The acronym “USP” means “Unique Selling Proposition’, which is the unique aspect of your service that makes you stand out from the rest. It is not necessarily based on how competitive you are but is more related to the type of service you offer. It’s often difficult to evaluate your USP if you are offering professional translation services. You have to think about how what you have to offer is so different from other translators. If you can set yourself apart from other translators in any way at all this gives you your USP. With this USP you are able to market your NAATI translator services in relation to it.
Some translators choose to select an area that few translators focus on such as mastering the language of certain technical products. This can open doors in that specialist area that other translators don’t know how to tackle because they lack the language expertise in that particular field. A person who has gained recognition as a NAATI translator can take on language translations that require the translation to be done only by a qualified NAATI translator. This excludes other professional translation services which do not have these credentials. A NAATI translator accreditation can be part of your USP too.
Identifying your USP can be difficult, as most professional translation services have standards to follow which makes it difficult for a freelance translator to better.
There are some general points outlined below about translation services that you can use when considering your USP.
1. Professional translation service offer high-quality translations on time;
2. Freelance translators have the edge over agencies and tend to offer high-quality, polished translations;
3. A few translators provide translations that are exceptional because they are able to specialize in some select areas which enables them to be true masters.
From these points, you can draw up what you think you should aim at for your USP.