategy and try something else.
For example, you might get an invitation to join a basketball team with your colleagues at work. If that is something that you would really enjoy, the activity would more than make up for the 20-minute jogs.
Knowing that the basketball would promote your overall dream, not to mention adding social interactions and fun, you can replace the 20-minute jog goal with the basketball. Remember that goals are simply means to an end, and not the ends in and of themselves.
If you don't like the word "dream" for this type of target, use something else like objective or long-term goal instead
Wishes
In Achieve Planner, we use the concept of wishes to capture things that you potentially desire or want without having to commit to actually doing them. This is an important distinction because it allows you to brainstorm freely about the things you want without your judgments regarding how/when to accomplish them getting in the way.
Use a Wish List
Your wish list is the list of everything that you may need, want or desire someday, but that you are not actively pursuing at this time. You can build your wish list first, and then prioritize and decide which of these wishes to pursue further.
When you find a wish that you really want to accomplish, you simply convert it into a dream or goal. If you find a wish that you no longer need or want, simply demote it (give it a low priority) and choose something else instead.
Difference Between Dreams and Goals
The difference between dreams and goals is a bit more subtle. In the end, a goal is nothing more than a well-defined target. While doing our research, we found that there are two major types of targets used in goal setting.
The first type of target is what is commonly called a SMART goal. SMART is an acronym used to describe "good" goal statements. It stands for Specific, Measurable, Action-Oriented, Realistic/Relevant and Time-Specific.
The best SMART goals are focused, specific, short-term targets that involve things that are under your direct control. This is what makes goals such powerful achievement tools, but it is also what can limit them.
If you only use SMART goals, you run the risk of losing sight of the big picture, the reasons why you are setting goals in the first place. SMART goals can help you climb the ladder of success step-by-step, only to find that it is leaning against the wrong wall!
That's where the concept of dreams comes in to play to help bridge the gap. A dream is also a type of target: it is the ultimate realization of your desire or wish, and it is not limited by the SMART constraints.
Dreams can be big and seem unrealistic at first glance. They also don't have to be as focused or specific as goals. Some dreams could look five to ten years into your future; others could even span your entire lifetime.
Dreams are your ultimate destination, while goals are the intermediate stops along the way. Dreams represent what you want and why, while goals represent your plan to get you there.
Goals and dreams complement each other. If you only have dreams without any goals to support them, you can easily feel overwhelmed by the enormity of your dream. The shorter-term goals provide achievable intermediate targets that serve as stepping stones toward your dream.
If you only have goals but no dreams, you can easily fall into the trap of focusing so much on the steps that you lose sight of your destination. You run the risk of forgetting "why" you are pursuing these goals in the first place. Specific short-term goals are not terribly motivating by themselves either; their power comes from their connection to a big inspiring dream.
When you focus only on the next steps, you might also fail to notice wonderful opportunities that would allow you to leapfrog several steps ahead. Dreams allow you to be on the look for these golden opportunities that may not be in line with your current goals, but that are strongly aligned with your dream.
Dreams also help you evaluate whether your overall strategy and associated goals are working or not. Without the dream, you can accomplish goal after goal and not really make any progress. If you focus only on moving from one step to the next and never look up at your destination, you may not notice you are walking around in circles.
We decided to make a distinction between dreams and goals in the Achieve Planner goal setting software system because the planning process is different for each of them. In general, goals require more detail than dreams, but they are also more shortsighted because they represent specific and focused targets.
Dream vs. Goal Example
A simple example may help to clarify the difference between dreams and goals. One of your dreams in the health & fitness area might look something like this: "I have a healthy and fit body that gives me energy and allows me to enjoy my life."
Based on the SMART formula, this would not be a very good goal statement. It is not specific enough, it's difficult to measure, it contains elements outside your control, and it doesn't have a clear timeline. Smarter goals derived from this dream statement might look something like this:
• I weigh a healthy XXX pounds
• I take 20-minute jogs 3 to 5 times a week
• I eat a reasonable and healthy diet
• I have eliminated my habit (take your pick) that negatively impacted my health
• I keep myself informed by researching a health related topic once a month
You may even want to break down the goal of eating a reasonable and healthy diet into smarter goals since it is not very specific or measurable. For instance, you might decide on the following goals:
• I eat 3 to 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day
• I limit deserts and pastries to no more than one serving a week
• I eat half a portion when going out and save the rest for later
• I limit myself to at most one soft-drink each day
As you can see, the goals are much more specific and focused than the dream that inspired them. However, having the dream allows you to keep sight of the big picture and periodically evaluate the goals to determine if they are still helping you move towards your dream.
If they are no longer working for you, or you find an even better alternative, you can change your strategy and try something else.
For example, you might get an invitation to join a basketball team with your colleagues at work. If that is something that you would really enjoy, the activity would more than make up for the 20-minute jogs.
