Why Your USP isn’t Enough to Get You Booked w/ Belinda Weaver

Sharing your unique selling proposition (USP) is not enough to get hired, friend. So… what are you supposed to share instead? Well—think about your own vetting & buying behavior. What do you like seeing from a person you want to work with? And if you’re drawing a blank—don’t worry! Belinda Weaver is here to help! She’s sharing why USP’s aren’t enough to help you land clients, what the 5 P’s are, & how to use them in your marketing. Break out your notebook, buddy!

With this episode you’ll be able to:

• Discover what clients actually need to see & hear in order to book with you.
• Uncover how to talk about yourself & share your personality.
• Learn how to find your 5 P’s and use them in your marketing. 

Links & Resources:
Thread that blew up
Glamour article
Biz Shortcut Quiz

Connect w/ Belinda:
Instagram
LinkedIn
Website

Related Episodes:
Sanjana: Becoming a Copywriter

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Transcript

0:04

Welcome back to the Basic B podcast. I have yet another amazing guest for you today. I've got Belinda Weaver with me, and we're going to be talking about USP's and defining what makes you different and how that is actually not the key to getting you booked by dreamy clients. But, of course, before I bring Belinda on, here's a little bit of an intro for you. Belinda Weaver is a copy coach helping aspiring and working copywriters supercharge their income, create financial stability, and avoid career burnout. She believes the whole point of being your own boss is to create a job that's better than the one you left. With ten years in the business of writing, Belinda has courses, coaching and mentoring that build skills and confidence so more writers can ditch hustle and burnout and enjoy the journey of their work. And Ozzie. Living in California with her pug, two daughters and husband listed in order of neediness, Belinda is obsessed with Doctor who, english murder mysteries, and making the perfect lemon curd, which I've got to talk to you about. Belinda. Hi. Hi. I love to talk about all the things doctor who, lemon curd, copywriting. I know. And as I'm reading that, I'm like, the stuff that we just chit chatted about before we hit record. I was like, all of that was in your bio. And I did read that, and yet I was still like, where are you? What's going on in your life? It's all good. You would think I did nothing before I talked to people. It's how you keep it freshen. It is. It is. I just come to it with, you know, beginner's perspective. Speaking of which, we're gonna be talking about what I just mentioned, USP's and, you know, defining your special sauce and all of that good stuff. But before we get into that, I have one question I love asking all my guests because it helps kind of tie all of these episodes together. Are you ready for it? I'm ready. I did not prep you for this one. Which do you believe is the most important for sales, SEO, storytelling or social proof? That's a good question. For sales. For sales, I would say social proof. Say more. Yeah, because SEO can get you found. So that's not really about sales. Storytelling is about connection, but it doesn't necessarily lead to sales. When we're talking about sales, we're talking about the end of the stages of awareness, where someone has the information, they've done, the comparisons, they're figuring out if they're going to like this person. But the proof is where we get to see ourselves in previous customers and go, okay, those people had the same problem that I have now, and they came out feeling really good about this person. So out of those three, it's the proof that will always push me over. I totally agree. In a good way. Yeah. Push you over the edge to the good part of things, not the good part of things. Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah. And that's actually how you summarize it is even how I talk about it on my website with my website copy, where SEO gets you found, storytelling does the connection, but social proof is really what gets the sale for you. Mm hmm. Absolutely. All right. A lot of business advice out there is talking to us about the USP. And for anyone who doesn't know what USP is, could you maybe just like, let's start there, tell us what that is? Oh, yeah. Let's bust that acronym right open. So it could be a unique selling proposition. That's usually what USP sounds like stands for. And it's really about saying what you do and who you do it for, but how you are different. It's the uniqueness. What's the value that you add? But it's often couched in this framework that says, how are you different everyone else in the marketplace, as if that is the most important part of this kind of proposition. And I'm here to say, no, no, it's not. So to give an example, to make it a little more tactile, I'm a copywriter, but I specialize with SEO and case study. So that's why I call myself an SEO and case study copywriter, because that's my unique spin on things. But that's not enough, because there are other SEO copywriters and other case study copywriters, and they could also potentially, I don't know, be named Britney and maybe even look similar to me. Yeah. So why do you think this isn't enough to stand out in the industry? Well, for exactly what you just said, because there will be lots of other people with much of the same combination that you offer. And I talk to a lot of copywriters who get really stuck on this moment of how am I different? And when you're in learning mode and you're joining groups and communities and you're learning from mentors and that kind of stuff, you're doing what a lot of other people are doing.But even if you're not in communities and groups and you're not learning in that way, you're still saying, well, I'm a copywriter and I write copy. Or you're like, I'm a case study copywriter and this