Why Killer Competition is The Bazooka Boost for Your Biz

by MarsDorian

People always whine about competition:

“Booo, so many are offering what I’m offering. It’s so crowded (in my market).
Mommmeee, plz help me !”

I say : Leave your mom alone. Competition is GOOOD. In fact, it’s
the best thing that can happen to your biz.

Competition – your bestest advisor

Think about it.

When there’s no competition, you have no clue what to do. There’s nothing to compare yourself with -
is your biz idea any good ? Is there a demand for it ?

YOU HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE !

But when it’s crowded, when there are HUNGRY competitors in the web biz arena,

you have a guiding point, a signal in the sky that shines your path:

You know there’s demand, and by researching your competitors,

you’ll find out what YOU have to
do to make yourself stand out from all the rest.

Listen, the reason why I started drawing cartoons was because everyone else in the (overcrowded like hell) marketing niche was either writing or podcasting, but no one was using cartooning or visual storytelling. And since I was a cartoonist back in school, I thought:

“BAM, I’m going to nail that niche”.

And here I am.

Here’s my unofficial prayer:

Thank you competition for helping me find my USP. Thank you for showing me there’s lots of demand in the market. And thank you competition for putting all the moolah in my pockets !

I hope you keep getting stronger and stronger so that I can refine my brand even more.
AMEN.

Recap for your brain :

A) Competition means there’s lots of demand. Yummy.
B) Competition helps you clarify your USP – the one thing you CAN DO that NO ONE ELSE is doing your niche.

Action time
If you don’t know how to differentiate yourself from your competitors,
go check out who the big players are in your market, and then ask yourself:
What can I bring to the table that NO ONE else is offering the market ?

THEN FUCKING DO THAT.

And share ze message with your people.

PS: I’m finally finishing my visual cartoon-enhanced branding guide for online-preneurs like you. Stay tuned for more info the upcoming week.

Buffer

Tagged as: biz, Branding, business, competition, marketing, USP

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Filip

I never looked at competiton from your angle - I always thought the more people in your market the worse.

LOL, I’m now going to change the way I think about competition. I will now welcome it.

Here’s my unofficial prayer to you, Mars:

Thanks for enlightening me. Thanks for telling me that competition helps my business.
Amen ;)
- http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian
  
  haha, my pleasure man. I just realized that idea a few months ago – before that, I was all about DESTROYING YOUR COMPETITION.
  But I have “matured” ;) from my youthful foolishness.
http://www.theskooloflife.com Srinivas Rao

Well said my friend. One of the things I think is a problem in the blogosphere is that people expect to follow advice blindly and get results. They don’t realize that you have to take what you’re given, and adapt it to to their own unique skill sets.
- http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian
  
  Yeah, man, BUSTED. That’s what I did in the beginning as well – copying the BIGGIES and then *blindly* believing that I will get the SAME results.
  
  Bullshit. You have to assimilate and tweak the tactics. You have to create your OWN place within that niche, and there’s no formula for that.
http://www.MyBeautifulAdventures.com/ Andi Perullo

Couldn’t agree more, I love my competition, they just make me THAT much better!
- http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian
  
  BOOYA, Andi.
http://ncpendergast.wordpress.com/ NC Pendergast

Excellent post! I’d say you totally nailed it.

What’s best, you might even get your “competition” to buy your own product due to its unique spin, at least that’s what I’m watching happening in the indie fiction market (which is a bit of a special case, as I’d have to admit) – authors converting each other into fans of each other even across genre (and medium) boundaries. It’s quite fascinating.

Another thing I believe is important is to add a personal touch. Might not work with everything, but it sure helps setting you apart from the rest. For someone who, let’s say, loves surfing (the ocean, that is) it’s one thing to know Marketing Guy A does a great job, but another thing entirely to know Marketing Guy B not only does a great job but is also an avid surfer in his spare time. It connects people (but you already know that).

Last but not least, it definitely helps to have a sense of humor (even if it’s crooked) and not taking oneself so bloody serious all the time. (I’m not entirely sure if writing overly long comments helps, but it migth get you attention. ;) )

Other than that, have a nice weekend!
- http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian
  
  Thanx for your thoughts,
  
  Yeah – if you happen to share the same interests, it’s already a direct win in the heart ! Of course you have to be authentic with it, and not use fake hobbies/interests just to please certain kinds of people.
  
  And humor – HELL YEAH. That’s a huge part of my brand – there’s just NOOO
  reason to be DEAD-serious.
  
  BTW – interesting what you say about the indie market. I see something similar too – indie authors CHEERING for others that make it big, probably because that shows it’s POSSIBLE for them too.