What Lentil Soup Taught Me About Marketing
Most people don’t start their own businesses because they’re pumped about learning marketing, but it’s completely necessary to find success. Luckily, there are marketing lessons hiding around just about every corner, even in the kitchen.
My mom hates to cook. She’ll happily be the first to admit this you. When I was growing up, if anything was cooked beyond boiled water or a spin in the microwave, it was done by my dad.
And while I never considered myself a “rebel” in the traditional sense, I have always liked to buck traditions and put in the work to show that I can be different if I put my mind to it. (That’s the secret about a lot of entrepreneurs/business owners/freelancers I think).
So I cook.
In fact, now that I work for myself, I cook all three meals at home most days. (Except when a poke bowl is calling my name...or a donut).
I’m by no means a master chef (I couldn’t even cut it on Masterchef Junior -- those kids are intense) but I like it and it brings me a specific type of joy to be able to create nutritious meals for me and my husband.
So naturally, as I was whirring up some tomato soup the other day I started to think about how I could leverage this for content share my experiences to help my audience.
And it occurred to me that learning to cook isn’t all that different from learning marketing.
Allow me to present: lessons I’ve learned in the kitchen that have made me a better marketer.
Bon Appetit!
Start With Simple Stuff
I don’t remember the first thing I ever cooked but I remember the first ‘complicated’ thing I ever cooked and it was this lentil soup. It was delicious, but I spent what was probably half of my checking account on saffron threads which was...dumb.
When it comes to marketing your business, you don’t have to start with a recipe that has you frantically googling what Swiss chard looks like. For instance, you don’t have to build a complex marketing funnel before you’ve sold your first product and you don’t have to buy the most sophisticated automation software.
You can start with a grilled cheese or a simple pesto, which in this case might be writing a blog post, using the free version of MailChimp, or just setting up social accounts for your business.
To mix metaphors, you don’t have to dive into the deep end to learn to swim and if you do, you’re a lot more likely to drown AKA get super overwhelmed.
It’s OK to Use Recipes
There’s some common wisdom that if you use recipes, you don’t really know how to cook or you’re not a good cook.
I use recipes all the damn time and nobody is complaining about my pizza dough or vegetarian chili.
Business owners are creative risk-takers, and we tend to build a lot of our identity around those descriptors. Sometimes that translates to “I have to come up with a fresh new idea every time I do something, otherwise I’m a fraud!”
For your marketing to be effective, you don’t have to create your strategies from scratch. You can start from successful recipes, whether you find them on a blog, in a course, or just kinda crib them (the strategy, NOT the content) from other successful people.
Once you get more experience (and data) under your belt, you’ll be a lot better equipped to make tweaks, changes, and even create your own brand new, fresh-to-death strategies that work for your business.
Memorize Your Favorites
I think it was Ina Garten (or maybe Martha?) who said you should have a handful of really good recipes memorized to be a good cook.
I don’t know how to make coq a vin or beef bourguignon and I would be completely lost if you tried to get me make a souffle.
But I can throw together a pizza dough, tomato soup, some homemade naan, and a juicy roast chicken from memory. If I want the other stuff, I can go to a restaurant.
Maybe you’re really amazing at writing blog posts but you suck at in-person events (what, no, this isn’t based on me, of course not). Maybe you’re superb on camera but sitting down to write marketing emails makes you want to scream.
Play to your strengths. Get good at what you want to be good at. Of course you want to take on new challenges and learn new things, but you can do that once you get really good at your favorites. And you can always go a restaurant AKA a professional service provider for the stuff you don’t get yet or don’t care to learn .
Learn Your Tools
When I first learned about oven thermometers I was absolutely floored. You mean to tell me that there’s a chance my oven temperature doesn’t match up exactly to the number on the knob on the front?
You don’t have to hang a thermometer in your oven every time you bake, but whenever you start cooking with a new one, it can make a huge difference to know what temperature your oven actually is.
Whether you know it or not, you already have a kitchen full of marketing tools at your disposal. It might be your personal narrative, an extremely unique product, or a deep and unrelenting knowledge of your target market.
How do you know how effective your tools are? You start using them.
Share your story on social or write blog posts about the topics your target market really cares about. Track your results, try again. Repeat.
There’s no oven thermometer for marketing, but there are plenty of analytics that can help you. But you gotta start trying things.
You Can Leave Some Things Out
When I made that lentil soup so many years ago and spent like $40 on saffron I hadn’t learned one of the most important cooking lessons out there: you can leave stuff out.
