This post is all about how to market your business, without ever having to worry about the threat of competition.

I decided to write this after receiving an email from a reader, Elizabeth, who asked me a great question.  Elizabeth wanted to know why I promote the websites and blogs of fellow marketing professionals.  She went on to say that this seemed, “an unusual way to treat the competition!”

Apparently, Elizabeth was specifically referring to the fact that I often link to other marketing sites and ReTweet interesting posts and articles from other marketing professionals.

In a way, I can understand what Elizabeth’s saying.  It probably seems counter instinctive to most people, when they see me use my network to promote someone, who could be a direct competitor.

However, I see things in a different way!

Marketing and competition

When it comes to growing my business, I don’t operate from the mindset of having competitors.  I operate from a creative mindset.  I focus on making what I do so uniquely valuable, that there isn’t anyone else offering that set of unique skills to the small business marketplace.  You know what? It works really well too! There are some great marketing people out there, but none that compete with me.  They do their thing and I do mine.  Operating from a creative mindset allows me to work without limitations.  For example, I actually market the services of a number of great marketing and marketing-related businesses. Isn’t that brilliant?

I genuinely believe that if any business tries hard enough, it can make its services uniquely valuable enough to never have to ‘worry’ about the competition again.  The challenge, is that most businesses, large and small, look just too similar to the other providers in their industry. As a direct result, they are constantly worried that prospective customers will see the ‘competition’ and then use them.

If they were uniquely valuable enough, they would never have to worry about that.

Marketing your business

Here’s my suggestion for you – something for you to consider.

Look at what your competitors do and re-design your raft of services, your promises and guarantees, to make your offering massively more uniquely valuable.  Market your unique value and show the marketplace how brilliant you are.  Get this right and will OWN your very own hyper-valuable niche. Become the only show in town, for someone looking for YOUR kind of service.

What do you think?

Image credit: Atrayu

Related posts:

1. Standing out from the crowd!
2. Marketing and value

When Gary Vaynerchuk from Wine Library became an Internet star, hundreds or maybe thousands of people tried to imitate him. Almost overnight, I saw wine expert websites and blogs popping up everywhere.

I started getting followed on Twitter and FriendFeed by wine experts. This sudden rush of wine experts everywhere was incredible – However:

• Can I name one of those other wine sites for you? No!
• Can I name even one of the experts behind any of these wine sites for you? No!

That’s because Gary was the  first – or rather, he was the first wine expert to maximise social media.  By the way, I don’t drink alcohol and even I became aware of Gary’s work really quickly – such is his reach and influence. I’m a diet Coke person, which is a pity as Gary emailed me recently and offered to take me out for a beer. (Yes a beer, not wine!)

The power of being an original

I was at a football game earlier this year, when I noticed that there was one person wearing a bright yellow shirt, in an area of the stadium, where they were surrounded by about 5,000 people wearing red shirts.  That one person was more noticeable by themselves, than the other 5,000 people combined.

Just like the person in the bright yellow shirt, true originality stands out.  It commands our attention.

There’s no point in someone trying to be the next Gary Vaynerchuk.  Gary himself only succeeded, because he allowed his own unique style and personality to come through.

So, does this mean that we can’t learn from pioneers? Of course not!  Google was not the first search engine; they actually came to the party relatively late. However, they did have a uniquely valuable approach to search.  It was their unique value that started them on the road to success.  If they had simply copied what AltaVista or Yahoo were doing back then, they would have failed.

If we want to stand out or we want our business to stand out – we need to break away from what the crowd are doing.  Yes, this requires a lot of confidence and courage, but the rewards can be amazing!

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There’s a lot of information on this blog about things you can do, which will help you dramatically increase your sales results and profits.  However, it’s ALSO really important to know some of the things you must avoid, if you want your business to succeed. That’s because some marketing mistakes can nullify all your hard work and actually set you and your business way, way back!

Common marketing mistakes 101

This post contains some of the most common and damaging mistakes I see people making with their marketing. I hope that through the comments section, you will share some of the common errors you see people making too! Here are a few, in no particular order, to get the process rolling:

1. Failing to differentiate their product or service

One of the hardest things to sell, is a product or service that looks to be ‘about the same’ as hundreds or thousands of alternatives.  It’s hard to stand out and grab peoples imagination, when you seem to offer ‘just the same’ as a stack of other providers.

