Who Is Your Real Competition?
If you design kitchens, is another kitchen designer your competition? Most likely not. And the sooner you can position and modify your marketing strategy against your real competition, the sooner you will start to see more business come through the door. So Who Really Is Your Competition? The answer to that is always--Never the most obvious. So let's take the example of the kitchen designer. Having decided that another kitchen designer isn't his competition, he now has to decide who is his real competition.
His Real Competition Could Be A Car Salesman
Is this for real? How can a car salesman be a kitchen designer's competition? Let's analyse this more carefully. A kitchen and a car are both fighting for the same thing-- The householder's limited budget.
If the kitchen designer, were able to convince a couple that a kitchen is more important than a new car (which he could easily do if there was a foodie around), he now has a better chance of them dropping the car in favour of the kitchen.
The Advantage Of This Method Of Positioning
The most obvious advantage is that you're not losing any current customers. All your past advertising is bringing in the customers that are looking for kitchens anyway.
What it does do however, is bring in a new lot of customers that would never have thought about kitchens, if you hadn't implanted it in their minds. Effectively, you have both, customers who are looking for kitchens as well as customers who are forfeiting their new cars in favour of new kitchens.
How Your Re-Positioning Can Help You Focus
We had a client who ran a laundromat. Her current customers were people who did not have washing machines. Obviously, her business went up and down based on the season and on her customers limited budget. We got her to refocus her marketing strategy on a new target-- Customers who had washing machines.
These customers had the money, but no time. By deciding that her real competition was time she decided to target people who had limited time instead.
As a result, she was now targeting busy people while other laundromats were targeting people with washing. This positioning actually helped the laundromat stand out from the rest of the competition.
How The Laundromat Did A Full 180
This re-positioning did a couple of things for them. One, it helped them focus on their target audience. Consequently, they changed their name from just XYZ Laundromat to Bizzie Buggers.
It was catchy and bang on target. It also now meant that busy customers (with the money), were more likely to stop over and drop their washing. Plus they had the regular customers walking through the door anyway.
What You Need To Do
Sit down and write who your immediate competition could be. Then write down what your business is really up against. Here are some examples.
These aren't necessarily your right targets but they help you see things in a different light and help you determine who your real competition could possibly be.
Cartoonist= Photographer
Computer Salesman= Filing Cabinet
Car Dealer= Expensive Restaurant Meals
ŠPsychotactics.All Rights Reserved.
Written By: Sean D'Souza
-------------
If you would like to learn more about the way the human brain works, and how customers make buying decisions, go to http://www.5000bc.com
There's a vast library of free articles and information on topics as varied as copywriting, small business ideas, public speaking, sales conversion, psychological tactics, branding and other marketing related subjects. Go to http://www.5000bc.com today. You'll be amazed at what you find there.
------------------
P.S. If you like the article, feel free to share it with your own list, post it on your site, post it on your blog, or add it to your autoresponder.As long as you leave it intact and do not alter it in anyway. The authors byline, biography and brought to you by link must remain in the article. Please notify me where my article is used online and off line.
Sean has developed a system called Psycho Tactics. PsychoTactics unlocks the working of the human brain and radically tweaks the way you think and act about your business. This results in clarity of thought and greater profits.
Today, Sean is constantly teaching small business- 'How they too can do the same?'