Knowing that the basketball would promote your overall dream, not to mention adding social interactions and fun, you can replace the 20-minute jog goal with the basketball. Remember that goals are simply means to an end, and not the ends in and of themselves.
If you don't like the word "dream" for this type of target, use something else like objective or long-term goal instead
What's Next
What's Next
While goal setting is something that's been done successfully on paper for decades, a computer can do things more efficiently. By entering your goal setting routine into a goal setting software program such as Goal Pro, you will be reminded whenever Tasks need to be done, and continually coached into making your routine stronger and more effective. Goal setting programs can also graphically demonstrates your progress, which in itself can be motivating, and can print out your Daily Review, Success Stimulants, List of Daily Tasks, or whatever you personally feel is most motivating and effective.
If you're in need of tracking goals numerically (money, savings, sales, etc.) Goal Pro allows you to set Quota Goals, which it then monitors, tabulates, and prompts you to keep adding to.
As well as being efficient, our programs will save you time. It is fast, colorful, easy to use, and full of helpful features like the Scratchpad, which allows you to jot down any brilliant ideas you have, when you have them. These ideas can then easily be converted into Tasks, Major Goals, Success Stimulants, or whatever is applicable when you've got the time.
And Goal Pro will manage your goal setting routine for decades to come, without complaint, and without you ever having to pick up pencil or paper!
However you choose to do your goal setting, please choose to do it. We'd like to see more successful people!
To be continue...
By carleadbest
While goal setting is something that's been done successfully on paper for decades, a computer can do things more efficiently. By entering your goal setting routine into a goal setting software program such as Goal Pro, you will be reminded whenever Tasks need to be done, and continually coached into making your routine stronger and more effective. Goal setting programs can also graphically demonstrates your progress, which in itself can be motivating, and can print out your Daily Review, Success Stimulants, List of Daily Tasks, or whatever you personally feel is most motivating and effective.
If you're in need of tracking goals numerically (money, savings, sales, etc.) Goal Pro allows you to set Quota Goals, which it then monitors, tabulates, and prompts you to keep adding to.
As well as being efficient, our programs will save you time. It is fast, colorful, easy to use, and full of helpful features like the Scratchpad, which allows you to jot down any brilliant ideas you have, when you have them. These ideas can then easily be converted into Tasks, Major Goals, Success Stimulants, or whatever is applicable when you've got the time.
And Goal Pro will manage your goal setting routine for decades to come, without complaint, and without you ever having to pick up pencil or paper!
However you choose to do your goal setting, please choose to do it. We'd like to see more successful people!
To be continue...
By carleadbest
Weekly Reviewing Lowers Stress
Weekly Reviewing Lowers Stress
While an effective goal-setting routine combined with daily review, and attention, virtually guarantees reaching success, unfortunately a number of people find the pursuit of success to be extremely stressful. Some even abandoning their goal-setting routines, which they know can help them, simply because they can't handle the pressure they've put on themselves.
Does this have to be something that concerns you? Will you find the pursuit of success too stressful? Although we can't speak for everybody, we're positive that doing a weekly review in advance will allow you to reach the success you're planning, while also lowering your stress as well!
Everybody is busy these days, successful people often more than most. While you can't eliminate the unexpected, you can lower the chances of it affecting you and your goal-setting routine. You do this through a weekly review that is one part planning and one part troubleshooting.
This weekly review should be done before you start your work week, and include input from your family. You should begin the weekly review by going through everything you've entered into your goal-setting routine, giving particular attention to the Tasks you need to accomplish that week. While a daily review reminds you that the Tasks need doing, if you've not planned ahead for them they might surprise you, and that can be stressful. Particularly if you haven't set time aside for them.
By reviewing at the start of the week, you'll be better able to schedule and plan your Tasks, which lessens your stress, ensures successful Task completion, and even reduces the amount of time you'll be spending on each Task.
The family is the source of most people's enjoyment, but they can also be the source of most unexpected demands on your time. The time demands that are particularly stressful when you've go a lot planned. Although it won't entirely eliminate the unexpected, planning your week in advance with your family's input will lower the chances of something unexpected coming up, and also minimize its effect on you.
As you're scheduling you Tasks in advance, ask your family what demands they'll have on your time for the upcoming week, and then plan your Tasks around your family responsibilities, instead of organizing your Tasks first and being surprised, and unprepared, when something else comes up, or leaving your Tasks until you've got a free moment.
Remember though, always ask your family as positively as possible. You don't want them ever feeling concerned about making demands for your time. And it won't be a concern to you. With proper planning you'll have more than enough time for your job, your family, and for completing all your Tasks.