is what I do. You can still find a bunch of other people doing exactly the same thing, and it can be really discouraging because you think, why on earth would anyone choose me when I'm just one person in the sea?And it's very easy for us to see ourselves in the same pool as everyone who does the same thing, as if clients are also looking at all the people at the same time who do exactly the same thing as we do. And it can be really discouraging. And as I said, I see a lot of copywriters get really hung up and stuck on this and it stops them moving forward. And I always come in and go, don't worry about it, don't worry about it. And they're like, what? I'm like, I know, I know. Because a lot of the marketing tropes are about uniqueness. How are you different? But especially in the early years, when you're still trying to figure out what you love about the job, you're still trying to get clients, you're trying to get as broad a range of projects as possible or work with as many different clients as possible. You're like, I don't have a signature framework yet. I don't have something that's different because I don't even have enough experience yet to feel confident. The confidence and the niching and maybe even the uniqueness often comes a lot later. It really does. And you're saying so many good things. And of course, I could go down like 15 different avenues. But some of the things that we could talk about, there's an episode, one of my very first ones with Sanjana. We were talking about becoming a copywriter and what our journeys looked like because I remember her reaching out to me on Instagram and she was so surprised that I even wrote back and said hi to her.And that the fact that you're responsive could be part of the experience that you're giving someone your personality. I remember again, early on in my career having a lot of people who were like, I just feel like, so comfortable with you. I just feel like you get it. And they would book me because of that. Not because I said I was an SEO copywriter, not because, yes, I've written an email sequence before. It was just because they liked me in talking to me. But as I was saying, that jogged another thought that came through. We're going to have such a good conversation. I remember taking on so many different projects because I didn't know what I wanted to write and I don't think I really knew for a solid year, year and a half. So let's go with that a little bit. What do you see with especially newer copywriters coming in, in your world where it's like, I've got to know my thing, I've got to know what I'm about, how I'm different and what I'm doing differently. What are you seeing and what advice are you giving around that? Well, I'm basically starting the don't worry about it when I say don't worry about it, the same with niching. You can use it as a selling point. It can be good for you. But if you don't know what it is yet, then move it to the side. Because all that energy that you're burning worrying about not being different, you are not doing the things that make you chooseable.And you just, you were like, it's how people are relating to me and it's parts of my personality and it's the fact that I replied, those are the things that are getting you chosen, and they're completely separate to you being different to everyone else in the space. And the truth is that when we go to hire someone, we want to know that they can solve our problem, that they've solved it for other people.Hello, social proof. And that the experience of working with them is going to vibe with us, whether it's values alignment or just a personality click. And so clients are not necessarily looking for the best or the most famous or the most visible or even the most experienced, but they're looking for, can you solve my problem? Have you solved it for other people? And do we have some kind of connection?And so that's when we shift into, like, rather than worrying about the things that you don't know yet, focus on the things that you can control and you do know. And that's like, I'm going to talk about the pain points and challenges and outcomes that my audience want. I'm going to talk about me and my passion and my purpose, because, you know, when I hire someone, I want them to be excited to work on the thing. And then you talk about your process because that makes customers feel safe.You talk about your proof, you can see some p's emerging here, and then it's your personality and all those things. When you talk about them in your marketing, you don't have to be different, but you're ticking a lot of the boxes that I need to be ticked in order to go ahead. And that gives people a lot of relief and control. And I know that because it gave me relief and control where I was like, oh, I'm just a copywriter in a sea of copywriters. How do I make myself stand out? But also from a copywriting point of view, I actually came up with a framework because for a while there, I was writing a lot of plumbing websites. I don't know what happened, but I just got, I got sucked into the tradie world. And I was like, I'm getting a lot of clients who do exactly the same thing, and how can I make this business feel different to the other business that I just finished writing about? And so those are the things that kind of gave me, you know, what to talk about in the copy and in the broader marketing. And I was like, hey, I should be doing this as well. That comes up a lot with SEO. Also, I'm working with a lot of clients in the nonprofit space now, and they're all coming in and they're like, okay, you'll be able to do this unique for me, right? And I'm like, well, are you the same as the person who sent you in? Well, no. Okay, we're gonna be just fine. To your point about personality, that was the first thing that came to mind. As soon as I saw your form come through and we were talking about the topics, I