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Have You Checked Out the Competition Recently?by Susan Dunn You may be the best, you may offer the best, but you aren’t the only one doing it. If you want to get ahead and stay ahead, you must keep abreast of what’s going on in your field. In order to compete within your market ares, you have to know what others are doing. This means taking a look from time-to-time at what the competition is doing. The Internet makes this easy and accessible. In another business, for instance, you would have to take real effort to find out what the competition is doing. One of the jobs of the marketing department of a property management firm, for instance, is to call around and go visit other apartment complexes to see what they offer, for how much, what specials they’re having, how their staff behaves, and what the amenities are. If suddenly everyone is offering ceiling fans and you’re not, this is not good. If you’re an Internet business, it’s fairly easy to check out another business’ website to see what’s going on. Google your product or field and find the names of others doing the same thing you do. If they rank high enough to place on the first couple of pages of a search engine, they’re worth taking a look at. Visit at least 10 websites. Here are some of things to look for: ·The website design itself. After looking at several, are you
seeing a new trend? Maybe everyone’s starting to put audio clips
on their website, or the look is getting cleaner (or busier). You want
to look current, if not on the leading-edge. What you’re doing is taking a lot at things from your potential customers’/clients’ viewpoint. Today’s smart consumer shops around before they make a purchase of hire someone. They compare what’s being offered and how, in order to make informed decisions. So periodically take this trip your potential customers do. Visit the competition and see what it’s like. You could be in for some surprises. You may want to hire a marketing coach to do this for you. They’re familiar with market research and know what to look for and how to tweak your present website to make it more competitive. If you’re doing this yourself, make it a habit to do your market research once every three months. Visit at least 10 of your competitors’ websites to see what’s going on. It will pay off for you. About the Author ©Susan Dunn, MA, Marketing Coach, http://www.webstrategies.cc . Let us help you market on the Internet. Web design and critique, article-writing and submission service, marketing plans. Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for information. For free marketing ezine, email with “checklist” for subject line. Catagories:
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