Luck is a verb.

There are many variables in creating a successful business, but for now we're just going to focus on getting to know your unique point of difference (UPD), otherwise known as your unique selling point (USP).

Your USP is that one thing that your business does that is different to any other business in your industry.  When faced with this question, the typical answer is "we have the best customer service". How many times have you seen this used in it's variations.

"We're committed to our customers"

"Our customers come first"

"We serve our customers better"

They're all nice statements, but they have two major shortfalls.

1. They're general and can apply to any business in any industry

2. They don't tell the customer WHY they should do business with you (instead of the shop down the road who also has the best customer service!)  If you recall from my previous post on developing a marketing plan WHY is the most important question of all.

The issue with defining your USP is that it can be difficult to work out, so instead gets put in the too hard basket and forgotten. But it's absolutely necessary to know, as your USP should shape all of your marketing efforts and also your company culture. 

People need to know why they should do business with you. And they want to know how they will feel doing business with you.

Great, so let's define your USP now.  This process is surprisingly quick and easy. You just have to answer the following three, yes only three, questions.  I've even helped you out by putting my own answers in.  The aim is to be as simplistic as possible.

1. Choose 1 word that describes the type of service or product your business offers.  My answer - websites

2. Choose 1 word that has been used regularly by your customers to describe your customer service.

My answer - Wow

3. What result do you deliver that inspires this comment? (Keep it to one sentence)

My answer - Our websites look amazing and are easy to use.

So now that you've got your three answers, you can form a statement that is indicative of your USP.  Here's my example.

We wow our clients with websites that look amazing and are easy to use. 

That is a really basic statement, but it's straight to the point and is easily understood by anyone who reads it.  By following this formula, you too can break your business down into a one liner that defines you and why your customers should do business with you.  You can even use it as your elevator pitch.

A couple of tips if you get stuck with one word.

1. You may be tempted to put down two or three words or write more then one sentence in answering.  That's fine. I did the same thing when I wrote mine.  Be prepared to cull it though. By sticking with the one choice, you get rid of all the unnecessary information.

2. If you offer two or more services within your business, choose one umbrella word. If you can't get it to work, you may have to break your business into compartments and have separate USPs for each.  If you can't define your business in this simple structure, chances are your customers can't relate to it either.

3. Stay away from industry jargon.  It only means something to you and people in your industry. Keeping your word choice simple allows customers to identify with you instantly.

Now that you have yours, put it on your website for all to see. Tweet it, facebook it, make a pretty sign out of it and put it around your office as a constant reminder to you, your employees and your customers.

So it's really as simple as that. You have a firm idea of what you do and why people should do business with you.  Now that you've got it, you can hone it even more.  We might get into that another time, though.

If you're in the business of business, you need a marketing plan. There are plenty of options available to us to create a top notch one. Simply google, "marketing plan" and you get instant access to 655 million results. Enter "marketing plan template" and there's 18.9 million.  All at your finger tips.  Alternatively you can pay a marketing expert to create one for you. This is certainly a viable option, because these guys know the desirable methodologies and practices to infiltrate the marketplace. And they know all the right buzz words too. But if you're a start up or entrepreneur, it's likely you don't have the sort of money needed to access such invaluable strategic direction, so you could possibly create your own. If you've already googled marketing plan, you could add your industry or service to the end of that, for example "marketing plan fashion".  114 million results. All you need to do is find the plan that you identify with, change a few words, such as the name of the business, and voila! Marketing plan.

I'm sure you can identify with any one of these options. And I'm sure I can guess where that marketing plan is right now and could estimate the number of times you've looked at it in the past year.  If you're like me, it's filed really well and if you knew where you put it, you might have looked at it at least once. 

Something I've discovered in my own quest to find a marketing plan that works for me, is that a long, convoluted plan full of jargon and buzz words is ineffective in application. Such a plan may be necessary if you're applying for a business loan or seeking investors, beyond that though, it just gets stuffed in the bottom of a drawer.  

So what might be deemed the correct way to write a plan, may not be the most effective plan to follow and apply.  If you can't do those two things, then the plan is useless and truly deserves to be stuffed in the bottom of a drawer.

Good to know, right?  Yes, but what does make an effective marketing plan?

1. You need a plan that is simple. One page. Easy to write, easy to follow, easy to apply.

2. Your plan needs to be actionable - it's a practical exercise, not a theoretical report.  I called my marketing plan a "Marketing Action Plan" or MAP - because we all love acronyms and this one tells me where I want to go.

