Entrepreneuers Share What Makes Their Business Unique – July 7th

In the current generation of business being unique is a top priority to getting noticed. Each day some new story comes out about some creative marketing plan that takes the cake and drives huge traffic to a business. The Taco Liberty Bell April Fool’s joke or Verizon’s real life ‘Can You Hear Me Now?’ promo can only be described as unique. If a business is to survive and thrive making an effort to be unique is a must. Whether you pull of unique marketing stunts, have products which need no introduction or style yourself as an innovative CEO, having a defining quality is what customers will notice.

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We did what everyone said we couldn’t do

My business is unique because we did everything everybody said we couldn’t do. In 1992 we lost everything in Paul Keating’s ‘recession we had to have’ and escaped the city lights for the rural life. We established a world wide business from a remote rural property before the internet, email or even call waiting came to our rural patch. We did it with one telephone line and a fax machine. Today we have 300,000+ one-on-one customers in 29 countries around the world. With no retail distribution.

Thanks to Carol Jones, Interface Pty Ltd

Because we’re keeping the tradition alive

My business is unique as it offers clients hand crafted pieces of solid wood furniture rather than the ever-popular mass produced variety. The traditional joinery techniques I use have been in existence for thousands of years, unlike today’s techniques relying heavily on glue technology and modern joinery, which have not yet passed the test of time. Using mortice and tenons and dovetail joints results in pieces that are supreme in strength and guaranteed to last for generations. This gives the client piece of mind that their furniture will be a true family heirloom. I am proud that my business is not contributing to the throwaway society we unfortunately live in, and instead respects the journey of the timber to date, giving it ongoing life in another form. In a world where traditional skills are becoming increasingly rare, I am honoured to be keeping the age old tradition of hand crafted furniture making alive.

Thanks to Peter Walker, Peter Walker Furniture

Big data for the little guy

I started Market Prophit to be able to deliver financial big data analytics to *every* investor; not just large institutional clients. We use sophisticated natural language processing and quantitative analytics to extract meaningful bullish/bearish signals from social media noise. We believe that in the age where the consumption, interpretation, and validation of large quantities of information in social media conversations is becoming harder every day, it is important to help empower the individual investor with the same big data analytics tools and market-moving information currently available to professional investors. We are “Big Data” for the “Little Guy”.

Thanks to Igor Gonta, Market Prophit

Related Post: How Big Data is Changing Everything

We offer something no one else does

My business is unique because we offer something that no one else does. The plus size fashion industry is huge and is growing by leaps and bounds BUT the plus size bridal industry is not. I have created the world’s only magazine for plus size brides. We bring inspiration to plus size brides that looks like them. Everyone deserves to see inspiration that looks like them and especially when you are planning the biggest day of your life, your wedding. We provide real weddings, tips, tricks and wedding inspiration dedicated to plus size brides. Our magazine is distributed all over the world.

Thanks to Shafonne Myers, Pretty Pear Bride

Making philanthropy easier

We felt the digital age, with all its mediums and channels, was the perfect platform for social change to make a global entrance; that causes could now really get their message out. However, we noticed that the technology to do this often came at a premium price, as is the required knowledge and resources to create them. So we decided to change that. We didn’t want to just create a product (mobile apps), we wanted to create solutions. So, not only are our apps built just for the needs of the philanthropic sector, but we also provide all the tools that will help them succeed. Our goal is to take philanthropy to the next level. We believe that social impact is the future and we want to help drive that change.

Thanks to Jonathan Grover, iNotForProfit

Actually solving problems

A generation of MBA’s was taught to find the “USP” or unique selling proposition, so they their business would be unique. But how many of these business people have been disappointed when they promote a USP that didn’t help them. The problem is that consumers don’t just want “unique”. They want a solution to their problem. They want an answer to their question. The right place to start marketing isn’t just being unique (who wants a “Purple Cow”?) The right place to start is by listening to potential customers so you hear what they need. These are their “Hot Buttons”. This is what’s most important to them. Show customers that you can solve their problems and they’ll really know that you’re unique…in the only way that makes a difference. That’s what we do with Informer Messages on hold. Lots of businesses would consider this “Branding”, but we simply put this (unique) work we do for our clients to work in an underutilized marketing tool.

Thanks to Casey Hart, Informer Messages

Our leverage of Google Plus

What makes our company different is our leverage Google Plus ( G+ ) to help our clients in a few ways. If they are afflicted by a Google penalty we help them balance out the penalty with good practices on G+ to build earned links and influence. If a client is not under a penalty we help them with writing, Google+ engagement and profile development. The unique aspect to this is that we have developed a formulaic process that does require humans to do the work for our clients, at an affordable rate and all done in the US. This allows us to keep the human element and have a high ROI impact. The impact of engagement and development on G+ is seen in rise in search rankings, developed thought leadership and a brand that communicates regularly with their customers and prospects.

