Not-so-quick story (don’t worry, this gets good)...
When I was first coming up in business...I “tried on” a lot of different hats in my messaging.
First, there was the “hey, writing feels like homework! Don’t DIY it! Pass if off to me” copywriter. The jack-of-all-writing gal (eeesh I still facepalm at this one).
Then, there was the “soulful, aligned” copywriter—with lots of messages about service and also making YOU feel aligned with your purpose.
Then there was the “MONEY IS THE ULTIMATE, ca-ching, ca-ching” copywriter—the one who could help you 10x all you do with the written word.
I was fresh off of B-School and a number of other copywriting courses. All of which were helpful in those formative months and years. But, every time I’d jump into a new course, join a community, or follow one of my business heroes I’d start to errrrr...sound alot like *them*.
Can you blame me? I’d just entered the crowded world of online business and hey, if something was working for those big players, those heroes I looked up to, it had to work for me right?
I’ll cut to the chase here. It didn’t.
And, there’s nothing quite as confidence-and-soul-crushing like doing everything you think you’re supposed to be doing in business only to flounder and feel like a total fake.
Sure, I’d catch a client here or there (something I attribute to pure grit and a sprinkle of natural acumen) but it always felt like an unsustainable fluke. It made me wonder if that “can do” attitude I started out with was just naive as hell.
It felt like I was missing something—some genetic wiring, some designer DNA that the greats were blessed with and I just wasn’t.
And truth be told...anytime I’d put messaging out based off of some “personae” hat I was trying on, I felt completely full of sh*t.
I constantly worried I was making claims I couldn’t substantiate. I chronically felt the need to compete. As in, be the loudest, the wittiest, the whatever-iest to elbow my way into the conversation. And I would see the success of my colleagues as a direct swipe from my dwindling success account.
Try covering that kind of insecurity up on a sales call.
But eventually, something changed...
Fast forward a bit. I’m getting work regularly (though not every project was a great fit) and I’d landed some hefty retainer work that kept me feeling stable.
But it was time to level-the-eff up. My mish mash of an Instagram sat as a measly monument to my climbing trips and my dogs.
My business Facebook was all over the place with helpful *tips and tricks* scattered here and there.
And my website was still “calling all solopreneurs ready to ditch DIY” for Day Rate work (which meant a lot of low-dollar projects and “rushy rushy” energy).
Still, I knew there was something in there. Some ZING that had people coming to me and referring more work. I just had to dig it out and get more comfortable talking about it.
Thus operation “Find Zerkie’s ZING” began.
With the prompting of a kick-ass coach, I began doing the work. I scoured my testimonials, reflected on my favorite past projects, read through and through my processes, my content, the things I was already putting out—all to find that pattern, that thing that came up again and again.
I looked to my inspirations in music, in business, in entertainment. I asked myself “what do I really believe about my industry?” “what do I hate seeing in this world?” “what do I want to create more of?”
And then. I sat.
I took lots of walks. I let the ideas simmer in my brain. Until one day, the heat turned up and they were practically boiling out of me.
I’d tapped into the thing that set me apart from others. And, let’s be real—there’s a BILLION and one copywriters out there (an unscientific number that kept me feeling the need to compete, claws out, teeth gnashing).
But now, I’d found the thing that took the need to compete with the other big players and become a big leaguer in my very own corner of the market.
I finally knew how to stop competing to be the “best” in my industry and started telling people how and why I was the best at something no one else in my industry was doing.
The very next sales call I took, I laid it out in a quick statement to my lead. I didn’t recoil at the “how much does it cost” question and snagged a HUGE retainer client.
That’s when I knew “Holy sh*t Zerks! This freaking works!”
So, what is the “zing” I found? It happens to be my Unique Selling Proposition (USP for the cool kids). A single statement that encompasses everything that was already making me awesome in my industry.
And it goes a little something like this:
“I help next-level entrepreneurs become the ‘next big thing’ in crowded industries”.
That was it! Going through my body of work, talking with past and current clients—that was the thing they knew they’d get from working with me. They’d bring their jumbled (but still magical AF) ideas to me and get a clear unique selling proposition to build core messaging that reflected and amplified their awesome and of course, their bottom line.
This was too good. I couldn’t keep it to myself.
And, that’s when The Amplify Your Awesome Framework for USPs was born.
I reverse-engineered what my brain naturally does for my clients (what I’d done for my own business too) and put it out into the world. Now, my dream clients could experience a snippet of the process that goes into creating copy that sells like hotcakes.
(It’s now my lead magnet and stands at the corner of everything I’m about).
Now, hundreds of my people could find their hook, their je ne sais quoi, their "thing" that they can weave through messages wherever they show up.
Whew. It’s big time baby.
And, with a little testing of the Framework, I started to see just how far-reaching the results of knowing your USP can be.
People were starting to see it in their own businesses. AYA users were suddenly…
- WAY more confident on sales calls (after all they knew they were hitting paydirt in their own corner now).
- Up-leveling their entire brands (with a solid cornerstone to stand on and build bigger).
- Rethinking the angle they were taking on their sales pages (and hitting the heartstrings of their dream clients).
- Taking to social media with more solid footing (and creating content that felt real to them and reflected their superpowers).
Because here’s the thing: even when you’re starting out, you’ve got “awesome” simmering. Using The AYA Framework just turns up the heat until it’s boiling out onto the page—and it can’t help but show up in every part of your business.
So those business greats? They really have nothing you don’t. There’s no magic potion, no blue pill to take, no personae to try and act out. It’s right at your fingertips.
Get after it.
Psst—The Amplify Your Awesome Framework for USPs is completely free and it’s right here. Download it and get ready to hit “publish” on your next big payday.
