Jul 26, 2014 / Beginner

Revisiting Your UVP: Why Should We Read *You*?

Have you figured out your UVP, or unique value proposition, yet? Consider your niche, place on the internet, and what makes you you.

Every story has already been told. Once you’ve read Anna Karenina, Bleak House, The Sound and the Fury, To Kill a Mockingbird, and A Wrinkle in Time, you understand that there is really no reason to ever write another novel. Except that each writer brings to the table, if she will let herself, something that no one else in the history of time has ever had.

— Anna Quindlen

What makes you you?

This quote from bestselling author Anna Quindlen came to mind as I pondered this week’s Writing 201 workshop on finding your angle. In this workshop, we ask participants to consider how best to tell their stories and approach their posts. The most memorable writers put their own spins on a topic, using their experiences to shape their stories.

In a way, this lesson on finding your story angle reminds me of a post in our Daily Post archives about defining your UVP, or unique value proposition.

Let’s revisit Michelle’s description of UVP:

When it comes to business, this concept is often referred to as a “unique selling proposition.” It’s the reason a manufacturer thinks you should choose its product from the lineup. It’s the promise that product makes. Kraft mac n’ cheese is the cheesiest. Gap jeans are stylish and timeless. Ford trucks are reliable and tough.

When it comes to blogging, a unique value proposition isn’t all that different: it’s the reason a reader should spend time on your blog. The Daily Post helps you blog better. BuzzFeed collects the funniest images. Cute Overload perks up your day with adorable bunnies.

Defining your UVP helps to establish your place among millions of other bloggers on the internet, and identify what you can bring to the blogging table. You might not believe it, but we all have something new and fresh we can offer to the subjects and fields we care about.

So, how can you figure out your UVP? Michelle continues:

Even if you already blog about a defined topic or two, you can probably hone your UVP. After all, you’re not the only person who blogs about pottery, but you might be the only pottery blogger focused on reviving 12th century Meso-American potting traditions.

If you don’t have a specific interest or niche, consider these questions to figure out your own UVP:

  • What can readers find on my blog that they can’t find anywhere else?
  • What questions am I trying to answer with my blog?
  • What is distinct about my voice?
  • What makes me awesome?

Ideally, this is a single sentence. This sentence is your UVP, the essence of your blog, and the thing readers will remember about you.

After considering these questions, craft one sentence that describes what you’re all about — this is your UVP.

To read more about your unique value proposition, revisit the original post, “FYI: Get the LD on Your UVP.” Because it encourages you to brainstorm the uniqueness of you on a higher level, it makes for nice supplementary reading to our “What’s Your Angle?” workshop.

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  1. My blog is a veritable goldmine of sci fi nerdery, book reviews, Doctor Who squealing, writing advice and information about my upcoming projects; it’s a bric a brac store of creativity and who doesn’t like those right?

    Hey, that’s a great exercise!

    Liked by 1 person

  4. My favorite blog about how I as a christian, peatland-adoring Swede study Finnish is unique enough, but my general blog about things I experience, the one my mother and siblings read, is not brave enough or unique enough. How would you like me to change?

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I’m just barely starting up my own blog, so listening to me is optional, but to create a unique blog I would say the most basic thing you have to have is voice. Something that separates you from every other blogger. Good luck!

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  5. I don’t think that my UVP is my problem (I’ve not found others trying to do the same as me yet) – my struggle is increasing the readership. Any tips on how to target a specific audience (i.e. people interested in my UVP) without knowing who the audience is?

    Liked by 1 person

      2. Also, do you know how to use the tag explorer on the reader? On the right hand side there is a box called “Tags”. The top line should have an empty box that says “Enter a Tag”. Add general stuff like science, medical science etc. When you want to surf those tags, click on that item in the list and recent posts with those tags will appear in the reader.

        Good luck with it 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  6. I know that finding ones uvp is supposed to be about self. However would it be incorrect to have someone from the outside looking in to help me come up with my uvp? You know what they say, “outside eyes notice things that the insiders overlook”. If I base my uvp on the opinion of others, am I still being true to myself?

    Liked by 2 people

  7. Today, in my English club, We talked about niche. Surely, We have to do something to differentiate ourselves in the good way in order to compete the very great others outside. Thank you for reminding me of this. Really useful. I’m Cong in Vietnam. Nice knowing you.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Four fabulous questions to make a blogger’s site unique + provide a 30 second elevator speech, have not nail that one yet. What will readers find on my site? That everyday dogs die from strangulation on their collars, and that there are tie out laws for transporting dogs in truck beds. My voice tracks and loves the mysterious, the marvelous and spits the fire of facts to support animal welfare. Thanks! I feel better..now.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. It’s similar to the marketing book entitled POSITIONING. Its premise is that you have to be #1 in the market (as a brand) to succeed (according to that same book, #2 just won’t do!) but that doesn’t sound so good(!!) – infact it’s threatening in its psychological pressure on the reader. But it really is similar to what is being said here.

