Everyone needs one. Not everyone has one. It's your job as a copywriter to MAKE SURE your clients get one. It's the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) - the single thing your client touts that sets them apart from their competition. Yet discovering a truly unique selling proposition is daunting and rare. Here are some straightforward tips to help you make your client's marketing message stand out in a crowd.

Study the competition. What are they saying? How are they saying it? You need to know your playing field before you jump into the game. Whatever their message, you want the one you create for your clients to be different.

Be creative. It doesn't matter if your client's business, product, or service really is just like their competition's and nothing at all sets them apart (although I think this is unlikely). So long as they're the only one saying what they're saying, their message will be heard. I once helped a massage parlor double its response rate on a direct mail postcard simply by highlighting how they served hot teas in their lobby. Almost all the local massage parlors served hot teas, but this was the only one to advertise the complimentary service.

Encourage your clients to be unique. Clients like their copywriters to have brains. Think for yourself. Think for them. Be a marketing consultant and not just a copywriter, and you will become invaluable. Don't let them succumb to the rudderless, nondescript, "me too" method of business that relies solely on the sheer momentum of the marketplace. A local midwife saw her business increase by 40% when she began renting out office space to and holding monthly workshops by other like-minded professionals (a homeopathic natural doctor, a lactation consultant, and a yoga instructor).

Don't follow the throng! Find your client's USP and multiply their marketing dollars!

About the Author

A freelance copywriter and editor, Kristen Michaelis publishes the popular monthly e-zine The Wonderworking Minute. Sign up today for your free subscription to the e-zine and receive a FREE copy of her report "How To Gain And Keep Clients Through Strategic Partnering." http://www.wonderworkingwords.com/email.html