While an effective goal-setting routine combined with daily review, and attention, virtually guarantees reaching success, unfortunately a number of people find the pursuit of success to be extremely stressful. Some even abandoning their goal-setting routines, which they know can help them, simply because they can't handle the pressure they've put on themselves.
Does this have to be something that concerns you? Will you find the pursuit of success too stressful? Although we can't speak for everybody, we're positive that doing a weekly review in advance will allow you to reach the success you're planning, while also lowering your stress as well!
Everybody is busy these days, successful people often more than most. While you can't eliminate the unexpected, you can lower the chances of it affecting you and your goal-setting routine. You do this through a weekly review that is one part planning and one part troubleshooting.
This weekly review should be done before you start your work week, and include input from your family. You should begin the weekly review by going through everything you've entered into your goal-setting routine, giving particular attention to the Tasks you need to accomplish that week. While a daily review reminds you that the Tasks need doing, if you've not planned ahead for them they might surprise you, and that can be stressful. Particularly if you haven't set time aside for them.
By reviewing at the start of the week, you'll be better able to schedule and plan your Tasks, which lessens your stress, ensures successful Task completion, and even reduces the amount of time you'll be spending on each Task.
The family is the source of most people's enjoyment, but they can also be the source of most unexpected demands on your time. The time demands that are particularly stressful when you've go a lot planned. Although it won't entirely eliminate the unexpected, planning your week in advance with your family's input will lower the chances of something unexpected coming up, and also minimize its effect on you.
As you're scheduling you Tasks in advance, ask your family what demands they'll have on your time for the upcoming week, and then plan your Tasks around your family responsibilities, instead of organizing your Tasks first and being surprised, and unprepared, when something else comes up, or leaving your Tasks until you've got a free moment.
Remember though, always ask your family as positively as possible. You don't want them ever feeling concerned about making demands for your time. And it won't be a concern to you. With proper planning you'll have more than enough time for your job, your family, and for completing all your Tasks.
Daily Goal Review Equals Success
Daily Goal Review Equals Success
When a person has listed their Objectives, Reasons, Major Goals, Tasks, and various Success Stimulants, they have made a real commitment towards success. Success, however, as we've said, doesn't just come from writing something down. You have to act--doing what you have to, when you have to. You must also develop the success habit of regularly reviewing all aspects of what we call your goal-setting routine. And it has to become routine.
Assuming you've set some substantial Objectives, you should get in the routine of reviewing your goal setting on a daily basis. Don't worry, the review shouldn't take long.
First, check what Tasks need to be done that day, and organize enough time for doing them. Then, check what Tasks are required for the next few days in case you'll have to do some planning for them today. You should then give consideration as to what other Tasks or Major Goals you might need to write, to keep propelling you towards your Objectives.
Remember, you should always have enough Tasks on your plate to keep you going forward, without wearing yourself out. If you don't, it will either mean not achieving your Major Goals and Objectives, or perhaps that you've sold yourself short by setting Objectives and Major Goals that aren't dynamic enough for you.
You should also try to review your Reasons and Success Questions at least once a day as well. These will keep your mind on what it is you are after and why. When you've got time, or when you need the inspiration, read your Success Stimulants and your Success Creed. It is also a good idea to have a look back, from time to time, at the Tasks you've recently completed. There is nothing more inspiring, or rewarding, than to be reminded of the progress you've already made.
When you've done your review, make sure to complete all the Tasks you're supposed to. Check them off when finished, and write down any new ones that you've come up with. Don't worry if you can't foresee many Major Goals or Tasks when you begin a goal-setting routine, they'll become clearer as you work towards your initial Major Goals, as it's much easier to see what needs to be done once you've started. You'll even, although it might seem surprising now, relish setting more Major Goals and Tasks. And that's because success is pleasantly addicting. Once you've had a little taste for it, you'll want more because you enjoy it, and because you know you can get more.
When a person has listed their Objectives, Reasons, Major Goals, Tasks, and various Success Stimulants, they have made a real commitment towards success. Success, however, as we've said, doesn't just come from writing something down. You have to act--doing what you have to, when you have to. You must also develop the success habit of regularly reviewing all aspects of what we call your goal-setting routine. And it has to become routine.
Assuming you've set some substantial Objectives, you should get in the routine of reviewing your goal setting on a daily basis. Don't worry, the review shouldn't take long.
First, check what Tasks need to be done that day, and organize enough time for doing them. Then, check what Tasks are required for the next few days in case you'll have to do some planning for them today. You should then give consideration as to what other Tasks or Major Goals you might need to write, to keep propelling you towards your Objectives.
Remember, you should always have enough Tasks on your plate to keep you going forward, without wearing yourself out. If you don't, it will either mean not achieving your Major Goals and Objectives, or perhaps that you've sold yourself short by setting Objectives and Major Goals that aren't dynamic enough for you.
