Don’t you wanna feel special?

March 16th, 2007 by John Herman, under client communication, competition, customer service. No Comments

Over at UX Magazine there is an article who’s title alone deserves blogging goodness.

You’re special… (I lied).

Not only is it grammatically correct, with the final period outside of the paranthesees and all that fun stuff, it’s completely hilarious. In that “Dear John” sort of way it’s just the best title around.

What’s even better is the actual point of the article. When you begin with wit and end with genius…well…you’ve got yourself a blog entry now, dontcha?

I’ll break it down for you. Perception is reality. Even if what you do is terribly niche specific and you think you have no competition from here to the moon…your customer may perceive you as being one OF a million as opposed to one IN a million.

So, the way UX Magazine defines this is absolutly spot on.

The product and service we offer categorizes us, everything else we do defines us.

Because your competition isn’t just, well, your competition. It’s everyone your client even thinks of as your competition. You can’t fight that so you may as well accept it.

The best you can do is keep your branding strong, your customer service bar none, and above all…be yourself. That will always differentiate you from the corporate stiffs play acting righteous businesslike boredom and know-it-all-ology. Your personality has already brought you this far…why not let it take you even farther?

Need help making your branding consistent or working your personal mojo into your branding without making it a one man show? Succeeding Steps can help. Schedule a consultation with us today, and set yourself apart from the pack you never even saw coming.

Taking on the Big Guys

December 7th, 2006 by John Herman, under competition. No Comments

I read an interesting blog recently at Undercover Strategist. It talked about little guys going up against the big guys. Every business wants to grow and since the majority of businesses in the United States are small businesses, often big competitors stand in your way. So the trick is to out maneuver the big guys by developing a competitive and unique marketing strategy. The Undercover Strategist identified eight rules to follow to successfully take on the big guys. I’m going to elaborate on each of those.

• #1: Don’t attack full-frontal. Big businesses are just that big – and if you go after them with a full-frontal attack, they will just eliminate you. Big business has more money than you do and more importantly, they have more to lose than you do. Expect a war if you attack in this way.
• #2: Don’t copy. Copying big business won’t work either. You just don’t have the resources. You can only exploit their weaknesses. Find ways to use them to your advantage – fill unmet needs.
• #3: Find the holes. The bigger the business; the more holes appear in the armory. If you are going to compete, find and tackle a hole.
• #4: Don’t compete on price. Don’t go in on a price lead. Big business has deeper pockets and will wipe you out financially.
• #5: Service a niche market. Look for uncontested areas. Often larger players cannot service niche markets. Find a niche market that is small enough to defend.
• #6: Keep Quiet! Don’t tell anyone what you are doing. All it does is alert your competitors to the game plan. There will be plenty of time to brag later.
• #7: Be a leader but don’t behave like one. Become a leader in your part of the market, but don’t get complacent and behave like one.
• #8: Take control at the top. Keep decision making away from committees. One person (preferably at the top) should direct the plan of attack.

You can take on the big guys – you just need to do it the right way. Read the full blog entry at http://www.undercoverstrategist.com/David_Takes_On_Goliath.html