was like, you being you and doing the things the way that you do them, that's what sets you apart. And I like that you just talked us through the personality, the process, few other p's too, which I already forgot. There was the pain points, the passion, the process, the proof and the personality. And like the first of them, the first four are kind of easy to talk about. It's the personality piece that a lot of us are like, oh, I don't want to talk about myself. No one wants to know about me. And I'm like, actually, you're the differentiator.Because I have hired people, because we have just totally vibed. And I'm like, I'm going to love working with you. Like, you can clearly do the job. You've ticked all the other boxes. I'm confident in my choice, but it came down to the fact that you shared a post about something that just got my attention. I was going to say about doctor who, but we'll go down a doctor who hole. But it can be the most insignificant thing that you feel like you might not have shared because you're like, why would anyone care that I have a dog. Oh, dog people care that you have a dog. That, too. And I start so many conversations with things from my little fun facts list. Yeah, they're just icebreakers. They're conversation starters. And then you start the conversation, and then it flows from there. It really does. And you brought up a really great point. I think it was earlier this week. It might have been last week. My boyfriend and I are house hunting. So there was one house. He sent me just a photo. I wasn't even sure if this was a photo he found on zillow for our state, like, literally in the houses that we could be considering. Or if it was like, hey, I found this fun thing on, like, board panda. I didn't know what it was.Turns out it was a real photo from a real house in our state, that is in our budget. And I was like, this is what they did. There was a stove in a kitchen island, and it had the knobs sticking up, so it should have been a wall unit, but they had it sitting in the island. I put it on threads of and said a little. I think I said something like, people keep asking how house hunting is going. It's going like this. And then I put the photo.That thing blew up! But yet I've talked about other posts where it's like, hey, I can help you with your podcast, SEO. Hey, I can write case studies for you. Hey, I can show you how to write case studies. But the one about the house hunting that I touched that sore spot on so many people, and then so many other people saw it, and they were commenting and interacting. It's the weirdest things that we share, and it's like, go figure. But that's actually one really big reason why I love threads, because you'll say something. And I'm like, I'm treating that like my throw spaghetti at the wall place because it's just fun and you get to see what resonates with people. So if you're listening to this and you're like, I don't know what to do with it, go over to threads and throw some spaghetti at the wall. Yeah, absolutely. And it's the things that spark a connection, that bring people into your world. And if you're doing the other stuff, you're talking about your business and your process, and you've got proof in and around these kind of personality pieces, then it's all working together. And then what it means is it doesn't matter if you're different. It matters that you're ticking the box of a potential client. And they say yes to you because of lots of other reasons rather than you having this nailed down USP statement. And it's being chooseable. Like you make yourself chooseable. And it, it often comes down to like, if I'm looking at two people who the price is the same and the services are the same, the choosability factor will come down to something like the personality. Are we going to vibe because you. Want to have a good experience? And here's a good analogy that just came to mind that probably you've even shared before even thinking about where you might want to go to dinner. Are you going to go to the place that, you know, has the boring decor and the wait staff that's going to make you sit there an extra 20 minutes? No, you're going to go to the place where you have a better experience. And also the place with reviews and the place that explains kind of how the ordering system works because it's all this kind of safety stuff that a lot of people go, oh, I don't want to share that because it's braggy. And I'm like, no, it's actually making me feel safer that my money is going to be well spent. And it's, again, it's like I'm looking at two different people. One explains their process and one doesn't. I'm going to go with the process explainer because I'm like, now I know what's going to happen. Exactly. Speaking to all the control freaks. I don't know what that life is like. Yeah, we know. At all. Yeah. And that's a really great way to frame it, that we are actually helping potential clients feel more comfortable and safer with choosing us and with working with us when we give them all of these pieces, including showing our personality, including showing the proof that, hey, we have helped people before. And the truth of it is also that we're not being compared with every other copywriter in the business. We're being compared with a little bubble of copywriters who that client happens to be aware of at the time. Yeah. And all these, like, little reasons that make us chooseable when we showcase them in our marketing and making sure we're ticking them off in our web copy and our socials, we get to the top of the list. Because, you know, when I'm making a choice as well, I have all the tabs open and then I'm going, no click, no click, no proof, no, no. There'll be something about no, no. And I just, I want a small list to choose from. And that's what our clients are doing as well. So if we can be like, oh, there's tons of proof, there's a process