A few months ago I listened to the Nightingale Conant audio course “Piranha Marketing” by Joe Polish. For this post I will share the concept of the ‘Unique Selling Point’ and how it applies in the world of magic.
Joe teaches having a ‘Unique Selling Point’ or ‘USP.’ Joe says a USP is a precise statement of why your business is special. It should answer the question “Why should I do business with you versus any and all of your competitors, including not doing anything at all?”
One USP example Joe gives is the one from Domino’s Pizza: “Fresh, Hot Pizza Delivered to Your Door in 30 Minutes or Less.”
When it comes to magicians, my favorite USP was Dai Vernon’s: “The Man Who Fooled Houdini.” How’s that for unique? It’s so unique that no other magician in history can make the same claim.
After thinking about Vernon’s USP I realized that an excellent USP should accomplish 3 things:
- It accurately describes what you do – as Joe Polish teaches
- It differentiates you from everyone else in your industry (if it is truly unique)
- It triggers a chain reaction of questions from a person who hears/reads it: “You really fooled Houdini?” or “There’s got to be a story behind that statement, let’s hear it.” or “Ok, this guy must be good, let’s see what he can do.”
When I was considering what to use for my USP I came up with “Memorable Moments of Joy” but I soon decided against it. Any magician halfway decent is able to provide “Memorable Moments of Joy” – that is more like a Generic Selling Point rather than a Unique Selling Point.
I ended up deciding to hold off on creating my USP for now. Hopefully one day in my magic career I will have a remarkable story that will be the genesis of my USP.
As for modern day magician’s, I really like Steve Cohen’s USP – “The Millionaire’s Magician.”
Do you have a USP? If so please share it in a comment or share any USP that caught your attention.