You should also try to review your Reasons and Success Questions at least once a day as well. These will keep your mind on what it is you are after and why. When you've got time, or when you need the inspiration, read your Success Stimulants and your Success Creed. It is also a good idea to have a look back, from time to time, at the Tasks you've recently completed. There is nothing more inspiring, or rewarding, than to be reminded of the progress you've already made.
When you've done your review, make sure to complete all the Tasks you're supposed to. Check them off when finished, and write down any new ones that you've come up with. Don't worry if you can't foresee many Major Goals or Tasks when you begin a goal-setting routine, they'll become clearer as you work towards your initial Major Goals, as it's much easier to see what needs to be done once you've started. You'll even, although it might seem surprising now, relish setting more Major Goals and Tasks. And that's because success is pleasantly addicting. Once you've had a little taste for it, you'll want more because you enjoy it, and because you know you can get more.
Writing Your Success Stimulants
Writing Your Success Stimulants
Success Stimulants are motivating statements that, like Success Questions, help keep your mind focused on achievement.
These Success Stimulants can be phrases, biblical passages, inspirational ideas, or positive thoughts you've read somewhere, or came up with yourself. Wherever you find your Success Stimulants, they must be capable of motivating you into action. Action that leads towards your goals.
Many successful people post inspirational messages in their workplace, and read them when they find their mind wandering away from the achievement mindset they want. While this is a great idea, you should also write your personal Success Stimulants down on blank business cards, for carrying with you to review whenever you feel the need for a little inspiration.
The following are a few Success Stimulants we like:
• Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.
• It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.
• Happiness is not a destination. It's a method of life.
• You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.
• If you want to improve your odds, then improve yourself.
While it isn't something you write down, if your Objective is something material, post a photo of the item where you've written your Objective, or somewhere you're likely to see the picture regularly. As a visual image can be incredibly motivating, we recommend using a picture of your Objective just as you would a regular Success Stimulant.
Careful review of your Success Stimulants, combined with regular consideration of your Success Questions and Success Creed, will not only help to inspire you, but help you develop success habits as well. Success habits that keep your mind on success, and your goal-setting efforts on the path to success.
Success Stimulants are motivating statements that, like Success Questions, help keep your mind focused on achievement.
These Success Stimulants can be phrases, biblical passages, inspirational ideas, or positive thoughts you've read somewhere, or came up with yourself. Wherever you find your Success Stimulants, they must be capable of motivating you into action. Action that leads towards your goals.
Many successful people post inspirational messages in their workplace, and read them when they find their mind wandering away from the achievement mindset they want. While this is a great idea, you should also write your personal Success Stimulants down on blank business cards, for carrying with you to review whenever you feel the need for a little inspiration.
The following are a few Success Stimulants we like:
• Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.
• It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.
• Happiness is not a destination. It's a method of life.
• You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.
• If you want to improve your odds, then improve yourself.
While it isn't something you write down, if your Objective is something material, post a photo of the item where you've written your Objective, or somewhere you're likely to see the picture regularly. As a visual image can be incredibly motivating, we recommend using a picture of your Objective just as you would a regular Success Stimulant.
Careful review of your Success Stimulants, combined with regular consideration of your Success Questions and Success Creed, will not only help to inspire you, but help you develop success habits as well. Success habits that keep your mind on success, and your goal-setting efforts on the path to success.
Writing Your Success Questions
Writing Your Success Questions
Success Questions are exceedingly powerful, and should be used continuously throughout the life of your goal-setting routine.
These questions effectively control the focus of your thoughts, which should, at all times, be directed towards the goals you've set for yourself. They work by overriding your negative internal questions, so that your subconscious is working with you instead of against you. They will get your subconscious back on the side of success.
Success Questions are simply positive questions you write down to regularly ask yourself whenever you've got spare time, when you start doubting yourself, or anytime you feel the need to focus your thoughts. They should be relevant to your goal-setting routine, and directly related to particular goals you're working on. The following are examples of positive Success Questions:
• What is the most important thing I could do right now?
• What should I be doing at this moment to increase my prospects for making a sale?
• What can I do today to ensure I meet my investment goals?
• How can I earn $1 Million as a successful Realtor by my 40th birthday?
• Who should I talk to today that will help me learn everything about bonds?
Remember not only to make your Success Questions as positive as possible, but to write them down where you can regularly read them to yourself. And then, do what is necessary to answer them.
Success Questions are exceedingly powerful, and should be used continuously throughout the life of your goal-setting routine.
These questions effectively control the focus of your thoughts, which should, at all times, be directed towards the goals you've set for yourself. They work by overriding your negative internal questions, so that your subconscious is working with you instead of against you. They will get your subconscious back on the side of success.
