Of all the acronyms that are tossed around in business, the USP may be the most important and least attended to. Your USP or Unique Selling Proposition is what sets you apart from your competitors and convinces people to patronize your company.

A USP condenses the objective of your positioning strategy into a brief, catchy phrase. When creating your USP, use short punchy action words to tells the story of your business. Think "Just Do It," "Got Milk," and "Because you're worth it."

USPs are essentially slogans that reinforce a company's brand and identity. Additionally, the USP enables customers to enhance their self-image by buying their product. Let's look at how some car manufacturers use their USP to appeal to buyers: BMW tries to eliminate the competition by offering "the ultimate driving machine." Jaguar may take issue with that as they are "the perfect blend of art and machine." Another car maker competes with their own past when they claim that they are "not your father's Oldsmobile." Volkswagen appeals to your ego by simple stating "drivers wanted." Nissan's USP is all inclusive, expressing that they are "built for the human race." Finally, Toyota's "everyday" is simplicity itself.

A strong USP is every bit as powerful and effective for small businesses as a large corporation. Before you even think of placing an ad or sending out a mailing, be sure that you've articulated your USP. Provide prospective customers with immediate, compelling reasons to place their trust and cold, hard cash with you. The most important thing your USP should convey is what the benefits are for the buyer.

To begin, make a list of all the specialized knowledge you've got that can resolve problems, reduce rejection, or knock down barriers. Identify anything about your position, name, or product that is vague or confusing. Your USP can be a clarification of your positioning. If you're stuck for ideas, examine your mission statement and see if you can extract its message down to one line? Even if you can't, it's a good place to start brainstorming.

You can actually turn almost anything into a USP, even your guarantee. Emphasize how much you believe in both your product and your customer by offering to take most or all the risk on your own shoulders. Think about how you can you eliminate buyer's fears and anxiety with a sensational promise of satisfaction. Be honest; make sure that your USP promises only what you can deliver.

If you market products or services to various market segments, you can have several USPs that focus on each specific aspect of your business. Instead of running one general ad, you can run many small ads with different USPs that highlight different segments of the market. This can help you pinpoint your most profitable market.

See what you can do with a USP? You are giving people a reason to like you, to trust you, and to rather do business with you because you gave them some good reasons. You are prejudicing them in your favor.