Why finding your USP isn't all that

They say to find your USP. To find what makes you stand out. I'm studying for a degree in business, but it was way before this, even before my business A Level, back in year 10, where it was drummed into me that a business with a difference will succeed above the rest. A blog (an instagram, twitter, whatever it is) IS a business if you want it to be. But it's not the same as starting up a new phone company or supermarket, and trying to lure customers to your place and not your competitors.

You don't see Asda, Tesco and Morrisons working together, collaborating or shouting each other out. Their business market is so very intense that they need to be the better priced, better value, a better quality business. Bloggers aren't the same.

Content is recycled, inspired from, and sometimes downright copied (the latter is naughty and a no no). You'll be lucky to think of a post that no one has written about before, and when you do, a week later 10 other people are writing a similar thing. So how can we find a USP in this overly saturated market of ours? The answer is that sometimes, you just can't, and that's ok. When I first started blogging (or more vlogging at the beginning) I would literally do what Zoella did. The same outfits she wore, the same sort of places she went to, being inspired by someone and trying to replicate that person, but if you haven't noticed, it didn't work because I am in fact not Zoella. Her USP was the time that she posted, along with her personality and the friendship group she seemed to have with others that did the same. It was like watching TV but real life. Years have passed and now everyone is writing a blog or filming themselves in garden centers, and that's all well and good, but you have to stand out. Somehow. 

There's a few people that follow me, on instagram and occasionally the blog, who read my content purley because it 'makes them laugh', and they have no interest in what I'm actually saying, but how I say it. Personality is key. I once read a blog post from an instagrammer who decided that a blog would further their career. It was so faulsed and dull that I felt bad for the girl who had written it. Her content is fab on social media, and her following growing daily, but she spat out a blog post purley to have something up and all it did was confuse me that if she actually knew what she was talking about. The overall message here is that if you don't want to write, then don't. It won't help you in any way.

Whether or not you like the algorithm, or think it's picking on you, Instagram is a platform that you cannot miss out on. I far more enjoy producing content on there than my blog presently, as it's quicker (to some extent) and my current overly busy schedule allows a post during my put-the-kettle-on mid essay writing time. If you know instagram well, you'll know when it's going to do your post dirty. I know that posting at 1pm on a Friday is a silly idea as the first 10 minutes engagement will determine how many people will see your post for the next few hours. If no one is online at 1pm, no one will see your post after that. I know that if I post and my app crashes or glitches (for example going back onto my page and having to refresh to see it) it once again won't do well. So in a world where photos are uploaded each and every second, how do you stand out when people are scrolling so fast? I think engagement is huge here. Linking back to the personality point, if you engage, story like you're talking to a pal, more people will get to know YOU and not just your photos. Of course, what you actually post is a huge help too, with presets and themes being helpful. With more and more of us jumping on the lightroom, facetune trends, inevitably the way that you edit (if at all) won't be the only one of that style at some point.

Find something that works for you. If you like it, and you start to see the gains, then all's well. If you don't, but love what you're doing, continue and it'll come. Just don't sell out to find your selling point.

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