I go out a lot. I also live by the maxim that my brand and I are the same thing – I “show up as me” to all the events I go to. Often, when people learn that I am a consultant, they want free advice about their business. I’m usually pretty happy to give it to them, given that I like helping people and I’m all about sharing knowledge.

Recently, I have encountered what seems like a really unusual number of people who don’t really know what they do. Yes, they say “I’m a lawyer” or “I’m a designer” – but they don’t actually know what they DO. The lawyer might actually do work to make her elderly clients feel safer about the future. The designer might actually translate complex ideas into packaged brands.

When you can answer what it is you DO – what you do for your clients, what you do for your community, or even shat you do for yourself, you have discovered your USP – your unique selling proposition, also frequently called your unique value proposition and sometimes the way catchier “pitch point.” Discovering your USP doesn’t always have to be a hard slog and sometimes it’s not that UNIQUE. But, when you find that value proposition – the why of “why should I work with you” – you should say it over and over until your mind really wraps around the concept that you aren’t a designer or a lawyer anymore, you are a translator or a peace-of-mind giver.

Your USP is both your passion statement as well as your problem solving statement. It’s what drives you and what makes your brand proposition resonate for you (and hopefully your clients).

My USP – I make businesses work better. I love solving problems. I get intense satisfaction from finding ways to fix broken businesses.