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

©Psychotactics.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/

---

Google News Updated : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:08:18 GMT Ike blasts Turks and Caicos as Category 4 storm - The Associated Press Canada.com Ike blasts Turks and Caicos as Category 4 storm The Associated Press - 47 minutes ago PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos (AP) - Hurricane Ike damaged most of the homes on Grand Turk island as it roared onto the Bahamas, raked Haiti's flooded cities with rain and threatened the Florida Keys on its way to Cuba as a ferocious Category 4 ... Video: Haiti suffers floods as Hurricane Ike hits Caribbean - 07 Sep 08 AlJazeeraEnglish Eyewitness: Waiting for Ike BBC News ABC News - International Herald Tribune - United Press International - Bloomberg all 3,120 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:20:36 GMT Evans KOs Liddell at UFC 88 - FOXSports.com Vancouver Sun Evans KOs Liddell at UFC 88 FOXSports.com - 7 hours ago by Elias Cepeda, InsideFighting.com Rashad Evans shot himself straight to the top of the long list of challengers in the UFC's light heavyweight division with a devastating knockout win over the sport of MMA's top name and former champion, ... Liddell Loses Luster With UFC Defeat To Evans AHN Rashad Evans knocks out Chuck Liddell The Associated Press USA Today - Yahoo! Sports - Los Angeles Times - Washington Post all 245 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 06:18:30 GMT Land Of Big Science - Newsweek CBC.ca Land Of Big Science Newsweek - 20 hours ago The Large Hadron Collider is a symptom of America's decline in particle physics and, some fear, in science overall. By Fred Guterl, William Underhill and Sarah Garland | NEWSWEEK Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link. The Final Touches For The Large Hadron Collider's Launch eFluxMedia When European physicists bring their monstrous supercollider to ... Chicago Tribune Telegraph.co.uk - Ars Technica - Register - TG Daily all 400 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 17:13:15 GMT Health Highlights: Sept. 7 2008 - U.S. News & World Report Seattle Post Intelligencer Health Highlights: Sept. 7 2008 U.S. News & World Report - 1 hour ago On the heels of the huge nationwide salmonella outbreak that caused more than 1400 illnesses from Mexican peppers, a regional Oregon alfalfa sprout distributor has recalled its product in Oregon and Washington state after the sprouts were linked to 13 ... Salmonellosis outbreak prompts sprout recall Forbes Salmonella outbreak traced to alfalfa sprouts Seattle Post Intelligencer TheMedGuru - Seattle Times - eFluxMedia - HeraldNet all 78 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:07:54 GMT No. 4 Florida Pulls Away From Miami For Win - AHN Washington Post No. 4 Florida Pulls Away From Miami For Win AHN - 29 minutes ago Gainesville, FL (AHN) - Tim Tebow threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns, lifting No. 4 Florida to a 26-3 win over in-state rival Miami Saturday. Marve's debut gives Miami (Fla.) reason for hope SportingNews.com Tim Tebow leads Florida past Miami Los Angeles Times ESPN - Seattle Post Intelligencer - Honolulu Advertiser - Orlando Sentinel all 684 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:39:03 GMT Gates outacts Seinfeld in Back To The Future - CNET News Scientific American Gates outacts Seinfeld in Back To The Future CNET News - 14 hours ago Which is why Crispin Porter Bogusky, the agency responsible for the otherworldly new Microsoft TV spot featuring the clowning Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld, is already happy. Microsoft's Renewed Vista Strategy PC World Journals week in review: news from One Microsoft Way Ars Technica New York Times - InformationWeek - CRN - eFluxMedia all 527 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:01:52 GMT 'True Blood': Something More Than Human - PopMatters Canada.com 'True Blood': Something More Than Human PopMatters - 56 minutes ago by Cynthia Fuchs Bill Maher thinks vampires may be overstepping by demanding “basic civil rights just like everyone else.â€� He asks his guest on Real Time, a representative for the American Vampire League, “Doesn’t your race have a sordid history of ... 'Six Feet Under' creator behind HBO's 'True Blood' Chicago Sun-Times 'True Blood': Undead On Arrival Washington Post eFluxMedia - E! Online - Naperville Sun - Cape Cod Times all 228 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:11:56 GMT Make Money Online Add RSS Feeds To My Web Pages

PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts, Websites, and more...

Adsense websites

Email Microtargeting

Email marketing is undergoing rapid changes. Now, more than ever,... Read More

Autoresponder Services Improve Your Profits

Perhaps you, like me, have web hosting that includes, free... Read More

How to Structure Your Follow-Up Sequence for Maximum Profit

Before I do this, let me describe how autoresponders work.... Read More

10 Ways To Quadruple Your Sales with 232%

1. When you make your first sale, you need to... Read More

Just Because You Can...

Just because you can communicate with hundreds of people virtually... Read More

Taking Email Marketing To The Next Level

How to use the latest e-messaging strategies to increase profits.Many... Read More

Do You Build Or Buy? (Tips On Leadgeneration)

Every marketer needs leads, they are the lifeblood of your... Read More

Turn Your Old Articles Into Profitable E-mail Courses

If you've written numerous articles, you can use them to... Read More

A Lesson In Email: The Money Is In The List... With The Back-End Sales

Firstly, back-end sales is eMail Marketing at its best, so... Read More

Internet Tip of the Week: Seven Rules of Email

Now there is no law that says you have to... Read More

Ways to Use Autoreponders To Increase Your Profits

When I was first introduced to an autoresponder I thought... Read More

Why You Need a Newsletter

If you're a small business owner you definitely need promotion.... Read More

How To Improve Your Open Rates And Click-Thru Rates In Your Email Campaigns

In this article I will give you several tips that... Read More

Top 5 Reasons to Use Autoresponders

One of the best and newest tools out there for... Read More

Dont Use FFAs To Build Your Newsletter Subscriber

For those of you who aren't familiar with the term,... Read More

Newsletter Template: Should You Use Them?

There is currently a huge demand online for newsletter templates.... Read More

Tips to Bounce-Proof Your Email List

Keeping your email lists fresh is critical to the success... Read More

Build or Buy--Should You Build Your Own Opt-in Email List?

The easiest way to acquire an email list for your... Read More

How Email Etiquette Will Make You More Money through Loyal, Repeat Customers

When it comes to gaining and keeping customers, every website... Read More

Email Marketing Essentials

Perhaps the most important component in turning visitors to your... Read More

Opt-In Email to Increase Website Traffic and Boost Online Sales

Sending messages and information to people who have given you... Read More

Click for Success!

Being online for the last five or so years has... Read More

Are Autoresponders An Important Asset To Your Business?

Autoresponders are an important asset to an Internet Marketer. When... Read More

unorthodox email subject tricks -500% more responses!

5 unorthodox email subject tricks -500% more responses! (c) Copyright... Read More

Use Autoresponders, to Build Relationships In Your Affiliate Marketing

It's true that "content is king," but equally important to... Read More