Writing marketing material requires a knowledge of what makes your company different. Why do your customers choose you? That’s a fairly obvious thing to consider, but I wonder how many of us actually do that? If we did, it ought to be the first thing on our “About Us” pages, yet looking at them, I get the feeling that at most companies, we haven’t really thought about what separates us from the competition.

Asking customers what makes you different can help you get a good picture of what your USPs are, or at least what they’re perceived to be. But a recent Seth Godin thought gave me an idea: what about asking them what they would do if you disappeared tomorrow? It’s a brave, almost reckless question. But the answers could tell you so much.