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. I don’t see any other sites out there that cater to the nerdy redneck (ie “Readneck”) I had to create the term and the genre =-) It’s been fun so far!

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  3. Always great advice. I am finding it hard to blog about things I want to write about because I need more experience with the topic or pictures to better the post, which I do not yet have. How do you know when it is the right time to blog about a certain topic, or when you should wait because it might be better if you write it later on?

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  4. A story is very much like an opinion. Everyone has one and no two are exactly the same. We have the freedom to own an opinion and we have the freedom to own a story. We may choose to share either or not share one or the other. In any case, every story is unique and should be taken as such. This is my opinion and others I am sure have their own. They may choose to share it or keep it to themselves.

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    1. Indeed. I think there’s also a danger in focusing too much on one’s niche, special and unique talent, topic of expertise, etc. Personally, I feel my own personal blog has thrived because of my loose focus (on “fog”), which allows me to tie disparate themes and threads together (music, love, home, travel, writing on the internet, technology, etc.).

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  7. A subject can start from anything. I’m pretty new at blogging, and yes I have been told that it was preferable to focus on one subject and then provide good content on it, but after three articles that I’ve put out so far, which talks about various things, I feel like I would not stick to one subject as advised, but a large range of subject will always keep the reader on his toes, for he or she never know what to expect, and the writer’s imagination is free to really explore various things. When we can do more, why limit ourselves, but I understand the idea behind the focus, simple is better and less is more @ times.

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  8. I needed to read this today. Just yesterday I read a blog by someone I know and respect, in which she complains how “everyone is a writer.” She wasn’t referring to me specifically but it punched me in the stomach and stirred up my insecurities. Maybe everyone *is* a writer but each person does have their own unique perspective on life and their own unique way of expressing themselves. I’m still fairly new to the world of blogging so I’m still fine-tuning me voice but, I believe my UVP is how I share my personal experiences and lessons I’ve learned in an honest and humorous way so that readers may be inspired along their own path of self-improvement.

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  10. Individual perspectives vary on issues, morals, rules, and if one has the ability to see more then one then their writing can be very universal. There are writers who see thing from only one dimension while others see it clearly from all sides of a mountain, or are even able to look at things through many different world views, and those are the authors that have stuck with me over time. They encourage me to write in depth and pour out my inner most feelings.

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  11. I’m no writer and do not claim to be one. I only started blogging recently because I am downright broke and need to sell off my toy collection to get some money. There are probably a million other blokes doing the same thing as well, which makes having an “UVP” a lot more challenging but at the same time critical to my success as I will need to standout…..

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