What is your unique selling proposition? In other words, what makes your product or service different or better than that of your competitors? Why should consumers buy your stuff over someone else's?

To promote your business effectively, you must have a unique selling proposition, or USP — that is, a major benefit that your competitors either don't have or don't promote.

Ideally, your product is vastly superior to all other products in the category. In reality, though, that's rarely the case. With so much competition out there, there's often little or no differentiation between similar products.

However, you can create a perceived value by highlighting benefits your competition hasn't stressed. Here's how:

1) Analyze your competitors' ads and marketing materials. Is there an important benefit they've ignored that you can adopt as a USP — something that sets you apart?

For example:
a) Every dental office has a waiting room. But if you have an especially beautiful, relaxing waiting area — perhaps it's on the river, and patients can watch ducks, kayaks, and sailboats go by while getting their teeth filled — play it up. What apprehensive patient wouldn't appreciate a tranquil setting while prior to drill time?

b) You don't have to be "just another" retail store. One of our fave boutiques offers nearly unheard of personal-shopping services. We just give them a call (or go to their Web site), tell them what we need, and then they'll wrap it, send it, and enclose a gift card. What time-pressed entrepreneur doesn't appreciate that kind of service?

2) Dramatize a benefit. Although walkie-talkies generally work over a several-mile range, Radio Shack hit that message home in a commercial that showed two people communicating from opposite sides of the Grand Canyon. Instead of just stating the product's range, they demonstrated it in a captivating and dramatic fashion.

3) Build a personality for your brand. There was the Marlboro Man, who conveyed machismo. There was that kooky Great Adventure guy, who exuded fun and silliness. And now there's that lovable duo from Apple-ad fame, "Mac" and "PC, " who personify their respective brands with wit and humor. Giving your brand a personality is yet another way to stand out from the competition. Whether you use a person, a mascot, a design element or a color combination, you can create a unique image your customers won't forget.

It's the new year and time to think about how you can reposition your brand with an unforgettable edge.

So ... what's your USP?