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Look at it this way, even your local ice-cream seller has his, or her hands full with competition.
Imagine doing business online where prospects are faced with unlimited alternatives besides yours.
You've got to outperform and beat your own competitors, before you become the beaten one.
Now I don't mean really going out there with a baseball bat like a madman. Nor do I advocate verbal 'bashing' which seems to be a rage that'll never go away.
There're far easier ways to deal with your competition.
Read on then, here are 5 staggeringly simple 'secrets' to winning the race everytime.
-------------------------------------- Secret One : Building Your Own "X-factor" --------------------------------------
Customers are always looking for something different and refreshing.
In a senario of ebook marketing, you may very well be selling the exact ebook as a thousand other resellers.
Ask yourself : what will make customers buy yours?
In this example, you should create your own branding and differentiation. For instance, make more profits by :
- Repackaging ebooks into unique packages - Designing your own sales page for uniqueness - Offering truly exclusive bonuses - Presenting more professionalism - Serving up better customer service
Brand yourself, be different and be bold. This is your "X-factor" advantage which no competitor can copy.
it's uniquely YOU.
As my good friend John Colanzi will say "stop promoting products and start promoting you".
-------------------------------------- Secret Two : Become Friends --------------------------------------
Secret number two out of "How To Make Friends And Influence People".
Just kidding. But if you look at it in this way, competitors are really the perfect 'business partners'.
Think about it. Both of your businesses are targeting the same kinds of prospects.
So why not help each other?
Everyone wins by combining strengths.
The easiest method to do this is through Joint Ventures, which can be for anything you dream of.
My principle is simple : find close competitiors and turn them into partners.
Contact them personally and prospose a joint venture deal :
- Simple link exchange - Content exchange - Ezine ad swaps - Trading of products - Endorsements - Interviews - Joint authorship of ebooks, etc.
The possibilities are limited only by your boldness and imagination.
-------------------------------------- Secret Three : Give To The World --------------------------------------
This is not a big secret. No one likes the hard-selling salesman.
No one enjoys being sold to and being treated like another 'number on the queue'.
On the other hand, everyone appreciates help and useful Information.
They like to think they've made the buying decision on their own will.
How do you use this to your advantage on the internet?
By offering visitors quality information that leads them to wanting your product!
This may be in the form of web content, ebooks or ecourses, and it's popularly known as the "pre-selling" technique.
Not only does it increase your profits like magic, it also heightens your credibility and trustworthiness to the customer.
I'd bet not many of your competitors are giving their products away ; -)
Make it a goal to educate and inform and the money will come automatically.
-------------------------------------- Secret Four : Be A Student For Life --------------------------------------
Always continue learning and improving to race ahead of your competitors.
Surf the web, participate in forums and do research that relates to your market. Learn skills to improve your business.
For example, if you can't write good copy, learn to do so.
If your new-found skill can lead to better website conversion, and eventually more sales, wouldn't you want to learn it fast?
As the old saying goes "learning is a lifelong experience".
What makes you think you can ignore this in your business?
-------------------------------------- Secret Five : Create Your Own Market --------------------------------------
The magic phrase is "Targeted Diversification".
Expand CURRENT product into other related products or services that your market will need.
The key is to provide solutions to your target market, that are complementary to what you already offer.
Become a one-stop solution seller and make backend more money from new and existing customers.
For instance if you sell an ebook on ezine publishing, consider expanding into list hosting service or something similar.
Remember the five principles above and really use them in your life and business. You'll beat your competitors at any race in no time at all.
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