Success Questions are simply positive questions you write down to regularly ask yourself whenever you've got spare time, when you start doubting yourself, or anytime you feel the need to focus your thoughts. They should be relevant to your goal-setting routine, and directly related to particular goals you're working on. The following are examples of positive Success Questions:
• What is the most important thing I could do right now?
• What should I be doing at this moment to increase my prospects for making a sale?
• What can I do today to ensure I meet my investment goals?
• How can I earn $1 Million as a successful Realtor by my 40th birthday?
• Who should I talk to today that will help me learn everything about bonds?
Remember not only to make your Success Questions as positive as possible, but to write them down where you can regularly read them to yourself. And then, do what is necessary to answer them.
Writing Your Success Creed
Writing Your Success Creed
Your Success Creed is a list of those values, principles, and beliefs that are inherent and important to you.
Having a Success Creed comes in handy as you are confronted with choices while working towards your goals. When a tough decision presents itself, making the choice that best reflects your values, the values you've written in your Success Creed, will in almost every case prove to be the best choice. A Success Creed, while helping to motivate you, reflects the limits you will place on your own ambitions.
Experts believe success comes easier to those who really know who they are. You should, therefore, write down your Success Creed somewhere it can be easily reviewed. Make it as clear, direct, durable, decisive, and positive as you can. And it must be based on beliefs you consider to be strong. Beliefs that form the foundation of who you really are.
Regularly reviewing your Success Creed will help motivate you. You will feel better about yourself and more positive about your prospects for achievement. After reviewing your Success Creed, you should feel proud about your efforts in striving for success, because you'll feel confident with knowing you deserve it.
Your Success Creed is a list of those values, principles, and beliefs that are inherent and important to you.
Having a Success Creed comes in handy as you are confronted with choices while working towards your goals. When a tough decision presents itself, making the choice that best reflects your values, the values you've written in your Success Creed, will in almost every case prove to be the best choice. A Success Creed, while helping to motivate you, reflects the limits you will place on your own ambitions.
Experts believe success comes easier to those who really know who they are. You should, therefore, write down your Success Creed somewhere it can be easily reviewed. Make it as clear, direct, durable, decisive, and positive as you can. And it must be based on beliefs you consider to be strong. Beliefs that form the foundation of who you really are.
Regularly reviewing your Success Creed will help motivate you. You will feel better about yourself and more positive about your prospects for achievement. After reviewing your Success Creed, you should feel proud about your efforts in striving for success, because you'll feel confident with knowing you deserve it.
What Are Success Enhancements
What Are Success Enhancements
There are really two key elements to achieving success. The first, as we've described, is the practice of goal setting which is simply setting Objectives, developing compelling Reasons for wanting the Objectives, breaking the Objectives down into not so overwhelming Major Goals, and finally, breaking the Major Goals down into easy-to-accomplish Tasks.
The second key element involves training your mind to think positively.
In order to accomplish what you set out to do, you must develop an achievement mindset. While reviewing your Reasons, and checking off completed Tasks, are two things you should be doing to keep your mind focused on the success you desire, there are three other Success Enhancements we recommend you become familiar with: Success Questions, Success Stimulants, and Your Success Creed.
Constantly reviewing these Success Enhancements will keep your mind better focused on what you wish to achieve, and also motivate you into forging ahead with your goal-setting efforts. When you are able to keep your mind on success, you will be virtually certain to reach that success.
There are really two key elements to achieving success. The first, as we've described, is the practice of goal setting which is simply setting Objectives, developing compelling Reasons for wanting the Objectives, breaking the Objectives down into not so overwhelming Major Goals, and finally, breaking the Major Goals down into easy-to-accomplish Tasks.
The second key element involves training your mind to think positively.
In order to accomplish what you set out to do, you must develop an achievement mindset. While reviewing your Reasons, and checking off completed Tasks, are two things you should be doing to keep your mind focused on the success you desire, there are three other Success Enhancements we recommend you become familiar with: Success Questions, Success Stimulants, and Your Success Creed.
Constantly reviewing these Success Enhancements will keep your mind better focused on what you wish to achieve, and also motivate you into forging ahead with your goal-setting efforts. When you are able to keep your mind on success, you will be virtually certain to reach that success.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Defining Your Goal Tasks
Defining Your Goal Tasks
Just as we break large or long-term Objectives down into smaller supporting elements called Major Goals, we further break our Major Goals down into even smaller elements. These small elements are called Tasks, and accomplishing them is what makes the practice of goal setting really work.
