Several years ago, I was discussing the concept of serendipity — the so-called happy accidents when we meet the right person at the right time and right place — with my sons.

I could tell Tom and Andrew were really intrigued. Later that night, Andrew came up and said, “I really like that concept of SerenDestiny.”

Out of the mouths of teens.

Ever since that night, I have studied this topic and interviewed hundreds of people, asking them “What is SerenDestiny?”

I’ve learned a lot, including:

1. We set SerenDestiny in motion when we act on our hunches.

2. SerenDestiny is our “best future” – it’s the life we’re meant to lead.

3. SerenDestiny gives us more control over our life than we think.

4. SerenDestiny is no accident.

5. SerenDestiny is a way to meet life more than half way.

I have been asked to share my SerenDestiny story and research this Friday, Nov. 20 at the TEDx-NASA conference in Newport News, VA.

You’ve heard of the TED conferences featuring “presentations of a lifetime” from Bill Gates, Bono and Sir Richard Branson? They’re expanding globally and NASA will be sponsoring a full day conference featuring a dozen different thought-leaders including Tuesdays with Morrie author Mitch Albom.The good news is, it’s being streamed live so you can see Mitch and all the other speakers in action (including me) even if you can’t be there in person.

Check it out at www.TEDx-NASA.org

In my next blog, I’ll share more of the insights I’ve gained about this fascinating topic of SerenDestiny — including how YOU can unleash its force for good in your life.

Tip #4 on How to Develop a Strong USP – Unique Selling Proposition: Cop an Attitude

One way to be on the cutting edge is to have an edge.

For example, Michael Jordan swished a 20 foot shot at a Chicago Bulls practice . Coach Phil Jackson called him over, exasperated because he thought Michael was hogging the ball. He said, “C’mon Michael. You had a teammate under the basket. Why didn’t you pass him the ball? You know, there’s no I in team.”

“Yeah,” said Michael, grinning. “But there is in win!”

Review your communication to clients – including your website, marketing brochures and sales presentations. Do they have common phrasing? If so, they could elicit a yawn; or worse, a groan.

Predictability is boring. If you’re using cliche’s in your sales material such as “It’s nice to be important but it’s more important to be nice,” or “The customer is always right,” people will conclude you don’t have anything new to offer. They’ll tune out and move on.

Don’t be afraid to cop an attitude. I was supporting a client at an Investors Circle event today. One of the best pitches was from a company called Better World Club – the first “green” auto roadside assistance company (trying to get a piece of AAA’s $25 billion in revenue). Their edgy newsletter is Kiss My Asphalt. Aother tagline is “Improve Your Car-ma.” Their fresh approach helped win buy-in from everyone in the room.

Look at your business communication. Does it have an attitude? An edge? People will be pleasantly surprised and more likely to pay attention if they don’t know what’s coming next.

Other examples of strong USP’s include Avon’s campaign for fighting breast cancer, “Good things come to those who . . . walk.” The clever slogan for Economist magazine is “Great minds like a think.” Jack McShane calls his lawn-mowing business Weeding By Example.

When developing your Unique Selling Proposition, remember what George Washington Carver said, “When you can do a common thing in an uncommon way; you will command the attention of the world.”

Tip #3 on How to Develop a Strong USP: Be More Funny = Make More Money

“I learned that when I made people laugh, they liked me. This is a lesson I never forgot.” – Art Buchwald

Many entrepreneurs think their USP needs to be serious.

Not always.

As Art Buchwald learned, we like people (and businesses) who makes us laugh.

One way to stand out from your crowd is to get a chuckle.

Read your signage, webpages, advertising copy and marketing material.

Does any of it make people smile? If not, you could be passing up profitable opportunities to win buy-in from customers and decision-makers.

The highest-rated and most memorable Super Bowl ads are almost always the ones that get a laugh. Inject purposeful humor into your marketing material and you can turn smiles into sales.

For example, Coca-Cola won millions of new customers with their ad for Zero Coke that said, “Tastes so much like Coke, our lawyers have contacted our lawyers.”

Denver calls their wildly popular Halloween event Boo at the Zoo.

A website for pocket-protector types is called “Geek2Geek.com” and offers profiles like “Tall, Dork and Handsome.”