I wouldn’t try to make a lentil soup without, you know, lentils, but leaving out a garnish, a topping, a drizzle, a spice won’t turn something delicious into something gross.
Want to launch a promotional campaign but you haven’t had a professional photo session yet? Eh, skip it.
Have a blog post itching to get our but you haven’t finished your lead generating content upgrade yet? Just publish.
Your business and your marketing will never move forward if you’re waiting to get every single piece perfect. You’ve got to put yourself out there and start trying things to figure out what works for you. Even if you don’t have and za’atar or arugula isn’t in season.
Results May Vary
You only have to take a short scroll down to any online recipe comment section to learn that a recipe that yields incredible results for one cook is a total disaster for another.
It could be the aforementioned oven temperature thing, but it could also be humidity, altitude, utensils, or the phase of the moon. Who really knows.
The point is that this can also happen with your marketing strategy.
You can copy a successful launch exactly or follow all the steps your favorite marketing expert has laid out for you and you might not see the same results. By the same token, you can try something completely different and new -- or something that goes against conventional wisdom -- and you’ll see great results.
I mean, what do you think the first person who tried to make milk out of oats was going on? At just look how that turned out.
What you Take the Time to Learn Today Will Feed You Forever
This is a little hokey, but the truth is that if you dive into marketing your business and get good at it, it will feed you for the rest of your life. Even if you shutter your business, move on to other opportunities, start a non-profit -- knowing how to promote, sell, persuade, and add value for customers will never go out of style. The skills you’re learning and practicing will stay with you in any kitchen and you’ll only get batter. I mean, better.
20 Health & Wellness Business USPs: From the Superfit to the Sluggish
No matter how cool your business sounds, it’s not going to get very far if you can’t explain what it is and who it’s for pretty quick (unless you have a hook like you’re Beyoncé or something. Wait, are you Beyoncé? OMG it’s an honor to have you here!)
I’m on a mission to get out of my house more. As a work from home solopreneur, I spend a whole lot of time alone. Which by and large is fine (people, who needs ‘em?). But then I find myself stammering through a salad order like it’s the first day of 6th grade and I’m like “I need to talk to more people in the real life person flesh space."
As part of this mission, I’m on a lot of email lists for local networking events and other mix n’ mingle kind of things. I got an invite the other day to one hosted by the mega brand Create & Cultivate and this was how the event was described:
What the hell does any of this mean?
I posited the question on instagram and no one else seemed to have any idea either.
It sounds kind of cool? I guess? Rep real? Push new??
Do I want it?
Is it for me? Or is it for younger, skinnier, happier, snapchattier women?
I honestly could not tell you. And I didn’t go to the event. Even though they promised snacks.
But this got me to thinking about how important -- and tragically overlooked -- the power of a THIS IS WHAT WE ARE statement (AKA a USP) is to all businesses.
No matter how cool your business sounds, it’s not going to get very far if you can’t explain what it is and who it’s for pretty fuckin’ quick (unless you have a hook like you’re Beyoncé or something. Wait, are you Beyoncé? OMG it’s an honor to have you here!)
This is why your wellness brand needs a USP.
Even if the brand is just you.
Even if you think everyone that lands on your website already knows who you are.
Your Unique Sales Proposition (USP) is a clear, concise descriptor (it could be a sentence or a *very* short paragraph) that reassures people they want what you’ve got and they’re in the right place.
Your USP should be obvious and it should be on your homepage.
Because, like Joanna Wiebe says, “your home page should help people understand that they’ve come to the right spot and then move them quickly along to the right next page for their needs.”
If people don’t understand that they’re in the right spot, they’ll be more than happy to click away to one of the 80 bazillion other things available to them on the internet.
Hell, it’s taking all my self control not to click away from this blog post and see what’s in the sale section at Sephora. And this is MY OWN BLOG.
But I digress.
Also important to note is the fact that different pages on your website may have different USPs. For instance, if you’re hiring and have a jobs page, what appeals to potential employees is going to be different from what differentiates you to potential customers. This post is only about the USP you present to your potential customers. On your homepage.
You’d be surprised how many businesses either don’t have a USP or bury it on their site. In fact, I found a lot of the ones below hidden on the company “About” page. That’s...less than ideal.
Don’t make your customers hunt for a reason to be interested. Most of them won’t do it.
So if having a USP is soooo important, every big health & wellness brand should have that on lock, right?
You would think.
But as you’ll see below, even the big brands struggle with this.