Tasks are usually the simple things you must do to accomplish a Major Goal. If you've set a Major Goal, for example, to have a complete understanding about investing in bonds by next June 15th, you will have to accomplish a number of Tasks for acquiring that knowledge. Choosing to go to the library and get a book on bonds would be a Task. Reading the book for one hour each this Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, could be three separate Tasks. Visiting the Investors Skills' website for their bond information, would be another Task. Calling your buddy who's had success in the bond market would be a Task as well. All of these Tasks, which should be written down on the same paper as the Major Goal they support, must be set with an Accomplishment Date, for if you procrastinate calling your buddy, never get around to completely reading the book, or don't even bother checking the website, you won't reach your Major Goal of learning about bonds, or won't meet it by its Accomplishment Date. And this, unfortunately for you, will turn your $5 Million by retirement Objective back into the pipe dream it didn't have to be.
By focusing your mind on the easy-to-accomplish Tasks, and completing those Tasks, you'll be making great progress towards your Major Goals and Objectives without feeling overwhelmed. Make sure to write down all Tasks, even those that take only minutes to complete. Then, when they're accomplished, check them off. As more and more Tasks are successfully accomplished, and checked off, you'll find yourself becoming more encouraged, and more confident about your abilities. The more you believe, the more you will strive to accomplish, and the more you will enjoy completing even more Tasks. And the more Tasks you complete on time, the closer you'll be to that success you have real Reasons for wanting. The success you originally defined as your Objectives.
To be continue...
By Carleadbest
Just as we break large or long-term Objectives down into smaller supporting elements called Major Goals, we further break our Major Goals down into even smaller elements. These small elements are called Tasks, and accomplishing them is what makes the practice of goal setting really work.
Tasks are usually the simple things you must do to accomplish a Major Goal. If you've set a Major Goal, for example, to have a complete understanding about investing in bonds by next June 15th, you will have to accomplish a number of Tasks for acquiring that knowledge. Choosing to go to the library and get a book on bonds would be a Task. Reading the book for one hour each this Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, could be three separate Tasks. Visiting the Investors Skills' website for their bond information, would be another Task. Calling your buddy who's had success in the bond market would be a Task as well. All of these Tasks, which should be written down on the same paper as the Major Goal they support, must be set with an Accomplishment Date, for if you procrastinate calling your buddy, never get around to completely reading the book, or don't even bother checking the website, you won't reach your Major Goal of learning about bonds, or won't meet it by its Accomplishment Date. And this, unfortunately for you, will turn your $5 Million by retirement Objective back into the pipe dream it didn't have to be.
By focusing your mind on the easy-to-accomplish Tasks, and completing those Tasks, you'll be making great progress towards your Major Goals and Objectives without feeling overwhelmed. Make sure to write down all Tasks, even those that take only minutes to complete. Then, when they're accomplished, check them off. As more and more Tasks are successfully accomplished, and checked off, you'll find yourself becoming more encouraged, and more confident about your abilities. The more you believe, the more you will strive to accomplish, and the more you will enjoy completing even more Tasks. And the more Tasks you complete on time, the closer you'll be to that success you have real Reasons for wanting. The success you originally defined as your Objectives.
To be continue...
By Carleadbest
Defining Your Major Goals
Defining Your Major Goals
Once you've written an Objective, and your compelling Reasons for achieving it, you must start planning the route towards the Objective. And the first step is to set Major Goals supporting the Objective.
Say you've set an Objective for having $5 Million by retirement (which could be 20+ years away). First, you must figure out how you can achieve that. Do you need to learn more about investing? Will you have to start saving $500 a week? Do you have to get a new job? Will you have to more actively watch your existing investments? Whatever needs doing, to progress towards your Objective, will become your Major Goals.
Major Goals can be specific or broad in scope, but they must always lead directly towards the Objective they support. They must also always have an Accomplishment Date. A date you plan to accomplish the Major Goal by, a realistic date that not only motivates you into action but also ensures progress towards your Objective. Usually you will have many Major Goals at a time, and in the case of a real long-term Objective, some of the Major Goals will not be clear at the start, with others coming about when certain existing Major Goals are achieved.
Always write your Major Goals and their Accomplishment Dates down on the paper you've written the Objective on (after leaving some room to keep expanding on your Reasons). Never make your Major Goals too long or too difficult as you don't want to be overwhelmed by them. If a Major Goal is long-term (as in taking a four-year degree towards a larger Career Objective), break it down into smaller parts (each year for example), and revise and/or renew them when accomplished. By making sufficient and reasonable Major Goals, and always accomplishing them on time, you'll find yourself making great progress towards Objectives which may look intimidating, or even impossible, by themselves.
Once you've written an Objective, and your compelling Reasons for achieving it, you must start planning the route towards the Objective. And the first step is to set Major Goals supporting the Objective.
Say you've set an Objective for having $5 Million by retirement (which could be 20+ years away). First, you must figure out how you can achieve that. Do you need to learn more about investing? Will you have to start saving $500 a week? Do you have to get a new job? Will you have to more actively watch your existing investments? Whatever needs doing, to progress towards your Objective, will become your Major Goals.
