Unless you’re an uber famous Hollywood star, then chances are you ask this question almost every time you purchase something (unless it’s toilet paper): Why should I buy? For one thing, some Hollywood stars probably do use their money as toilet paper. But the point is money isn’t exactly an issue for them, so they don’t put much consideration into most price tags they come across. For us Average Joe Consumers though, we’re on a constant hunt for value. We’re like a real-life version of The Price Is Right; with every successful move hinged on the price of a product or service. Now, apply this mode of thinking to your prospect’s perspective.
Every time a potential client is presented with your product or service, they will ask themselves why they should buy from you. This is a natural reaction—people have a natural propensity for procrastination. However, when you multiply this by the effects of today’s economy and then multiply that by the thousands of new small businesses entering the marketplace on a daily basis, well, you sure have to give them a helluva good reason why they should buy from you.
Now, hopefully you’ve been following along and enjoying our articles, so perhaps you’ve heard us mention unique selling point (USP). Your USP is the answer to your prospect’s question as to why they should buy. Make it incredibly obvious what makes your business different from the masses. These are the one or two gems that make your business a necessity in your prospect’s life. Take note of an important element in that preceding sentence. You need to make sure you keep your focus on just a couple distinguished aspects of your business. Include more than that in your marketing and branding efforts and you’re going to sound like a recent graduate’s resume, listing everything from “habitat improvement” for mowing lawns to “sales experience” because they buy groceries on a regular basis.
Spread your apparent specialties too thin and throw fluff at your prospects and they will see through you. And remember, Newton’s Third Law here: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This can go two ways for word of mouth (WOM) marketing. Most people only talk about getting clients through WOM, but if you come off as the recent graduate in your business pitch, then you may lose clients through WOM. Just think about all the countless blogs and online forums here on the Web today. An obvious trend is people’s absolute love of discussing hate. People are just tickled pink that they now have the opportunity to complain about anything at all that bothers them. Whether it’s the fact that one of their feet is bigger than the other so they have to buy two pairs of shoes or that they visited some person’s website and thought it was nothing more than a cheap ploy, word will spread about your business.
Your specialty could be the fact that you’ve never once been late or missed a deadline or possibly your stunning customer service which never allows the phone to ring more than three times and the promise that they’ll get a live person on the phone every time. Write down your business’ top 10 attributes, and then narrow that last to your top one or two. Now, make sure you’re striving for attributes that are not only top-notch, but are also distinct from other competing businesses.
Just be ethical, present your business in an honest manner, keep your USP simple and laser-beam focused, and prospective clients will then know why they should buy from you, and only you.
Check out these other articles for more information: Well I Should Hope So and People Buy Benefits, not Features
We’ve all heard of people flipping real estate; buying the house for a low amount, doing some minor/major work on renovations and then selling for a profit. Now people are doing the same thing with websites, site flipping. But is it a fly by night profession or another great business avenue for people to take? In this article I want to dig a little deeper into the subject. Let me know what you think in the comments.
Concerns about site flipping
There are a few arguments I see a lot when talking about site flipping, one I see the most being the fact that quick built websites are ruining the quality of the internet. In my opinion, you can’t hurt the quality of a place with billions upon billions of websites already floating around google. Searching for “clinic” in google brings up 115 MILLION results. Now, building websites targeting this keyword really will not make a dent in he amount of quality information out there. So regardless if people think its wrong, you can still do it for and make a profit for it.
Build with quality in mind
Even if you’re putting up a website to just sell, you should still treat it as a website you’d be proud to tell people you own. Flooding the page with 20 ads but only have 500 words is not something (in my opinion) to be proud of.
If flipping is your game and you want to make a go of it, as always it starts with great content, a desire to make it work and a determination to keep going. I am a shining example of an entrepreneur who loves the thrill of the build, it is almost like a high but coming off it when heading into the “maintain it” stage of the lifecycle is when I get extremely bored and restless.
This is not uncommon, look over the history of the vast percentage of the fortune 500 companies and you will find that usually the founder is not the person running the company any longer.
So if your unique ability is in finding a niche, building a following, passing it off and doing it all over again this could be a very profitable business model for you.
In this economy – flip the coin over
With the daily economic doom and gloom that is shoved down our throats, it’s hard to remember that we are in the middle of one of the best buyer’s market we have seen in a long time. History has proven that more millionaires are created in a recession if you take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves when people are scared.
Buying websites may be one of the easiest of these markets to get into because I don’t think there is a lot of “noise” in this market yet. This blog is an example of the power of this. I had been looking and learning everything I could about online marketing when I stumbled on the marketplace at sitepoint.com and found this site for sale. It was inline with my passion, had a great community and I saw that I could provide value to the readers and have a place to build credibility for myself without having to start from scratch and presto here I am.
Now when this economy turns around I will have an asset that I can choose to keep or be able to sell when it is the right time to do so. I believe that in the future websites that have strong ranking, a big following and good content will catch the eyes of bigger companies wanting to get a foot up on the competition.
Either way I’m left with choices and that is never a bad thing.
Hi Everyone,
I wanted to pass this information along to you guys. I am not making an endorsement of the product because honestly I have not had time to properly evaluate the potentials and the risks. I am simply doing it as a public service announcement. Check it out and I would like to hear back with people’s thoughts.
TheFunded Founder Institute is a new founder-centric incubator that trains new and seasoned entrepreneurs the best practices for building next generation companies. The unique 4-month program offers remote participation, the industry’s most founder-friendly terms, focused mentorship and training from renowned CEOs, resources from leading service partners, fundraising opportunities at fair market value, and shared equity upside among all participants in the companies formed. Passionate Founders can apply today at www.FounderInstitute.com – registration for the Summer 2009 Semester ends on May 10th, 2009.
Why was the Founder Institute Created?
The National Venture Capital Association recently reported that VC fundraising dropped nearly 40% in Q1 of 2009. In these dire economic times, only the highest quality, most disciplined new businesses will proliferate – and The Founder Institute was created from the ground up to create such businesses. Our focus on quality is evident in our process;
- Institute Founders receive guidance from renowned, experienced start-up CEO Mentors.
- The Institute’s unique equity-sharing model aligns incentives and ensures maximum effort from all parties involved. When one of the Institute’s companies does well, all of the participating companies benefit – and when the Institute’s Mentors help the participating companies, they share in the upside as well
- The Institute focuses Founders on non-abstract, critical company-building assignments that build successful businesses in a weekly, step-by-step fashion.
- The Institute helps Founders secure investment at market rates and under the best possible terms – instead of forcing a valuation or equity purchase at a premature stage.
- The Institute does not require Founders to relocate or live on reduced incomes.
- The Institute sets up regular meetings with investors and the public throughout the company-building process to increase quality and focus.
- Institute Partners provide discounted or free services, so Founders can focus more time and resources on building the business.
Great Founders are often overlooked by the current entrepreneurial ecosystem, and innovative startups have a dramatic positive effect on the global economy. TheFunded Founder Institute aims to help the global economy by helping smart people start new, high-quality businesses.
For more information, visit www.FounderInstitute.com, or contact jonathan@thefunded.com.
So recently I’ve been using twitter and seen Guy Kawasaki was working on his alltop website. He posted about the section set up for Start up websites so I immediately scanned it, found TONS of useful articles and tweeted him and asked if he’d consider this blog for it. Bootstrapping is a great resource for start ups in my opinion and I guess he agreed as well because we’re now featured on the page.
So, if you’re looking for a page to bookmark that showcases the latest post titles from over 20 websites on start ups, including bootstrapping blog, check out the Startups.Alltop.com page.
Thanks guy, I appreciate it!