Thanks to Ben Fisher, Steady Demand

Related Post: The Benefits of Using Google+

Transforming disaster

We take people’s photos and memorabilia (sometimes by the SUV load) and transform generations of disaster into incredible, sorted, scanned pictures the family can enjoy. No other company literally drive away with your nightmare and returns with pure bliss! And the reason I believe no one else does it is because it’s so tedious. It take microfocus and people who are just OCD enough to feel that sorting through hundreds of thousands of pictures is “fun”…and not treachery!

Thanks to Pavan LeMay, Photo Nanny

The mere nature

The mere nature of my business is extremely unique. The rage of clients includes every ethnic group and every socio-economic group and no two people are the same…EVER!! Anger knows no ageism or income bracket. My work includes some very famous people and everyday “”joes” and everyone in between including a nun!!

Thanks to Yacine Bell, Anger Management Institute, LLC

Mind reading

When it comes to unique, you can’t get any more unique than a mind reader. My company Hoffman Entertainment, represents me as an artist, as well as 19 other acts. I travel the world reading people’s minds for a living, and my business involves revealing the innermost thoughts of my audience. Since the launch of Hoffman Entertainment, the company has since expanded to represent other acts including a quick-change act, a guy who whips pretzel sticks out of audience member’s mouths, and even a juggler from Cirque Du Soleil. All in a day’s work.

Thanks to Wayne Hoffman, Hoffman Entertainment

Running a business from the road 365 days a year

I run my business from the road while traveling 365 days of the year, living and working out of a 29-foot Airstream travel trailer. About five years ago, my husband and I decided that we were fed up with cutting the grass and paying a mortgage and being stuck in one location — so we spent a year and a half downsizing from an 1800 square foot house to less than 200 square feet of RV space, figuring out how to get our mail and deposit checks and maintain an internet connection while mobile, and shifting our focus in the direction of work that we could do from anywhere in the U.S. What we discovered was that having a variety of income streams gave us the flexibility to travel without worrying about maintaining a location-dependent client base — I am a veteran professional organizer and coach, a published author and blogger, a public speaker, a photographer, and a travel writer — while my husband is a graphic artist, web programmer, and trainer (teaching WordPress design and Photoshop skills to both techies and non techies). While more and more younger working non-retirees are hitting the road, ours is still a fairly unique situation — and we are proud to call ourselves modern-day nomads!

Thanks to Ramona Creel

Unique umbrellas

GRIP2 LLC develops, markets and sells incredibly innovative yet amazingly practical rain umbrellas that provide both generous coverage and exceptional control (plus eye-catching looks). The industry-first combination of coverage and control distinguishes GRIP2 LLC from all other rain umbrella companies. Building on a patented repositionable grip feature – which makes it up to 70% easier to hold and control the umbrella in wind by dramatically reducing wind-generated torque and increasing leverage – my company seeks to turn a necessary-evil commodity into a sought after lifestyle accessory. Another unique aspect of the business is its roots. I’ve spent 30+ years as an engineer, manager and executive developing high-tech products for the defense and homeland security industries, where human factors is often a significant consideration in the design, deployment and operation of life-critical, handheld equipment. This experience base allowed me to recognize that, ironically, umbrellas have never been designed to enable the user to comfortably, reliably and sustainably control the umbrella with one hand in windy conditions. Because rain is often accompanied by wind, conventional umbrellas often perform poorly in the very conditions where they’re needed most! Trash cans in any city after any storm provide proof of this, with all classes of umbrellas well represented in the twisted remnants. It’s no wonder they’re perceived by so many consumers as a necessary-evil commodity item. GRIP2’s dual-grip umbrella design – which solves this age-old problem – is “outside the box” because we started outside the box. But because of that, we recognize that our business challenge is to educate the consumer about the benefits and value proposition of a feature that heretofore nobody was asking for. By offering a combination of unmatched performance and cool looks, we’ve set out to meet that challenge and make GRIP2 umbrellas a very popular lifestyle accessory.

Thanks to Dan O’Donnell, GRIP2 LLC

Because we’re all unique

I had the idea for Stanford Row when I was looking for a special dress for my wonderful wife, on our daughter’s wedding day. It was important to get this right because she’d recently been through extensive cancer treatment – and I wanted her to feel beautiful again. Browsing online I found amazing dressmakers and designers making their designs – not ‘hand made’ but ‘made to measure’. At the same time I was realising some painful truths about my business practices. I’d been expending huge energies creating markets for products, rather than looking for what people were asking for and simply giving it to them. It was business 101 stuff and I couldn’t believe I’d fallen into that trap. It was this refreshed perspective that helped me to see these designers where providing an answer to probably the last and greatest problem with online shopping – ‘When it arrives will it fit?’ After more research I discovered countless talented folk across the US (and the world!), all struggling for a place online and getting their message swallowed by sites offering the usual mass produced rubbish. I wanted to help them get seen, and I wanted people like me to hear the message that we shouldn’t have to be slave to standard clothes sizes, clothes are supposed to fit us not the other way round! So I built Stanford Row with an on-line fitting room and all the tools needed so customers can deal directly with designers in their own boutiques and shop without worry due to protected payments, customer reviews etc. I’m really proud of Stanford Row and the designers, who are loving it too, it’s growing rapidly, there is nothing like this anywhere at all. It is a real privilege to be heading up such a unique venture that is meeting a genuine need. Oh, and my wife – well, we just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary and are looking forward to many, many more