Major Goals can be specific or broad in scope, but they must always lead directly towards the Objective they support. They must also always have an Accomplishment Date. A date you plan to accomplish the Major Goal by, a realistic date that not only motivates you into action but also ensures progress towards your Objective. Usually you will have many Major Goals at a time, and in the case of a real long-term Objective, some of the Major Goals will not be clear at the start, with others coming about when certain existing Major Goals are achieved.
Always write your Major Goals and their Accomplishment Dates down on the paper you've written the Objective on (after leaving some room to keep expanding on your Reasons). Never make your Major Goals too long or too difficult as you don't want to be overwhelmed by them. If a Major Goal is long-term (as in taking a four-year degree towards a larger Career Objective), break it down into smaller parts (each year for example), and revise and/or renew them when accomplished. By making sufficient and reasonable Major Goals, and always accomplishing them on time, you'll find yourself making great progress towards Objectives which may look intimidating, or even impossible, by themselves.
Defining The Reasons For Your Goals
Defining The Reasons For Your Goals
On the pieces of paper below where you've written each Objective, write your Reasons. These aren't the reasons you have for goal setting, but the Reasons you have for achieving that Objective.
There is an important distinction between these two different "reasons," as having clear and compelling Reasons for achieving a particular Objective will give you reason enough for undertaking goal setting.
In studying goal setting, and the keys to success, it was discovered that many people fail to achieve success simply because they lack clear Reasons for doing so. Don't let this hold up your success. Give serious thought as to why you want to achieve an Objective, and write down what you've decided. Do you want $5 million at retirement? Why? You say you want to live in a mansion? Why? The more compelling your Reasons are, the greater your chances will be for meeting your Objectives. Conversely, if you can't come up with "good" Reasons, you might as well set another Objective, as this one won't be achieved.
Remember, every person has different Reasons for wanting something. What one person thinks is vain or stupid, another will think is worthy or great. You must come up with Reasons that are honest, strong, and motivating to you. Write them down below the appropriate Objective, leaving plenty of space to expand or add to them. The more Reasons you have the better. Just make sure they really represent the Reasons you have for desiring something. By constantly reviewing your Reasons, you will find yourself becoming more motivated for striving towards your Objectives.
On the pieces of paper below where you've written each Objective, write your Reasons. These aren't the reasons you have for goal setting, but the Reasons you have for achieving that Objective.
There is an important distinction between these two different "reasons," as having clear and compelling Reasons for achieving a particular Objective will give you reason enough for undertaking goal setting.
In studying goal setting, and the keys to success, it was discovered that many people fail to achieve success simply because they lack clear Reasons for doing so. Don't let this hold up your success. Give serious thought as to why you want to achieve an Objective, and write down what you've decided. Do you want $5 million at retirement? Why? You say you want to live in a mansion? Why? The more compelling your Reasons are, the greater your chances will be for meeting your Objectives. Conversely, if you can't come up with "good" Reasons, you might as well set another Objective, as this one won't be achieved.
Remember, every person has different Reasons for wanting something. What one person thinks is vain or stupid, another will think is worthy or great. You must come up with Reasons that are honest, strong, and motivating to you. Write them down below the appropriate Objective, leaving plenty of space to expand or add to them. The more Reasons you have the better. Just make sure they really represent the Reasons you have for desiring something. By constantly reviewing your Reasons, you will find yourself becoming more motivated for striving towards your Objectives.
Defining Your Goal Objectives
Defining Your Goal Objectives
In May of 1961, John F. Kennedy pledged that America would land a man on the moon "before the decade is out."
It was a brave and bold objective, perhaps one of the greatest of all time. Just making the statement, however, did not lead to its achievement. Putting a man on the moon required immense amounts of intelligence, research, planning, money, people, risk, and commitment, amongst other things. The most important step, though, was not Neil Armstrong's, it was John F. Kennedy's setting of the Objective.
We define the Objective as the final goal. It is what all your efforts are going to lead to. In Investing, for example, it could be to have $5 million by retirement. While some people may want to only have an Objective in one area of their life, most successful people set Objectives in many areas. Career, Family, Financial, Health, Knowledge, Material, Retirement, and Spiritual are just some categories you should set Objectives in. Objectives are generally long-term, sometimes even lifetime, although they don't have to be. They do have to be important to you, and something you feel is worth pursuing, or establishing a goal-setting routine wouldn't be worth doing.
In starting a goal-setting routine, we recommend you set Objectives in one or two areas to begin. As you start realizing small successes, you'll probably add more Objectives as you will want to be successful in all areas of your life. Take a separate piece of paper for every Objective. Clearly write the Objective, and the date you want to achieve the Objective by. Remember, don't hold back. Make your Objectives as large as you can realistically realize.
In May of 1961, John F. Kennedy pledged that America would land a man on the moon "before the decade is out."