    You CAN be #1 BECAUSE you can brand your blogs with a unique touch that is YOU – your personality and your unique combination of experiences that no one has ever had. As for my personal experience on the thing, I think that’s what drew my audience to me when I started blogging years ago: they were drawn to me (my personality and my unique take on things).

    SO it is with EVERYONE ELSE. As I’ve said in one of my posts here (and let me paraphrase it for clarity): Everyone is unique because everyone is interesting. Now it’s up to the blogger to BRING OUT that individuality for others to appreciate.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. [I posted a follow-up and it didn’t show…I hope posting this won’t result in a double follow-up] Anyway I just realized that what was said at the end of my post above can be a vice-versa proposition: Everyone is unique because everyone is interesting (in their own way) – and – Everyone is rather interesting because each one is unique. That’s really the only reason why we should be reading *You*; give or take any variations in the propensities or interests of readers/the audience.

      Liked by 1 person

  11. My blog is a story of a Jewish girl finding Jesus and her journey to Christ. My story is unique and I am trying to find an angle that will draw readers in. There are a lot of Christian blogs out there but few to none about a Jewish girl’s journey to Jesus. Any tips on helping to find that niche? I am looking to draw in more Jewish readers to make them feel comfortable learning about Jesus.

    Liked by 2 people

  12. I’m random, I’m funny, my blog is me speaking about a ton of things that interest me and hopefully get other people interested. I’m told that I have a unisex ageless voice on my blog. Come find out at

    hardknoc.wordpress.com

    Liked by 1 person

  14. I don’t have an angle. Don’t care if you read mine. If you are so small minded to think every story has been told. Well you haven’t lived much.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. every story has not been told, you’re right. I think what they mean to say is that there are only a handful of basic scenarios (but everybody’s experience of the scenario has its own twists and quirks which make it different from all the other stories based on the same scenario).

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I have 50 years of stories that most people could never fathom living through. I did and I survived. I am not 100% sane as a result of PTSD from a very early age. So when I do get ready to share the horror that has been my life it may resemble some other people’s lives. But, it is different because it is mine. I own it. Thank you all for your opinions.

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  16. The same goes for artwork! I’m not sure what my angle is but it’s definitely surreal 🙂 I’m working on a series of people I see in my dreams

    Liked by 1 person

  17. It is very true, boy meets girl, boy loses girl blah, blah. Right now I am adapting a play from a novel. In essence I have to infuse the old story, which I love with a new what? Not perspective but with my own take on what the story means to me and how I can tell it in another medium and an in a different manner. This make sense?
    In keeping true to the source material I can tell my version of what said story means to me and hopefully infuse an old novella with new life that will also make people want to read the novella.

    Liked by 1 person

  19. I still dont have what my blog will be since it was only 2 months – i mostly absorp many articles related to motorbikes from wellknown online magazine or leading blogs…..it’s more to convey updated information not how they are written..hmmm

    Liked by 1 person

  21. Positivity, humour, and an American’s take on permanent residence in England, farm life, family, fashion, and fabulous holidays: This is my madcap life. 😊 Hello everybody! I’m Mother Hen

    Liked by 1 person

  23. I just use my blog to be myself and try not to worry too much. If I get too caught up in concepts that have their own acronyms, blogging isn’t much fun for me. Seems like it hinges on what you seek from the blog experience … No?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yep — just be yourself. Write about what you want. We offer suggestions and tips each day, but you don’t have to take any of ’em! Do what’s best for you, and ultimately, just have fun.

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  26. I completely agree. I’m writing a fantasy series right now and it was very difficult to start because I refused to use any kind of concept that has been done before. Happy to say I found something unique and intriguing, but not everybody is as lucky and we get stuck with things like 50 Shades of Grey. (put your torches and pitchforks down, it’s an alright book)

    Liked by 1 person

  27. My blog is about why women settle for being a “missionary girl” and why men choose them to marry but leave them for the “second wife”. I have used this theory for years and after many hours of pleaing from my girlfriends I have finally decided to blog about it.

    Liked by 1 person

  29. Just telling a good story…even if it is a story that has been read before; a good story will be embraced by readers. (Heck – how many times will a remake of Spiderman be made?) The trick is, how to tell a good story.

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