The Fear of Competition

July 29, 2009

Most businesses spend a fair amount of time assessing their competition. Annual marketing plans include in depth analyses of competitive strengths and weaknesses, and detailed tactics to leverage opportunity and minimze risk against competitors. Even solo and small practices devote resources to competitive intelligence. Yet, in two decades of business experience, I have never heard a single consumer proclaim:

Help! Every company is excellent, operating at the highest standards,  possessing all the knowledge that is possible in this area, doing the right thing and perfectly suited to all of my needs and desires.

So, why I wonder do we spend so much time on the competition and so little on the people who need our services?

I’m not suggesting that competititve intelligence does not have its place. We can learn from our competitors, adopt best practices and gain insight that helps us to improve our business. However, we should not seek to be our competition, or even covet their customers.  If we focus on uncovering and leveraging our own distinctions to delight our ideal market, we will create our own niche.

Competition does not destroy your business. Yes, there are many historical examples that would seem to validate that I am wrong. However, I must ask, was it really the competition or were there other factors at play, such as failing to correctly identify and position a clear market value, inaccurate targeting, lack of innovation?

If you are contemplating a new venture or direction and worried that there’s too much competition, I would advise you’re focused on the wrong thing.  Competition is awesome! There’s awareness and a stated need from the market, hooray! Some of your “competitors” have leaped in to take advantage of market opportunity, others are highly skilled but will fail miserably at staking their claim, a small percentage will be highly successful and expert in the space. But none of them are you. This is your secret weapon, what Sonia and Brian call The X Factor.

A solid, well thought out plan + The X Factor  = World Domination (okay not really but your own little piece of it)

Take your eyes off the competition and put them on you and your customers, it is a decision you will not regret.

Are there any businesses that you support because of their “X” factor? Or are you a business that markets their X factor. I’d love to hear your experiences.

If you are a freelancer copywriter and need help discovering your “X” Factor click here to view more details on the Freelance X Factor Course (This is an affiliate link, if you prefer to purchase from a non-affiliate link, hop over to Copyblogger.com and you can still buy the course, no hard feelings!)

If you are a business leader struggling to find your distinction, send me an email at karenswim at gmail dot com.

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Are You in the Dark?

July 27, 2009

It was a muggy, grey day with bursts of rain showers. As the day progressed the storms rolled in with a fury. I heard the crack of thunder in the sky and looked out to see lightning piercing the dark clouds. The winds picked up,  the trees began to sway and within minutes the room was plunged into darkness.

I sat in a room that had everything needed for light yet it was dark. Without a power source the lights were of no use.

To have light you must have equipment connected to a power source but even then you are required to activate it by turning on a switch.

How many of us start a business, or a new venture and fail to activate the resources that would produce light? We have a great plan, all the equipment and resources, and the knowledge needed but fail to flip the switch. Or perhaps we’ve done the opposite and activated but forgotten to plug into the power source. The end result is the same – you’re in the dark.

Earlier this year, I stumbled in my business. I had lights, bulbs and I was plugged into the circuit box but darkness surrounded me.  I had failed to activate the switch. In fact I was trying to light the wrong room! After bumping into furniture, I finally got the picture.

Don’t stumble in the dark, plug into your power source and activate the switch. I promise you it’s much better than groping around in the dark.

How about you have you ever bumped your head in the dark? What did you learn?

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I’m not a Doctor but I Play One in My Dad’s Head

July 23, 2009

When I met my biological father met  I was working on health care reform and attending caucus meetings in D.C.  I have had many, in depth conversations with him translating medical terminology, explaining the endocrine system and demystifying pharmaceutical labels for him.

In a mind sometimes tumbled by ever increasing signs of dementia, he holds fast to his description of me as “the one who went to medical school and knows the doctor stuff.”

My client and friend, Janet is kind enough to talk about me with her network of briliant thinkers. One of those thinkers refers to me as “Marketing Genius Woman in Detroit.” The label is a combination of Janet’s words about his own unique perception of what those words meant to him.

The descriptions  are not what I would assign myself but both bring home the realiziation that people will describe you based on their experience with you filtered through the lens of their own perceptions.

We all have a self-assigned set of keywords for our position, character, relationships and values. We “market” them to the world in words and actions. But, in our interactions with others they may create their own set of long tailed keywords that not only describes us but our position and reflection in the other person’s life. Who I am is answered in each encounter by how you see me.

As a company, it validates the need to communicate marketing messages that will be reinforced by your customers experience with you. The great opportunity is to then extend that great branding with additional distinctions. So, you go from being “company that sells great X” to “company that sells great X and treats their customers like royalty.”

In life, your keywords give clues to your character and relationship with others. In life and business branding, your actions and interractions can reinforce (or not) your messaging.

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Shrink Your Waist and Increase Your Business

July 20, 2009

There is almost nothing better than fine chocolate.

Gourmet chocolate creates an unforgettable experience even before you taste it. Chocolate marketers allow their product to be the star. Their marketing copy tells you about the ingredients and passionately conveys the taste. It is filled with features and the only benefit is a taste you will never forget. The presentation is superb with high quality packaging and intricate details that extend to the actual chocolate.

When you have gourmet chocolate, you only need a little to satisfy your taste. Forget fat free, sugar free, low calorie chocolate that only makes you want more. Indulge in quality and you will eat less.

That’s the food lesson, now for the business lesson.

Gourmet chocolate makers do a wonderful job at marketing. The marketing is:

• Transparent
• Clearly articulated and focused
• Makes use of enticing visuals
• Conveys the passion about their product
• Leverages their distinction
• Focuses on what’s truly important – the taste

However, just like the product, they don’t need to overindulge with mass marketing.