explanation, I've got a starting at price point. They clearly can solve the problem because I'm looking for case studies. Oh, and they do SEO as well. Brilliant. I. That's how we stay to the last tab standing. Exactly. And it really helps if you start with a referral or something like that, too. Oh, yeah. I mean, because people are still going to go and check you out. They still want to go and vet you themselves and feel like they are coming into this with some kind of knowledge or starting base of, I understand this person, or I feel like I. Know them a little bit, 100%, because it's, I don't want to make a blind decision. Like, I love a referral because then I don't have to go and do all that research and analysis. But at the same time, I want to know they existed. I want to know they have a. Digital footprint, especially in 2024. The people that think that they can get away with not having a digital footprint in 2024, it's like, you have to have something. Even if it's like a Facebook listing, if it's a cupcake shop with a Facebook, I don't know where all the food, the food examples are coming in. But even if it's a cupcake shop with a Facebook page, at least that gives me some sense of like, okay, you do exist. You have served this before. You have helped people. This is where you're located at. Okay, cool. I mean, an example is I'm hosting a retreat in October and we're looking at catering options. Very exciting. But I got a referral and it was a name and a phone number and I'm like, mm mm, no, no, I'm not going to call someone up. And it was the weirdest thing. And I'm like, just call them, Belinda. I know. I don't want to. They don't have a website. I can't even. No. And it's as simple as that. That's how that person got counted out of a job that she will never know about or probably care about. But, you know, the more we can do to make ourselves chooseable along the way, it's responsiveness, ease of accessibility, word of mouth network, talking about our process and the pain points and challenges and showcasing our proof. We're like, tick, tick, tick. It doesn't matter if we different or unique. And the other part of it is just, do the best you can do with what you've got. Yes. Oh, I like that. I love starting with how I said it. Start where you're at and grow from there. Yes. Whatever it is that you have, and you have more than you realize you do if you just pause. One thing I love doing is setting a timer for five minutes. If I have to come up with something, set a timer, five minutes, grab a pen and a piece of notebook paper and actually physically write things down and challenge yourself to do that. Whatever it is that you're like, okay, I don't have a website, but what do I have? Do you have a Facebook page? I don't have social proof. Certainly in your lifetime you've helped someone do something. What have you helped them do? Another thing I like doing is thinking through the personality, the characteristics. What if people commented that they like about you, for example, if your brain is just completely stalling right now? People talk about me being organized, which is really funny because my world is not organized, but my online world is pretty organized. Yeah. And I'm fun. Like, those are things I want to highlight. What other examples can you think of that we could maybe think through? I think a lot of the resistance comes up, especially around personality, where people are like, I'm a private person. I don't want to share too much of myself. And my rule is only sharing stuff that I'm comfortable being very public. So I know that everyone sits on social media. It may as well be in the paper or something like that. So it's good to check yourselves. A lot of people over share and you do you.But you also get to decide what stays private. And an example is, I will share that I have kids. I will share their ages and even their genders. Like, I have two daughters, ten and seven. I call them Miss ten and Miss seven. No one knows their names until like, you're in my program and stuff like that, and we become friends and I don't share pictures of them. So that's kind of like scales of privacy.Talking about the fact that I'm a mum and I'm running my business around the needs of my kids and school, time and pickup, that's a connection point. It's like a velcro piece. And, you know, to the other areas. I love the setting timer. I do this all the time as well. It's just sitting down and going, why do I do what I do? Why do I love this? What are the small moments in my day that bring me so much joy that I get to do and then you write as many down as you can, and you get to talk about those in your emails and your social media, because often we're like, I don't know what to say when you've done that brainstorming. And another thing I like to ask in exit surveys, testimonial surveys, is, what three words would you use to describe me and the experience of working with me? Then you get to start seeing, like, organized fun. It was easy. It was stress free. The voice really matched. That's not really three words, but you're like, oh, actually, these are the things that people are thinking, top of mind. And so collecting that intel as a systematic thing you do helps you double down on those things in your marketing. It does. And it helps you figure out what to amplify, especially if you're like, I don't know what to do, because you probably see this way more than I do when it comes to personality. People are like, they just clam up. They're like, I don't know what my personality is. Let's have a personality. Okay. We'll go to the store and find one. Of course you have a personality. And checking in with people who are in your world, you're gonna get answers pretty quickly. I love the idea of asking three words about working with you or about the program. I love that. May I use that? Absolutely. Because it's also