How to Stand Out From Your Competition

Written by Alexis Rodrigo

Freelancers face fierce competition. In Elance, the largest online marketplace for outsourcing, 99,150 service providers are vying for 26,393 jobs. That’s almost 4 freelancers for every job posted.

How do you stand out from the sea of service providers, especially those who are willing to work for peanuts?

The answer is not to work for half a peanut. The answer is to position and market your services more effectively by having a Unique Selling Proposition (USP). Yes, just like a consumer product, freelancers need a USP.

BusinessDictionary.com defines a unique selling proposition as:

Real or perceived benefit of a good or service that differentiates it from the competing brands and gives its buyer a logical reason to prefer it over other brands.

The definition above is for a consumer brand or service, but it can be applied to a freelancer’s services as well.

Let’s break it down:

A real or perceived benefit…

What benefit do your clients enjoy when they work with you? What happens to your client as a result of hiring you?

If you’re having trouble distinguishing between features and benefits, think of it this way: a feature is something observable about you or your service. For example: you work fast and efficiently. A benefit is something that happens to your client as a result of hiring you. For instance: your client makes more money.

… differentiates it from competing brands…

Do you offer something unique, that your clients can’t get from another service provider? Or do you promise something that a dozen other freelancers can also deliver?

If you’re a writer and all you can promise is to deliver five 600-word articles a day, then you’re not unique enough. Fast writers are a dime a dozen. But if you can spin 12 unique articles for one keyword phrase in the , then you may be on to something.

… and gives its buyer a logical reason to prefer it over other brands.

Do you promise something your clients really want? Do you know what your clients want? (Take note: we’re talking about your target clients’ wants, not their needs – two very different things!)

Here’s where knowing your target clients really pay off. What are they really looking for in a virtual assistant? Or a web designer? If you care to dig deep, the answers may surprise you.

Your USP Is Content

Once you have put together your USP, treat it like a piece of content you need to communicate to your prospective and existing clients. Put your USP at the bottom of your emails. Make it part of your signature in online forums. Make sure it’s in your social media profiles. Display it prominently on every page of your professional website. And certainly place it on your business card. Write an expanded version for your online bios.

If you need more help with formulating the USP of your freelancing business, join a free webinar by TheSavvyFreelancer.com on Thursday, September 24, 2009, 9 pm EST. We’ll go over specific elements to consider when you construct your USP.

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