It was a brave and bold objective, perhaps one of the greatest of all time. Just making the statement, however, did not lead to its achievement. Putting a man on the moon required immense amounts of intelligence, research, planning, money, people, risk, and commitment, amongst other things. The most important step, though, was not Neil Armstrong's, it was John F. Kennedy's setting of the Objective.
We define the Objective as the final goal. It is what all your efforts are going to lead to. In Investing, for example, it could be to have $5 million by retirement. While some people may want to only have an Objective in one area of their life, most successful people set Objectives in many areas. Career, Family, Financial, Health, Knowledge, Material, Retirement, and Spiritual are just some categories you should set Objectives in. Objectives are generally long-term, sometimes even lifetime, although they don't have to be. They do have to be important to you, and something you feel is worth pursuing, or establishing a goal-setting routine wouldn't be worth doing.
In starting a goal-setting routine, we recommend you set Objectives in one or two areas to begin. As you start realizing small successes, you'll probably add more Objectives as you will want to be successful in all areas of your life. Take a separate piece of paper for every Objective. Clearly write the Objective, and the date you want to achieve the Objective by. Remember, don't hold back. Make your Objectives as large as you can realistically realize.
How Do You Start Goal Setting
How Do You Start Goal Setting
You can start by getting it into your mind that you deserve success, and that success is something you can achieve. If you believe you can reach what you define as success, and are prepared to determine the path towards that success, you will succeed.
If you don't believe you can reach a goal, it will remain a pipe dream as much as if you didn't bother planning the route to the goal, or do what's required to get there.
If you are willing to accept that you can be successful, that you'll enjoy being successful, and if you are willing to establish and work on an exhilarating, enjoyable, and rewarding path to your goals, then we're confident you'll reach those goals.
So, grab pencil and paper and let us help you draw the map to your success.
You can start by getting it into your mind that you deserve success, and that success is something you can achieve. If you believe you can reach what you define as success, and are prepared to determine the path towards that success, you will succeed.
If you don't believe you can reach a goal, it will remain a pipe dream as much as if you didn't bother planning the route to the goal, or do what's required to get there.
If you are willing to accept that you can be successful, that you'll enjoy being successful, and if you are willing to establish and work on an exhilarating, enjoyable, and rewarding path to your goals, then we're confident you'll reach those goals.
So, grab pencil and paper and let us help you draw the map to your success.
Why Should You Set Goals
Why Should You Set Goals
Saying you're going to have $5 million by retirement is not goal setting. Although it might sound like you have a goal, not developing a realistic path toward fulfilling it will, unfortunately, turn your supposed goal into what it really is--a pipe dream. And pipe dreams are rarely realized. Goals, however, when properly set can usually be met. Through learning, and practicing, the step-by-step routine of goal setting, your pipe dreams of today will become tomorrow's reality.
Goal setting is the term commonly given for the process of setting and working towards specific, defined goals. Pretty simple really. What is difficult, however, is getting people to sit down and actually do it, even though it fits with human nature. When we want to go on a trip, we look at a map and plan our route. If we get lost, we recheck our map. When we want to build a model, we orderly follow the steps. When the lawn needs cutting, we set aside the time, put on our lawn-cutting clothes, clear the lawn of hoses etc., go to the mower, start it up, and proceed to cut the lawn in a pattern we've previously determined is best. When all is done, our human nature wins out: we reach our destination, the model is correctly built, and the lawn gets cut.
By learning the skills of goal setting, developing success habits, and maintaining a goal-setting routine you will have the map to success. A map that will guide you straight to the achievement of all the goals you desire and deserve.
Saying you're going to have $5 million by retirement is not goal setting. Although it might sound like you have a goal, not developing a realistic path toward fulfilling it will, unfortunately, turn your supposed goal into what it really is--a pipe dream. And pipe dreams are rarely realized. Goals, however, when properly set can usually be met. Through learning, and practicing, the step-by-step routine of goal setting, your pipe dreams of today will become tomorrow's reality.
Goal setting is the term commonly given for the process of setting and working towards specific, defined goals. Pretty simple really. What is difficult, however, is getting people to sit down and actually do it, even though it fits with human nature. When we want to go on a trip, we look at a map and plan our route. If we get lost, we recheck our map. When we want to build a model, we orderly follow the steps. When the lawn needs cutting, we set aside the time, put on our lawn-cutting clothes, clear the lawn of hoses etc., go to the mower, start it up, and proceed to cut the lawn in a pattern we've previously determined is best. When all is done, our human nature wins out: we reach our destination, the model is correctly built, and the lawn gets cut.
By learning the skills of goal setting, developing success habits, and maintaining a goal-setting routine you will have the map to success. A map that will guide you straight to the achievement of all the goals you desire and deserve.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