that, how do people experience me? How do people see me in a way that I might discount as being unimportant, because it's easy for me, for example. And, you know, you can also ask if you're feeling like you can do it.What are some words you would describe me as a person? And I've actually got, like, a word cloud on my board. I asked this when I was trying to not, not to be like, hey, Bill, look at your words. You're awesome. But more, I was really struggling with how people saw me and what my company values were and my brand values. So I was like, well, like, how are people experiencing me? What do they think I am? And I got all these words that I never would have chosen for myself. And I'm like, oh, yeah, actually, these are really important to me. This is how I am showing up. Oh, that's good to know. It just helps you shift and get out of your own head. But, you know, you don't have to be a goofy extrovert to have personality. If you're showing up saying, I love knitting, you know, under a blanket, all the knitters will be like, yes, I am here for it. Whatever that is for you, lean into it, because you will get people going. That is totally my jam, too. I thought. I didn't realize you were interested in that. And that's when you get lovely sparks and conversations and you find friends online. You do? Yeah. You just have to be willing to. Not even be willing to figure out what it is that you're willing to share and then do the brave thing and share it. I'll share this one funny example, and then I've got one final question for you. But I was featured in Glamour magazine, which sounds very glamorous. Right? Get this. The article was entirely about women and migraines and suffering with migraines. And the story that I told, I won't give the whole thing away, so you have to go read it is about how I shut down a mall escalator at age seven. You'll have to go read the article to figure out why that was. But it was the funniest thing. I saw this, you know, listing where they were asking for people to write in about their experience with migraines, and they had these different categories, and I was like, ooh, I've got a story. I don't know if they'll want to use it, but here, I'll share it. And then they went with it. So now I have that in my fun facts, and I love getting to pull that out because it sounds really fun, like, oh, you were in glam for this? Yes, but that's it. Cause you never know what will be the little Velcro hook that has someone go, you're my kind. Yeah, you're it. You're the person. We just have this connection now, and it could be reading your drinks. Like, I talk a lot about tea. I talk about books. I talk about hiking. I talk about doctor who. And I'm just throwing out little hooks because this is showcasing who I am and what I like. And I'm like, are we vibing? And it's okay if we don't, but if you are, come on over. Come on, let's have a chat. Yeah. I love this. What one exercise could someone listening go and actually do to try to implement some of the stuff that we've talked about today? So I want to run through these five p's again. So we have the five p's of marketing, but these are the five p's, I call them of being chooseable, and they are the pain points of your audience, the passion and purpose you have. What do you love about your job and why did you get started? Your process, really important proof that you have and your personality. So we have these five pillars. Grab a big, I'm a write it down as well. I'm like, grab an a three page and a marker and put these bubbles down if you like to mind map online whatever you do, but set a timer and brainstorm little ideas. What are the pain points of your audience? What are the questions that they have? What are the things that you'd love to share about yourself? What's your process? What are those 5, 7, 3 steps? What proof do you have? Where do you keep it? Hopefully it's organized and also as many ideas as you can about why you got started, what you love about your work, and just blitz it out because you will have six months of social media posts just there. But you want to make sure those things are woven into your website as well. But it starts with the, I got nothing. Nah, you got a lot. You got a lot. Just lean into it. Stop worrying about your USP. Just get on with being awesome because you're already doing it. Just, I love the word you use. You use amplify. Amplify the things that you are doing. Don't worry about being unique or niching if you're not ready or whatever that looks like. Oh, I love that. Thank you so much. I'm gonna go take myself through that exercise because I love the sound of it and it is, it's so simple and it can be so impactful. Absolutely. So thank you for sharing that. Oh, it's my pleasure. Thanks for asking. I love talking about this kind of stuff because as I said, people just get stuck. We get in our own head and we're like, I'm not going to be successful unless I figure this out. Just don't worry about it. Get on with the rest of it. Exactly. All right. Where can people find you? Because I know you're going to have new friends after this. I hope so. Please reach out. I hang out on Instagram. I'm also on Facebook and LinkedIn. My website is copyrightmatters.com. you'll see my big ginger face and some hummingbirds because I'm obsessed with hummingbirds as well. If this lands, I would love people to reach out and have a conversation because I love talking about it. Yay. Go do that. Go say hi to Belinda. She's very friendly. I can attest to that. I can attest to the fact that she hangs out on Instagram with me. Like, we're always in the DM's. It's great. And threats. And threats. Yes, 100%. Thank you for having me, Brittany. I really appreciate it. Of course. This was so fun. Maybe we'll have to have you back. Oh, yeah. Definitely. Yes. Yay. All right. Thank you so much for tuning in, and we will catch you next time.