Customers who want great chocolate buy it. They are not persuaded by killer marketing copy or price. Gourmet chocolate makers do not need to hook you with free gifts, coupons or complimentary products. Their customers buy their distinction and they buy it at a premium.

What can we learn from this? It is far better to leverage a single distinction than to compete with the masses.

What would happen to your business if you eliminated the fat and fillers and did one thing really well?

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Anniversaries

July 19, 2009

It arrived without fanfare, almost unnoticed, after all it’s not a day that I want to define me for life. Yet, there it was proven by the calendar, quiet and gentle, but here. I had no strategic plan or desired outcome. I would simply hold on gently and let the day and my heart guide me.

In the years since that first one, we have danced a dance of quiet respect. I nodded in passing as I pressed on with living and it reminded me that it would always be a part of my life. I never knew how I would feel so I learned to be gentle with myself either way. If tears threatened, I allowed them to fall and if I felt like dancing in the sunshine, well I did that too.

And now it has passed, another marker added to my history.  I did not choose it but I own it as mine. The good and bad anniversaries standing as a monument that I am here living life in all its glory; pressing on toward the mark of my high calling. You announce yourself as day to remember loss but I choose to remember and celebrate life.

Posted via email from karenswim’s posterous

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Is Your Brand the Man in the Mirror?

July 9, 2009

The Michael Jackson memorial service was a celebration of his music and a collective mourning of the loss of the man, father, son, brother and friend. I watched as a marketer, mourner and the little girl whose first concert at age 5 was the Jackson 5.

In life and death, Michael Jackson is a global brand and we have only come to grasp the magnitude of what he truly accomplished.

As I watched, listened, and participated in social media discussions I was acutely aware that in Michael’s case the man in the mirror was also his brand.  Michael Jackson created a global base of customers and fans who so closely identified with his brand that it was interwoven into the fabric of their own lives. His brand story became a backdrop of their own history.

Brand evangelists are the holy grail for many in business. We diligently work to deeply engage our customers and build brand affinity. We look upon the attainment of such as marketing heaven but in the business world the trip from marketing heaven to the nether regions is not that far.

Passion and intimacy go hand in hand and your raving fans can direct that passion for or against you.  We saw this in action earlier this year when long time brand Tropicana redesigned its packaging and their consumers revolted. Tropicana is a multi million dollar corporation and they changed their packaging and survived the ordeal. But how do you handle it when you are your brand?

Michael Jackson created a level of intimacy with his fans that made them feel that he was part of the family (and he was incredibly gracious to fans). That family never let him rest and in death it appears this will continue. For Michael Jackson the market did not separate the man from the brand, and they unleashed their passion both for and against him during his lifetime.

In marketing, it is wise to decide on your relationship strategy with your customers. Will you casually date or embark on a fiery love affair? Will you be friends for a season or join together till death do you part? Know your strategy and be prepared to embrace the good, bad and ugly because in marketing heaven and hell are in very close proximity.

What are your thoughts? Are there boundaries in personal branding or do your customers have open access? Have you ever lost control of your brand message? How did you handle it?

As my friend Rosa Say would invite, let’s huddle and learn together.

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Not Quite Breaking News

July 7, 2009

*Beep, beep* Regularly scheduled programming has been interrupted for this special broadcast. I’m interrupting my own programming today because let’s face it most of the world will be watching the public memorial service for entertainment icon, Michael Jackson.

I will be watching some of the events as well and examining the outpouring for life and business lessons.  I’ll be back with a new post on Wednesday, and would love it if you’d join.

Please don’t forget to sign up for the free Twitter course being offered by me and Trish Lambert. The intro course is Wednesday, July 8th at 12 PT.  It is not a Twitter fan story or boring talking heads teleseminar. It is an interactive tele-workshop appropriate for all levels of Twitter users and non-users.

If you’re not watching the memorial, you can get started on your entry for this month’s WILF groupwrite project. Personally, I think half the fun this month is writing it. Also pop over to Joyful Jubilant Learning and check out the spiffy new digs. The topic this month is communication and the new site and look provide a nice open place for readers to connect. Speaking of communication, Emma Newman is celebrating 6-months of blogging with gratitude and new ways of communicating. Stop in and see why this milestone is so important and the absolute perserverance she is demonstrating in pursuit of her writing dreams.

See you all on Wednesday!

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All the Cool Kids are Doing It

July 6, 2009

It starts in the hallowed halls of higher learning, a group emerges as the trendsetters and others follow their lead. If the cool kids are wearing it, saying it, or using it then surely it must be cool. Even those who seem detached from the groupie phenom (the rebels) are often reinforcing it with their brand of anti-cool.

We grow up  and the cool kids trade move from  the locker room to the boardroom.

In business if all the cool kids are tweeting, using Facebook, selling information products (fill in the blank) then we jump on board too. The problem with this approach is a failure to analyze if the strategy really works for you.

One of my pet peeves in marketing is a hype around tactics and tools and little focus on strategy. The tactics and tools may be perfectly legitimate but how and why they are used should be as distinct as the business itself.

I receive requests all the time from business owners that are focused on a tool – ebooks, social media, video marketing, etc. – but often the business is simply hopping on a trend without having a clear idea how the tool will drive their business forward.

If you want to lead in business know and own your distinction and then leverage it with the cool kids who are your customers.  Trends are fine but creating your own path and having others carry that message, is the ultimate in cool.

Who are the “cool kids” in your industry? What can you learn from them while making your own mark?

If you are interested in discovering if Twitter is another cool kid trend or a tool that you can use in your own business, join me and Trish Lambert for a free Twiter course on Wednesday, July 8th.  Go here to learn more.

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