One reason popular online shoe retailer Zappos broke out was their smile-inducing ads that said, “You know those salespeople who ignore you when you want to try on or buy a pair of shoes? They don’t work here.”

Is your business holding a sale? Don’t be content to put up a boring sign that will get ignored. Advertise, “50% off — and that’s just the half of it.”

A local ice cream store that feaured square containers received a lot of questions about why they had square containers instead of round ones. They got some free smiles by putting up a sign that said, “Why do we have square ice cream containers? Because we don’t cut corners on the quality of our ice cream.”

One purpose of a USP – Unique Selling Proposition – is to give customes a compelling reason to choose you over your competitors. When people like you – which humor causes them to do – they are more likely to do business with you.

What are some of your favorite funny ads, commercials or marketing slogans?

I will feature the best entries in upcoming blogs. Whoever submits the best one receives an autographed copy of POP!

15 years ago, Rebecca Morgan was passing out candy to kids on Halloween when she had a better idea.

Why not pass out books instead of Baby Ruths?

An avid reader and many-time author of such non-fiction books as Calming Upset Customers which was featured on Oprah, Rebecca figured she rather feed kids’ creativity than their cavities.

She founded a program called Books for Treats which encourages people to give gently-read books to trick-or-treaters. Based in San Jose, CA, Rebecca and her team will be distributing 4000 already-enjoyed books to kids so they can discover that Harry Potter can be more satisfying than a Heath bar.

Libraries around the country are joining the effort by holding their own Books For Treats events, giving ready-to-be-recycled books to costumed library patrons on Halloween.

“I wanted to make a difference to the children in my community,” says Books for Treats founder Rebecca Morgan, “and thought it made sense to nourish children’s imagination with ‘brain candy.’ We separate the books into four grade-level boxes so each child can choose a book at their appropriate level.”

“At first, I was afraid some of the kids would be disappointed they got something to read instead of something to eat. But the look of wonder on their faces makes it all worthwhile. Many children have told me, “This is the first book I’ve ever ‘owned.’”

Why not start a new Halloween tradition this year? Look around the house and see if you have some books sitting on a shelf that could light up a young person’s life. Take advantage of this opportunity to introduce children to the wonderful world of reading.

For more information, visit www.booksfortreats.org.

Imagine learning best-practice tips from T. Harv Eker, Brian Tracy, Les Brown, John Gray, Alex Mandossian, Alan Webber (Fast Company), Ryan Lee and Joe Sugarman on how to fast-forward the success of your personal and professional life . . .

You can do that Nov. 6-8 at YOOvolution – the first ever 3D Virtual Business Conference.

This fascinating online experience provides opportunities to connect with people from around the world while accelerating your effectiveness on and off the job.

Programs focus on how to:

* grow your business an in unpredictable economy
* use electronic marketing to generate ongoing passive income
* turn your passion into purpose and profits
* enrich your relationships
* catapult sales with innovative approaches that really work
* accomplish your goals – no matter what

I’ll be speaking on how to “Create an Elevator Intro that Opens Doors and Close Deals” which was one of the top-rated sessions at the ‘08 Inc. 500/5000 conference.

I’ll be revealing why many elevator speeches lose people at hello – and how you can craft an elevator intro that leads to meaningful conversations and connections.

Check out this unique opportunity – http://www.yoovolution.com/insider/index2.php

Sam Horn’s Tip #2 for Creating Your USP:

POP! out of your Pack with an Easy-to-Say-and-Remember Name for Your Business, Brand, Product and Service

Have you ever burned your fingers on one of those really hot cups of coffee at Starbucks?

Do you put one of those “cardboard insulating sleeves” around the cup so your fingers won’t get burned?

If you were in that business, it’d be hard to stand out, wouldn’t it?

After all, people don’t really notice those carboard insulating sleeves; they all look alike.

Well, they may look alike but if you give your product an easy-to-say-and-remember name, it will help you POP! out of the pack.

That’s exactly what Jay Sorenson did. He created a multi-million dollar business by giving those common cardboard insulating sleeves a clever name – Java Jacket.

Sorenson says, “Java Jacket has such dominant market awareness, people who meant to call our competitors call us instead because they can’t remember our competitors name.”

That’s a profitable USP when people who meant to call your competitors call YOU instead because your name is top of mind.