He does this through his websites
http://www.5000bc.com/
http://www.psychotactics.com/
Latest News
Franklin Covey Products Develops a Habit for StrongMail Systems MSNBC - Originally, Franklin Covey Products relied on an internal CRM system to manage its email marketing programs. But, performance, lack of visibility and the ... |
Start 2009 with a New Email Marketing & Anti-Spam Solution MyHostNews.com (press release), OK - It is estimated that email usage will exceed 1 trillion pieces of correspondence annually by 2011. How do you make your email marketing standout in a ... |
FuelNet Monthly Reveals Four Email Marketing Trends for 2009 PR Web (press release), WA - The January issue of "FuelNet Monthly" reveals the top four email marketing trends businesses can't ignore in the months ahead. The feature also relates the ... Email marketing 'key to economic survival' |
Durham Based Email Marketing Firm Gives Back to 37 Community ... MyNC.com, NC - By iContact, Inc., Press Release, 11 minutes ago iContact, an industry leader in email marketing services to small and mid-sized businesses, has given back ... |
Purple@Epsilon Lands ClickSquared Exec MediaPost Publications, New York - Frawley more recently served as CEO of automated email marketing services provider ClickTactics, which has since been named ClickSquared. ... ClickSquared's Frawley joins Epsilon Andrew Frawley Joins Epsilon Execs & Accounts: Epsilon, ClickSquared, Revenue Science |
Top email marketing tips offered to small firms Digital Response Media, UK - Small businesses looking to make the most of email marketing have been offered advice on how to do so. Carrie Hill of web marketing company Blizzard said in ... Small firms warned on email lists Small businesses 'shouldn't buy email lists' |
Retail email marketing trends for 2008 revealed Digital Response Media, UK - A new report detailing some of the most prominent US retail email marketing trends from 2008 has been published by Smith-Harmon. Compiled by Chad White of ... |
Track Your Email Marketing Campaigns With Autoresponder Tracking ... Meadow Free Press, ID - The features will give you the ability to measure the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns. There are several types of tracking features which ... |
Listrak Email Marketing Launches Listrak 4.4 PR Web (press release), WA - Lititz, PA, (PRWEB) January 6, 2009 -- Listrak, a leading email marketing solution provider based near Lancaster, PA, announced today that it has launched ... |
Email Marketing Service AWeber Defies Recession, Increases ... PR Web (press release), WA - Newtown, PA (PRWEB) January 5, 2009 -- AWeber Communications, a leading provider of permission-based email marketing software, announced its active customer ... |
Resources
-
Power Profit Marketing
Empowering The Internet Marketing Community With Great Marketing Tools, Manuals & Software
-
Email Marketing ebook, Marketing e newsletters and ezines, Email Marketing tips
Grow your Marketing e-newsletter list! This Email Marketing e-book features over 25 solid, no hype tips for growing your ezine list.
-
Optin Lightning - Offers Optin Email, Permission Marketing and Integrated Autoresponder.
Optin Lightning is the #1 Permission Marketing, OptIn Email Solution. Plug into 30% per sale as a Reseller! Free Signup. Takes one Minute!
-
NEW -- Marketing, internet Marketing, Email Marketing, Marketing plan, direct
Marketing, joint vent
Offers Marketing tools, tips, strategies and techniques for internet, Email, direct and joint venture Marketing.
-
Unblockable Popup Software | Popup Creator Software | Hover Ad Software | Instant PopOVER | Hover Fl
Increase Opt-In Email List with Hover Ad, popover, unblockable popup creator software. Email List building, Email List Marketing, Create Pop-ups, Create Popovers, and opt-in Email lists could never have been easier
-
Email Marketing software and anti spam software from Spam Nullifier - Email software experts The Ant
The Anti-spam Home Page. Resources for dealing with junk e-mail. develops opt-in Email Marketing software for targeted Marketing, Email newsletters, Email publishing and Email announcements; and Email filtering software for anti-spam protection, anti-rela
-
Online Wealth - A Global Link to Personal Wealth Online!
Your Marketing success online depends upon you doing two things effectively . . .(1) selling a niche product/service and (2) using Email and a professional web presence!
-
Web Site Promotion - Internet Marketing Advertising
Get webhits, Free search engine site submission, website promotion, optimization, and Internet Marketing.
-
Permission Marketing and Optin Email Software: With just a few clicks of your mouse, you can consist
Magic Subscriber is the easiest Permission Marketing, OptIn Email Marketing script. Limited Time Offer: 100% Master Resell Rights! You keep all the profits.
-
Target Your Email - Make Money with Gmail!
Brand New Product. Make Money with Gmail Accounts. Bringing affiliate Marketing to a whole new level! 1:5 conversion ratio!