I believe it’s worth getting right, so to help you out, I spent a few hours combing through websites for health and wellness companies -- from the huge to the teeny -- to collect these USPs.
Some of ‘em are amazing. Some are confusing. And some are...wait, where are they? Oh yeah, some don’t seem to exist at all.
I’ve divided the companies that I examined into the following categories (click to skip down):
- Fitness
- Fashion (all athletics/health based brands)
- Beauty (all natural, organic types)
- Wellness (which includes health coaches)
Not only should this list give you some inspiration, it should hopefully boost your spirits if you’re on the struggle bus with your own USP.
PS: want to download this in a pdf to check it out later or, I don’t know, print it I guess? You can do that.
FITNESS
Company: Peloton
USP: Ride with the best instructors live from NYC.
When I first heard of Peloton I thought it was some type of dance music.
But going to their website, I see that it’s actually extremely clear what they do and who it’s for.
Notably, Peloton has a couple of other USPs that are buried on their about page:
A world-class indoor cycling studio experience on your time, and in the comfort of your own home.
A cutting edge fitness experience that makes working out at home a viable, exciting option.
Yeah, I think they’ve put a little bit of thought into this.
Company: FitBit
USP: Fitbit motivates you to reach your health and fitness goals by tracking your activity, exercise, sleep, weight and more.
In 2018, FitBit has the benefit that most of solopreneurs and small businesses don’t: basically everybody already knows what they sell.
Instead of describing their product, they can use their central USP to convey user benefits, which is a fit bit of delicious conversion copywriting.
Still, since there are a number of entrants in the wearable fitness trackers market by now, I think they could go a bit further in differentiating themselves from other companies (e.g., by honing in on how they were the first, how they've shown better results, or whatever it is that makes them really unique).
Company: Equinox
USP: Unrivaled fitness classes. Unparalleled personal training. Studios that inspire you to perform and luxury amenities that keep you at your peak. It’s more than a fitness club. It’s life.
Equinox is a gym. It has weights and treadmills and locker rooms. But doesn’t its whole brand -- including its USP -- just drip with luxury? Or is that just me coveting those eucalyptus towels?
While I definitely already wanted to join Equinox (this is a personal flaw), the USP could actually lean a bit further towards specificity. What makes its classes unrivaled? Are the more difficult? Burn more calories? More class times?
The more specific you can be in a concise USP, the more compelling it becomes for your target market.
Company: PopPhysique
USP: A specialized class designed to sculpt and tone the entire body in just one hour.
If you live in one of the cities where PopPhysique has locations, you’ve probably seen their marketing. It’s hard to miss.
Butt (hahaHA) I have to say, their USP is a little lacking. Sure, if I’m looking to tone and sculpt I guess it does the job, but do I have to be good at dance? At choreography? Do I have to already have a skinny butt? Do I have to own between 3-5 pairs of American Apparel 80s-inspired leggings? It’s unclear.
FASHION
Company: Bandier
USP: Curated collection of the world’s best activewear
Mmmm, yes, please curate things for me! Don’t make me go to 8,000 websites to find a pair of chic leggings! Thank you, Bandier, can I have another??
Company: Mission Statement
USP: Clothing that supports women who want to be stylish, in every aspect of their life.
Like some of the other brands featured here, Mission Statement buries its USP on the About page and when I found it, I kinda went ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
It’s nice that Hilary Swank wants me to be stylish but how is this, you know, unique?
BEAUTY
Company: Dry Bar
USP: No Cuts. No Color. Just Blow Outs.
Dry Bar is not necessarily a health or wellness brand but wow do I like their USP. It’s so clear and great and just *chef’s kiss*
Here we can go ahead and note that a USP and a tagline are not USUALLY the same thing. But in this case, the totally unique Dry Bar offering didn’t need more than a tagline to convey why they’re so special.
Company: Herbivore
USP: Truly natural, cruelty free skincare that provides results you can see and feel.
I mean, first of all, what does sensorial mean? Weird choice in the headline. But beyond that, it’s clear that Herbivore wants us to know their products are NATURAL, like TRULY NATURAL. So I guess that’s...a benefit…?
Look, if someone comes to this site because their top concern is that their skincare is natural (whatever that means), then they'll find this USP compelling. But I would argue that the influx of natural products on the market means this isn't particularly unique.
Ok, natural has lost all meaning for me as word so I'm going to move on.
Company: Welleco
USP: Dietary supplements designed by leading nutritional doctors using carefully formulated ingredients derived from wholefoods. In easily absorbable powder form, they are designed to nourish the body’s 11 systems from the inside out.
