Finding common ground between your desires and those of your customers is the sweet spot, the unique value proposition that makes you stand out from your competitors.

Your internal mission and vision statements may set the platform for how you run your business, but to be effective at selling your wares and standing apart from your rivals, you must go further. You must communicate your company’s differentiating traits in a way that grabs your customer by the lapels, is benefit-oriented, and prompts them to take action.

How do you create a message that prompts people to act?

• Make it personal. Speak to an audience of one.
• Make the message compelling, timely and relevant.
• Provide true value outside of price and availability.
• Speak your prospects’ language. “Industry speak” will leave readers in the cold.
• Find your focus. Create a distinctive promise.
• Be truthful. Be the answer to something your prospect cares about.
• Be conversational. Tell a story.

1. Success is a skill.  “Successful people rarely confuse a can-do attitude with a smart plan. But they realize that one without the other is unlikely to get you very far.”
2. Be in it for the long haul.  “Listen … to your real customers, to your vision and make something for the long haul. Because that’s how long it’s going to take…”
3. Small is the new big.  Focus on relevant, specialized, and unique.
4. It’s the FREE PRIZE INSIDE.  “The thing that makes something remarkable isn’t usually directly related to the original purpose of the product or service. It’s the FREE PRIZE INSIDE, the extra stuff, the stylish bonus, the design or the remarkable service or pricing that makes people talk about it and spread the word.”
5. Don’t wait for perfect.  “Waiting for perfect is never as smart as making progress.”
6. The game of marketing has changed.  “You can’t fool all the people, not even most of the time.  And people, once unfooled, talk about the experience.”  “If you are marketing from a fairly static annual budget, you’re viewing marketing as an expense.  Good marketers realize that it is an investment.”
7. Have a bunch of good runs before the sun sets.  “Life is like skiing.  Just like skiing, the goal is not to get to the bottom of the hill. It’s to have a bunch of good runs before the sun sets.”