In a previous article, I said that building and having a relationship with people online, and then monetizing that relationship, requires three steps:

1. have access to those people
2. Owning the product or service that you offer to those people.
3. Owning the sales process (or store) that offers your product or service to your target audience

I discussed building a list and building relationships with the people on that list. This time, I’ll talk about your offer.

Build it yourself?
There are a lot of people out there selling products and services to people. Maybe you’re a traveling salesman, or maybe you’re selling as an affiliate online. Do you create or manufacture those things? No. In our world today, very few people create a product or service from scratch and sell it to the end user. Am I suggesting that you personally have to handcraft what you’re selling? Not again.

Establish a compelling reason
In this case, what I’m suggesting is that you need to create a compelling reason for your prospect to buy from you, as opposed to anyone else. Any product or service has competition, even if you don’t see it as a direct threat. I have worked with several schools that offer karate, dance and gymnastics lessons. In many cases, the managers of those schools saw that other schools were teaching the same subjects as their competition. Some, however, knew that staying home and watching TV was their competition, as was playing video games and other sedentary activities. So in this case, how do you sell something you own?

Every offer you make should have an added “seasoning”: it should include something that only you can give your prospect. What is it that people can only get from you? Sales managers and marketers may call this a USP, or unique selling proposition (or point).

What makes your offer unique?
There are many things you can add to your offer that make your product or service unique. It can be something physical, like color or size. It could be the way the item or service is presented, which is one reason burger chains sell you a burger for $5, and your local steakhouse charges four or five times as much for essentially the same thing. product.

Packaging and delivery are also ways to set yourself apart. I had a client who was setting up a cleaning service and was considering lowering her price below what others were charging. I suggested that he show up in a tuxedo, leave a rose when he was done, and charge a premium price. Her costs increased slightly, but she was able to charge substantially more for her service. Delivering a product in a handmade wooden presentation box makes it unique, something you won’t get if you buy the same product elsewhere.

USP for digital products
If you’ve created a course or ebook that covers a certain topic, I can guarantee you have competition. Again, it’s not so much that another book or course covers your subject area, it’s that people just can’t watch or read. People can watch a movie, read a mystery series, or just go to bed instead of consuming your content.

But what happens when you have a direct competitor? How do you get a prospect to choose you over someone else’s offer? You have to have a USP that they just can’t get from someone else. Again, this could be content, such as covering a topic that your competitor doesn’t cover. It could be multimedia: your video course instead of my eBook on the same topic. It could be an extra, like offering downloadable forms with your ebook or access to a video interview with an industry celebrity.

People who offer affiliate products are very conscious of having to offer extras or bonuses. At the launch of any given product or service, there are a million people selling the exact same product. Why would you buy from me, as opposed to people A, B, or C? My bonuses, of course. This makes my offer unique (at least in theory). During my offer, I will tell you that you cannot get these bonuses anywhere else. As long as that is true, then I have a chance to earn your business.

own the product
First, you must create a list of people and their contact information, a list that you own and control. Then you need to start building a relationship with the people on that list.

When you have an offer for the people on that list, you want to make sure that the offer conveys the idea that there is a part of it that they just can’t get from others. Again, it could be a physical aspect, or a particular feeling or emotion. It could be the shipping method. The important part is that the product or service you are promising is in some way unique to your offer. This way, you own what you sell, regardless of the competition.

In my next article, I’ll talk about ownership of the sales process.