I’m not going to pretend that I know what the body’s 11 systems are but I sure as hell can’t argue that this isn’t unique.
Company: Supergoop!
USP: SPF is the most important thing you can do for your skin. Every. Single. Day.™ That’s why we’re constantly creating new products that you’ll love, so wearing SPF isn’t a chore, but a ritual. Not to mention it should be fun too.
Tagline: The Best SPF Under the Sun
Supergoop! offers a good example of how a USP and tagline can work together. The USP, which is not particularly concise, offers that the Supergoop! difference is that wearing their sunscreen isn’t a chore and is even fun.
As someone who live in California and sunscreens every single day, this is an important and unique difference!
WELLNESS
Company: Care/Of
USP: Build a personalized daily vitamin pack with honest guidance and better ingredients.
What’s it about? Vitamins! How’s it different? Personalized! Guided! Ingredients! #greatjob
Company: Ritual
USP: The only daily vitamin you need -- delivered directly to your doorstep.
There are a few different aspects of the Ritual USP. A daily vitamin delivered to your doorstep is somewhat unique (although not if you asked Care/Of) but you really have to read through the whole site to get a grasp on how they are really different (essential, open-source ingredients, developed by and for women, obsessively researched).
If you take the time to go through the whole homepage, it is comprehensive and fairly persuasive, but they could be a bit more clear and bold in the statement of their USP right up front.
Company: Forward
USP: Personalized primary care, combining world-class doctors with advanced medical technology including genetics, cancer screening & wellness tracking.
While Forward may be able to go a little further into how their process works (e.g., isn’t all primary care personalized?) this is pretty compelling as far as USPs go.
Company: Sakara
USP: 100% plant-based, organic, ready-to-eat meals. Delivered to you.
It doesn’t get much clearer than this, to be honest. Do you want organic, plant-based meal delivery? Congrats, you found it.
The weird part of this is where it’s hidden -- in the page title. The USP appears in your browser tab, but not on the actual site itself. I'm sure this is useful for SEO, but I think it might also be useful for visitors to see in big, bold print.
Company: Sun Potion
USP: We are proud to offer the highest quality tonic herbs and superfoods, always organic or wildcrafted, consciously sourced from around the world.
Tagline: Transformational foods for a high vibration, holistic lifestyle.
This is another really good USP. It’s clear (maybe I should use the word “clear” one more time? What do you think?) on what the company is all about and how it’s different (consciously sourced, organic, wildcrafted). And it’s right there on the homepage thank god.
Company: Urban Remedy
USP: Fresh organic, ready-to-eat meals, juices and snacks delivered to your door
While Urban Remedy isn't the only company on this list offering meal delivery, organic and ready-to-eat plus the addition of snacks and juices is a compelling and unique selling point.
Company: LoveWellness
USP: We make wellness and personal care easy by providing natural, organic solutions for vaginal health, balancing your cycle, metabolism, #mood, and more.
I’m aching from the missed opportunity in that “All Products” headline but aside from that, a pretty decent USP.
Company: LoveYourselfFit
USP: My vision is to provide you a place of support and connection to reach your goals and get you loving yourself.
This is not a diet – LYF Plans are different from all the rest. I provide you with the support, knowledge and tools to Love your Body, Love your Mind and Love Yourself.
Despite reading every page of this site I can’t say with 100% confidence that I know what this company/coach does. I know it’s not a diet! I know it comes with support, knowledge and tools! Buuuut...what is it?
Company: Maria Marlowe
USP: I help busy women lose weight or clear up their acne by developing healthier eating habits, based on whole, unprocessed, mostly plant-based foods.
My main complaint with this USP is that it’s buried on the about page. It’s clear that real thought went into it and it tells me everything I need to know about who this coach is.
Company: Eating Bird Food
USP: An online destination for those who love simple, healthy eating and living a lifestyle that supports it.
Yeah, ok. I’m good with this one. It certainly lets people know where they've landed. And if these particular topics are interesting to them, they're likely to stick around.
So what did we learn from this exercise?
Your USP is important. It keeps people on your site and gets them to your next goal for them, whether that's signing up for your email list or downloading a piece of content.
USPs aren't a given, even for big brands. It's easy to get seduced by a headline that's cute, clever, funny, sexy, shiny new. But if you choose to have something in your headline that isn't your USP, you had better be sure that it's good enough to keep people reading until they get to your USP.
Also, please don't hide your USP on your About page. Just don't.