3. Your plan needs to be transferable. Anyone should be able to read it, follow it and apply it.

I believe these three rules can be universally applied to any sort of plan - business, family, sporting. Whatever. 

So what distinguishes a marketing plan then? The purpose of a marketing plan is to develop actionable steps to talk to and engage your customers with the ultimate goal of selling your product or service to them.  The MAP (just had to use that!) that I've created for my own business is included in this post. I believe it's the most simple, effective and actionable plan that I've ever used, and I believe you will benefit from it as well. Furthermore, not only can you use this for your long term planning, it's ideal for planning your weekly marketing efforts, in creating a print ad, blog post, EDM, seminar, webinar, anything that's marketing-related.

I hope you can download that.  If not, I'm sure you will easily be able to create your own.

You may recall learning of the 5Ws (and 1H) while at school. This technique forms the premise of writing stories, essays and is applied in journalism and even law enforcement. It's fairly effective.  Try it for your marketing and see if it doesn't work.

Let me break down each section and the reason I've placed each in it's specific place.

WHY. This is in the first box as this is the most important aspect of your plan. It defines the purpose. If you don't know the purpose, then there probably isn't one. Start with Why everytime. http://www.startwithwhy.com/ Also, starting with WHY establishes the outcome you're after. The same as you need a purpose, you need an outcome or a result, because you need to know where you're going.  Be specific with this.

WHO. Second most important element of your plan. Who is your audience, demographic, psychographic? You have to know who you're talking to. By knowing this you're able to set the tone for your marketing efforts. Really define your audience - consider things like location, earnings, education, hobbies, family status, etc. If you're in the business of selling female surfwear, 18-50 year old females is too broad a market. There's a big difference in the lifestyle habits and interests of an 18 year old woman compared with her 50 year old mum, for example. If you want to set a trend or have your product ingrained in people's lifestyle, define your market. The iPhone would never have been as successful as it is if Apple marketed this to 40-55 year old men (despite this demographic having a higher disposable income than their 18 year old counterparts).

WHERE. This is the medium/s you will use to reach your target audience. It may be via blog, twitter, facebook, youtube,  a billboard on the highway, networking events, seminar, webinar, print ad. If you're using this as your yearly marketing plan, it's ideal to identify any of the mediums you expect to use and allocate your yearly marketing budget accordingly.  If you choose to use this plan before you create each marketing piece, you can then narrow it down to the specific medium you'll be using at the time. Knowing where you will be focusing your marketing efforts will help you determine the rest of your plan.

HOW. This is the most effective way to convey your message. Once you know the medium/s, consider the best form of communication for your business to use. It could be one of or a combination of words, images, photography, video, face-to-face, etc.  If you're a one man show, really capitalise on your strengths. It's important to be resourceful and use what is readily available to you.

WHEN. For a long-term plan, this is a timeline. For a specific marketing exercise, this is a designated day and time. You need to know the when so you can meet you customers when their hot for your product and so you can keep yourself and your business accountable.

WHAT. This is your message. What do you want to say to your customers? What can you say that will encourage them to engage with you? Again, if this is your long-term or yearly marketing plan, your message will be different then if it's a specific marketing exercise. Your overarching message is essentially your UPI (unique point of difference), the reason people want to do business with you. This will be the core of all your marketing, but will need to be expanded upon for each marketing exercise.

There you have a Marketing Action Plan. A MAP that will take you where you want to go. Enjoy.

Clearly you can see it's got something to do with success.  So that's a given.  To clarify though, I am on my path to what I deem successful and I am writing this blog to help me and others just like me to get there. 

This blog is about developing habits, thought patterns and behaviours that inevitably lead to success. We will provide tools for business start ups. We will showcase experiences of absolute hardship and real life accounts of how to overcome these.  We will discuss entrepreneurship. We will look at methods of managing life and business.  We will provide valuable insights into dealing with creative block. We will give you the encouragement you need to keep doing the things you need to do, even though you have no desire or inspiration.  We will be your strength when change is necessary but daunting.

This blog is for those venturing into entrepreneurship, or for those who simply strive for greatness.  So regardless of your circumstances, your dreams or your definition of success, we believe you will glean the wisdom, tools and resources you are searching for to help you on your path to success.

SOAR.  A great attitude to business and life.

Solutions

Ownership

Accountability

Responsibility

Don't choose the VERB way of life.

Victim

Entitled

Rescue

Blame