For example, the Internet is filled with people offering coaching or consulting services that look identical to each other. They offer a service that sounds the same, to the same potential clients, with the same kind of promises and THEN market it in the same kind of way as each other! The net result is that EVERY PENNY they spend on marketing is being cancelled out, by the thousands of other people who are doing the same things.

The problem here, is that some of these services are outstanding and others are rubbish! However, because they all seem so similar and promise the same results, it’s impossible for a prospective client to tell one from the other.

If you want to make sales all day long, break away from the pack and BE YOURSELF!

Develop your own unique voice and use it to show the VSP (Valuable Selling Proposition) you bring to the marketplace. If you can answer the following question, and then communicate it effectively in your marketing, your sales will sky-rocket immediately;

“What genuinely compelling reasons are there, for someone to become a client of mine; rather than one of my competitors?”

For example, I answer this question by offering a marketing service to small businesses; which gives them unlimited access to me for a whole year, for a small, single, capped fee!  We have regular marketing meetings all the time, so my clients can plan ahead with total peace-of-mind; with me as their virtual Marketing Director and advisor.  Also, if they get a problem or they just want to kick some ideas around, they can call me whenever they want.

YOUR answer to the above question must be non-generic.  In other words, it’s not enough to promise great customer service or to promise to go the extra mile for your clients – everyone promises that – even those who don’t provide it!  Your answer has to be something that makes it super-attractive to become one of your clients.

2. Relying on pedestrian copy writing to sell their services

Most smaller businesses tend to write their own marketing copy – and the results are often shockingly poor.  For example, it’s not uncommon for a small business to pay a fortune for a great website, and then write the wording for that site themselves!  As a result, they find that people who visit the site don’t fill in contact forms, click links, email them or call them.

That’s because pedestrian copy writing simply INFORMS people - without inspiring or motivating them to take action!

If you want to dramatically increase the number of sales or leads you get from your; website, blog, advertising, mail shots or email marketing – get your marketing written by a professional!

3. Focusing on the size of their network, rather than it’s value

You have seen them, the people who attend EVERY local networking event and eagerly thrust business cards into as many people’s hands as possible.  They then ask the stranger; “So, tell me how I can help you” …. just like their 1980′s networking manual told them to!

OK – that’s one way to build a network.

Here’s another!

My former client, Susan, is a marketing consultant to small businesses.  She decided to do as I suggested and stopped attending every networking event in town.

I got Susan to shift her focus from the typical ‘numbers game’ approach to networking – To focusing on quality and influence instead.

I got Susan a list of the 10 main accountancy practices (or CPA’s) in her region; who between them, look after around 35,000 local businesses.  Susan then decided that these would be her ‘network’; as they had the potential to provide her with more high quality clients than she could ever need.

I suggested she attended some local lunchtime events sponsored by these people and to use the opportunity to set up meetings with the senior partners of each firm.  After attending just three events, Susan had meetings booked with each of the people who would become her new network.  She did her homework and focused on what she could do for them and their clients.

Six of the accountancy practices were just not interested.  But she DID manage to form a great relationship with the other four practices and she now has a client-base full of top quality clients.

The bottom line: A network of 30 well-connected, influential people is vastly more commercially valuable and easier to manage, than a network with 300 contacts who lack influence or reach!  As human beings we are obviously all of equal value, but in the marketplace, some people are massively more influential than others.

4. They don’t show everyone how brilliant they are!

The information most small businesses and entrepreneurs put on their websites, blogs and in their newsletters, is usually a watered-down version of what they are actually capable of.  They fear that if they give too much away for free, people won’t pay them for ‘the good stuff’.  This is a SERIOUS mistake!

Why?

Because if you don’t let people see how great you are until they become a client, how are they supposed to find out?  If you only have a diluted version of your work available for free, that’s what people will associate you with.  You have to let everyone see the value you are capable of providing. I know you are great, you know you are great – now let ‘them’ see how great you are!

I am not talking about giving it ALL away.  I’m simply suggesting that you make sure that there is real, genuine value in what you decide to put ‘out there.’

OK – What are the most common marketing mistakes YOU come across?

Here’s your chance to share the most common marketing mistakes you see small businesses making. If you can offer a solution too – please do!  I want to make this post as valuable as possible.

