One local business sells a stream of new customers from their website. Their competitor across town gets no leads from their website. What’s happening here?
Seth Godin blogs, “Sure, there are playoffs in football, but competition is everywhere, we just forget to notice it.’
“There are three hundred photographers looking for work in a particular specialty. One puts a creative commons license on his shots in Flickr and they start showing up in many places, from presentations to brochures. Which of the 300 photographers has won the competition for attention? Which one of the three hundred has shared his ideas enough to be noticed?’ [...]
‘There are 30 places that sell bumper stickers. One shows up first in the Google ads when I do a search. Which one gets my business?’ [...]
“You don’t have to like competition in order to understand that it exists. Your fair share isn’t going to be yours unless you give the public a reason to pick you.”
If your goal is to get new business from the Internet, your website should attract new prospects, give them a reason to choose you, and funnel them into the start of your sales process. Social media – such as Facebook and LinkedIn – build connections and credibility, and point people toward your website that does the heavy lifting. An e-newsletter – such as Constant Contact – has a growing list of people you regularly mail to, sending valuable information and attractive offers with sign-up forms on your website. In a well-designed marketing system, all of these components work together, and tie into your mailings, news releases, and other offline methods.
Seth Godin concludes, “You don’t have to like competition in order to understand that it exists. Your fair share isn’t going to be yours unless you give the public a reason to pick you.”
What do you find works well for you on the Internet?
Comments on this entry are closed.