And pretty good messaging, too...

Back, as they say, "in the day"...before the Internet...before laptops were de rigueur for the well-appointed dorm room...students rolled blank paper around cylindrical typewriter carriages and banged out term papers and such. At least, most of them did.

For some, the prospect of transferring their thoughts from long-hand to the typewritten page - complete with proper spacing, footnoting and such - was petrifying. Whether the issue was one of skill around the keyboard, speed or lack thereof, or fear that they would place an "ibid" where it didn't belong, everyone knew at least one someone who had sworn off typing long ago.

For these students, there were the paid typists available on - or adjacent to - campus who often advertised their services in the classifieds of the student newspaper or on fliers placed on bulletin boards. These gods and goddesses of the IBM Selectric™ would take a student's mass of scribbles and turn it into a piece that Junior would be proud to show to mom and dad.

Most of the ads for such services tended to quote rates, timeframes, and extra services (such as pick-up and delivery). And then there was Peggy.

Peggy's ad - which occupied a fixed position in the classifieds in the University Daily Kansan for years - had her phone number and a simple message: "I do damn good typing. Peggy."

In six, well-chosen words, the panic-stricken student could easily distinguish Peggy from the seemingly more professional looking services, because she spoke not about what she sold, but rather about what she delivered. She understood that while some students would take time to compare prices and rates, what most really wanted was a term paper that would be easy on a professor's eyes. So that's what she advertised.

While it's likely that part of her thinking had to do with what she could say while only paying for a single line ad, the differentiation she achieved is textbook-worthy.

What can we learn from Peggy's example?

• Focus on what your customers are buying - Peggy knew that her customers wanted an end-product - a good-looking, finished term paper or whatever - so she didn't fuss with any unnecessary details about herself or her business that would distract from her customer-benefit message.

• Keep it short - Why take a simple benefit message and make it complex just so you can turn a clever phrase? In Peggy's case, she got it: Typing is either good, or it isn't. All she needed to do was memorably, and succinctly, promise that hers would be the former.

• Keep it consistent - It would have been so easy for Peggy to look at her ad one day and decide to "shake things up," because she was bored with it. But she knew that every year brought a whole new crop of potential customers...some of whom would ask upperclassmen for advice on weighty matters such as who to turn to for typing. By staying consistent she became a campus legend, while other typists came and went.

The message: Make sure you understand the difference between what you need to say to build differentiation, and what you want to say because you're so %$^! impressed with yourself.