Nick Nichols Personal Branding Expert

I was scrolling through television channels last Sunday morning and I happened upon an infomercial for the Land Rider bicycle. It was interesting because of the unique way the bicycle was positioned.

First, they selected a target market: recreational bike riders who ride more for enjoyment than for competitive reasons and who favor comfort and ease of use over fancy racing features.

The bike was apparently designed specifically for this market and not for hard-core cyclists. In fact, I did some research and found that cycling purists don't like the Land Rider because it's too simple. No matter. The Land Rider is not made for them.

This is the first way to differentiate what you sell from your competitors. Pick a niche market. Tailor your offering to that niche. Become known as the best supplier to that niche. To paraphrase Abe Lincoln, don't try to please all the people all the time or you will end up not pleasing anyone anytime.

That doesn't mean you can't sell to people outside your niche. It means that you should do everything you can to cultivate as narrow a market as you can and still have a wide enough audience to be profitable.

And speaking of profit, when you are known as THE best alternative for what you sell, you can usually charge a premium.

Second, they make an extremely bold guarantee. Try the bike for 30 days and if you don't like it you can return it. This kind of guarantee is common in infomercials. Why? Because it works!

Many business people are reluctant to offer a bold guarantee because they are afraid that people will take advantage of it. And they're right. A few will. But experience consistently shows that you will attract far more buyers with a bold guarantee than you would without one. The few that take advantage constitute a small cost of doing business.

It's called "risk reversal," and it's a very powerful way to differentiate your business from competitors. It demonstrates that you believe enough in what you do to stand behind it proudly.

It costs very little to institute and test a strong guarantee. The worst that can happen is that you may discover a flaw in your offering that needs to be addressed. Wouldn't that be good to know about anyway?

Third, and most important, Land Rider is the only bike with the patented AutoShift technology that eliminates the need to shift gears manually.

This "only-one advantage" was displayed on the screen many times. Yes, the bike has some other nice features that probably appeal to their target market. But it's the ONLY bike with the AutoShift system. So if not having to shift gears manually is important, and you want the AutoShift system, you HAVE to buy a Land Rider. There IS no other choice.

And this is the key to your continued success and essential if you want to dominate your competition. You must come up with an "only-one advantage" that is meaningful to your target market. Ideally, this should be something that is not easily copied by your competitors. Even if it is, you will be positioned as the first to do it and others will be seen as copycats.

Federal Express is a classic example of this. They were the first to guarantee overnight delivery. Others followed, but FedEx has retained top-of- the-mind awareness for nearly three decades because they were the innovators.

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