Want to know how to create an easy-to-say-and-remember brand or business name that POP!s your USP?

Use alliteration.

Alliteration is when words start with the same sound. Alliteration makes our language lyrical and gives people’s mind a hook on which to hang a memory.

Test it out.

Say Dunkin Croissants. Best Purchase. Dirt Vacuum. Those words sound clunky, don’t they?

Now say Dunkin Doughnuts. Best Buy. Dirt Devil.

Hear how the alliteration makes those names easier-to-say-and remember?

If you are looking for a USP – Unique Selling Proposition – that helps your business, brand, product and service get noticed for all the right reasons — create an alliterative name that makes it easy to repeat and remember. It will keep YOU top-of-mind.

Sam’s Horn’s Tip #1 for Identify Your USP:

Do the opposite, not the obvious.

Enterprise wanted to enter the crowded car rental industry but Hertz and Avis owned the majority of the market.

Hmmm…how can you compete with the “big boys?”

One way to distinguish yourself from competitors is to study them and ask what your competitors have in common . . . and then don’t do that!

What did the other car rental agencies have in common? They were all situated next to airports.

So, Enterprise located in neighborhoods.

Another way to identify a USP (unique selling proposition) is to ask yourself, “What don’t my competitors offer that customers want?”

Well, none of the car rental companies were offering door-to-door service.

So, Enterprise was first-to-market by offering to pick up and drop off customers from their home/hotel.

As a result of identifying two clear USP’s – two offerings none of their competitors could match — guess who is now the #1 car rental agency in the United States?

That’s right. Enterprise.

If you want to stand out from your crowd, lead it, don’t follow it.

One of the best ways to identify your USP is to innovate, not duplicate. Do the opposite, not the obvious.

In a tough economy, it’s more important than ever to have a creative approach to help your business stand out from its crowd.

If you’re just competing on price, location, service or convenience, you’ll get lost in your crowd because competitors are doing the same thing.

What’s the secret to POPing out of your pack? Identify your USP (Unique Selling Proposition).

How do you come up with your USP?

Ask yourself, “How can our company zig where our competitors zag? How can we do the opposite, not the obvious? Give your USP a clever name and people will flock to your door, website, or product. Plus, you’ll attract media attention because TV, radio and print reporters are always looking for the next new thing.

For example, a restaurant was losing money because no one was coming to their happy hour. Why? Well, there were dozens of restaurants in their area offering happy hours. That’s a prescription for blending in; and blending in is for Cuisinarts, not companies.

The restaurant manager kept looking for a competitive advantage, something customers wanted, but couldn’t find elsewhere (another way to identify your USP).

One evening, he saw a customer tie his dog up outside and then come in to join friends for a cold one.

Light bulb moment. Why not offer a special happy hour for dog-owners so they could bring their four-legged friend who had been cooped up all day? The restaurant could put out water bowls, hand out dog biscuits and offer a special discount for dog-owners who brought their canine pal. It was a win for everyone.

What to call this “petworking” opportunity?

Use a POP! technique called “Alphabetizing” in which you talk your key word through the alphabet to coin a brand new word that gets people’s attention. “Appy Hour, Bappy Hour, Cappy Hour, Dappy Hour” and eventually you get to “Yappy Hour!”

You may be thinking, “Big deal, so it’s a clever name.” You bet it’s a big deal. The Washington Post wrote an article about the throngs of people showing up for the Alexandria, VA Holiday Inn’s wildly popular (and profitable) “Yappy Hour.”

That article was picked up by hundreds of newspapers across the country. Now, millions of people know about their “Yappy Hour.” This nation-wide publicity generated a dramatic increase in name recognition and revenue . . . all for a few minutes of strategic brainstorming that helped them come up with a USP that made them one-of-a-kind vs. one-of-many.

If your business isn’t making as much money as it could or should, chances are you’re offering the same products/services as everyone else. As a creativity/communication consultant who’s studied the art and science of intrigue for 20 years, I’ve developed a step-by-step process for identifying a USP that gives you a competitive edge and gets your organization, idea, product or service noticed . . . for all the right reasons.

Check the next 6 blog posts to learn 6 more ways to POP! Your business and brand by identifying a creative, commercially-viable, competitive edge USP that breaks through busy people’s preoccupation and motivates them to try and buy what you’ve got to say or sell.