Thanks to Andrew Hemingway, Stanford Row

Unique in what we offer

RepoVehiclesForSale.com one of the only auto repossession sales web sites that actually offers bank owned repossessions to the public as well as dealerships and wholesalers. Most Internet businesses on the web are actually dealers that have a few repossessions to lure buyers in but direct them to their real inventory. Other web sites are just holding sites for overpriced vehicles that are actually priced at retail or more! We only deal with banks and brokers who represent lenders that are willing to sell the repossession inventory for close to wholesale and move on. With over seven years of Internet sales experience we offer both lenders and buyers a real win-win proposition. Each vehicle listed for sale on our site has a minimum price that is set by the legal owner/lender. Only offers over the set minimum will be considered. An offer is either accepted or not accepted. The legal owner/lender will not make a counter offer. This business is set up to deal auto professionals and private buyers who know what they want and can make a decision. If a buyer is not contacted within 24 hours the offer has not been accepted. Offers are welcome until the vehicle is sold!

Thanks to Brandon Macomber, RepoVehiclesForSale.com

Uniquely responsible data management

LifeCounts is a subscription-based online platform that allows users to optimize their financial lives for greater clarity and control. At LifeCounts, we’re committed to responsible data management. We do not distribute any data to third parties, and there are no advertisements. Though compute and resource outsourcing, specifically a reliance on cloud-based solutions, is a common practice among web-based software companies, we do not outsource any data handling or computing operations to third parties. Because of the sensitive nature of the information stored and our commitment to consumer advocacy, the entire LifeCounts experience is managed and stored on company-owned and operated servers and is protected by overlapping layers of bank-level security.

Thanks to Peter Murray, LifeCounts

Uniquely global

Our products and services are available globally and are not limited to a specific country or language – which is pretty unique for the mobile industry that is dominated by the English language and cloud communication providers. We do offer our products and services in English, however, we focus globally on areas and regions that speak a different language than English such as German and Spanish for example. This is a unique approach as literally no one else does this at this time. We have created a highly profiled SMS Marketing Solution that provides any business with a fully automated text message based customer loyalty program they need to grow and expand their business. Our solution is very easy to use, extremely cost effective and transparent. Our approach allows all types of businesses and industry (also the “little guy”) to secure their business, source new prospects and customers, enhance customer service and to grow the bottom line.

Thanks to Nur Sharina Shariff, Mobile Sales Systems

Related Post: Top Countries to Do Business In

Building confidence

I work with women life coaches in their first year of business who struggle getting clients because they lack confidence in themselves and their abilities as a new coach. They fear failure, having to go back to a “J.O.B,” and not fulfilling their calling to make a difference in the world. Everything I do is about a confidence breakthrough to help them bust through those old, limiting beliefs in order to thrive and make the difference they were put on this planet to make. As a woman who was once very shy, and is now confidently running a thriving business, I have seen many women in business fail because they lack the confidence needed to build a business. I help them see their own value and the value in the service they provide so they can fulfill their vision to make a big impact.

Thanks to Erin Summ, Erin Summ Coaching

A simple value proposition

A simple value proposition has differentiated us in the mobile app development space. We start our discussion with our customers providing insights into business, customer behavior, product strategy, marketing strategy and monetization tactics. This comes at no cost to our customers and is drawn from our experience in working with entrepreneurs and businesses over the year

Thanks to Rahul Varshneya, Arkenea LLC

A unique take on charity

We are an eCommerce company selling polo shirts and t-shirts in a range of beautiful colors that correspond to a recognizable group of charities associated with the color. Every time someone purchases a shirt, they (the shopper) selects a non-profit to donate 25% of the sales price of the shirt to. So, for example, if I buy a pink b&b polo shirt and pay $58, beacon & brewster donates $14.50 to my favorite breast cancer charity- this can be done at checkout. In addition, all of b&b’s shirts are sourced from American fabrics and each item is 100% made in the USA.

Thanks to Eileen Sherman, beacon & brewster

Related Post: How to Partner With Non-Profits

Changing the odds

The theater business is intense. Less than 20% of shows on Broadway make a profit. We work to change those odds. We are a very unique business as The Pekoe Group is a full service marketing and advertising firm specializing in New York theater. We create ad campaigns, design logos, code websites, manage social media platforms, roll out marketing strategies and do everything possible to promote commercial theater productions and sell more tickets. One of our very unique and Guinness World Record-breaking promotions was to arrange for the largest air guitar ensemble in the theater — the biggest ever with over 800 — for the TONY-nominated Rock of Ages. We are a nimble group of driven, young, over-competent, communicators who believe in the power of collaborative storytelling. We know art to be the most valuable asset of a culture and our mission is to match people hungry for engaging live entertainment with shows they will love.

Thanks to Amanda Pekoe, The Pekoe Group

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