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Generating high quality sales on a regular basis can be either really hard and stressful or really exciting and enjoyable.  Sadly, for most businesses, making frequent high calibre sales is a struggle.  It’s easy to see why, when you look at what they do.

They make life as hard as they possibly can for themselves, by replicating what their competitors are already doing!

How to make sales the HARD way

Most small and medium-sized businesses offer the same kind of service as their competitors, for the same kind of price as their competitors, to the same potential clients as their competitors.

Then, they market this service in the same way as their competitors.  The net result is that AT BEST, their service seems just the same as all the others!

For example, there are over a dozen, equally-qualified law firms in my local area – but I could not give you one valid reason to pick one of them rather than another!  In fairness, the same could be said of most service providers in most areas.

How to make sales the EASY way

To regularly generate high quality sales, you need to start by putting all the odds in YOUR favour! You do this by:
1. Offering the marketplace something it wants.
2. Being the only provider of this product or service – so there’s no competition.

Break away from the pack

To achieve sales success in a competitive industry, it is essential for you to break away from the pack and design your business and marketing around what the marketplace wants.

Most businesses wrongly assume that because their competitors are doing things in a certain way, they should too.  However, as we have seen, when you follow the pack you simply blend into the background.  How do you break free from the pack and ensure you are moving in the right direction?

Listen to your marketplace

The first thing you need to do is identify a genuine need within your marketplace, which is either not being serviced by anyone or not being serviced correctly. Most businesses will listen to their clients and the prospective clients they meet and then use this tiny, unrepresentative group to base their picture of the marketplace on. This is too small a section for you to accurately read what the market for your services REALLY wants from a provider.

If you want to make the right decisions, you need to listen to the needs of the wider marketplace.  This is where all your future clients are, after all.

Fortunately, this has never been easier, thanks to the Internet!  From the comfort of your desk, you can find out what your prospective clients are worried about and what problems they have.  Armed with this information, it’s easy to spot opportunities for your business.

Remember, whatever industry you are in, you are always a professional problem solver.  If you are a dentist, you solve the problem of tooth-ache – if you are a web designer, you solve the problem of ugly or poorly-functioning websites etc.

How to get all the information you need

Without doubt, the fastest and least expensive way for any small or medium-sized business to learn what their marketplace really wants or needs, is to follow their marketplace ‘online’.  The best way to quickly collect all this information, 100% free, is to find some blogs, websites and forums that your marketplace read / comment on and then READ THEM!

The easiest way is via RSS (you can find out about RSS here.)

For example, let’s assume Bob runs a commercial insurance brokerage and he specialises in working with hotels, based within a 100 mile radius of him.  He would subscribe to the RSS feed of each blog in his area, that’s focused on the hospitality industry.  He would then take time to read the questions that hoteliers ask in these blogs, as this is a good way to learn about their concerns or problems.

Bob could also start his own blog and use it as a way to communicate with the marketplace.  Unlike a website, a blog allows you to have a dialogue or conversation with all your readers and everyone can join in.  This is a superb way to get the essential feedback you need and to learn what your marketplace wants.  By the way; it’s also very effective as a way to make new contacts.

Bob could also use his blog to share useful resources with his readers, so they start to think of him as a problem solver; giving him a massive competitive advantage over his competitors.

Creativity and marketing

Once you learn the problems and challenges facing your marketplace, you now need to get creative!  You need to either think of a way to adapt one of your existing services, so that it solves these problems or you need to create a new service.

For example, I did this exercise with one of my clients a while ago.  He owned a successful accountancy practice and we found that in his area, local businesses were crying out for a professional lunchtime networking event.  So, we developed a free networking event every month and the results were stunning.  Not only did he manage to generate stacks of new clients and contacts through these events, he found a second, even more valuable benefit.

When he or one of his staff met with a potential client, because they were the only practice in the area offering this free facility, they were seen as the accountants who not only ‘did the numbers’ – but helped their clients make money too!  This set them apart from all their competitors and led to some amazing results.

Is it time you broke away from the pack?

Whatever area of business you are in, you will always find it hard to win new clients or make more sales, if you are replicating / repeating what your competitors are doing.  Find out what your marketplace really wants and then focus on delivering it in the most effective way possible. It’s a lot easier to make sales when your product or service is the answer to a problem, that no one else in your area / region is solving other than you.

That’s how to make sales the easy way!

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