My wife and I enjoyed dinner and good conversation with a friend last evening. Part of our conversation was about the value we bring to our work and the opportunities the marketplace gives us.

Our friend is pursuing new job opportunities (and I happened to renew/write her resume – another value-add benefit of knowing effective copywriting skills). Though she’s transitioning back into a different field she’s able to transfer many if not most of her skills and passions into this new venture.

Most businesses and organizations – like individuals – have transferable benefits. It’s essential to remain ever-aware of those benefits and highlight them as much and as often as possible.

Isn’t that part of what marketing does?

When I’m writing an email promotion, an online or print sales letter, an email autoresponder series, a case study, a client’s blog post…even an individual’s resume (as with my friend) – I focus on the transferable benefits of the business’s product/service to a particular solution their prospects/clients seek for solving a problem.

• What value do your products/services deliver to your market?

Consider what your top-level clients/customers are saying about you. Listen to their feedback and survey comments (you are asking for this…right?). Between the lines of what your clients tell you is “gold” you can mine and use in your marketing content.

• How do your unique benefits stack-up next to others in your market?

This isn’t a question of one-upmanship. In fact, I encourage being so focused on your own unique-selling-proposition (USP) that you seldom (if ever) fall into the trap of comparing your marketing value to that of others. But it does help to know what’s working and not working for those with similar or same product/service solutions.

Live and learn…then develop your unique benefits to deliver to the marketplace. The more uniquely specific those benefits – the better!

Our dinner conversation gave me some valuable food-for-thought. Go…serve-up some value to your market today!