Imitation, The Smartest Form Of Flattery

Unless you are an inventor, most likely you are selling a product or service that is being offered by someone else, somewhere, at some time. The first person to start your type of business would have gone through a lot of trial and error. Thank that person, as now you can not only profit by not repeating the same mistakes, but by learning what they do to get business.

The best way to do this is to practice what any businessperson knows: know your competition. The most beneficial thing you can do is to study what they are doing to attract customers.

Go online, do a search, pull up the web sites of your competition, and start taking notes. Here are some things to look for.

  • What do you like about their web site?

  • How can they improve upon it?

  • Is it user-friendly and easy to understand?

  • Is it too wordy or complicated?

  • Could someone browsing this web site learn quickly what this business actually does?

  • Does their web site move too slowly, due to an over-emphasis on graphics that sacrifices the actual message?

With your notes, you can begin to set up the key points that you feel your target audience needs to know about your product or service, and why it will benefit them to do business with you.

Look at these different web sites and read the headline.

  • Does it draw you in?

  • Do you care to read more?

  • Do you feel intrigued, or more than a little confused?

If you find one you like, there is nothing wrong with re-wording it to fit your business. Remember that we are talking about imitation, not plagiarism.

It has been said that there is nothing new under the sun. While this may be the case, at least give what your company is offering a unique slant, and make an effort to provide it in a more informative and interesting format than what your competition is doing.

====Side Bar====

This "unique slant", often called the "Unique Selling Proposition (USP)", opens the door for effective competition among businesses selling a simular product -- even the same product.

Rosser Reeves was the first to coin the phrase Unique Selling Proposition in his book "Reality of Advertising", published in 1961.

Here's Reeves' 3 part diffintion of USP:

  • Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer.

  • The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot, or does not offer. It must be unique--either a uniqueness of the brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising.

  • The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions.

    ====Side Bar====

    Try to look at your competition with fresh eyes. Treat what they have to say as if it is the first time you have seen this information, because that may be the case for your target audience. Make a list of the questions that come to mind, or points that you feel you would want more information on, if you were in the shoes of your audience.

    Even what your competition does wrong with the information they do or do not provide can be instructive. It serves to get you to think of all the things that you can do to sell the service better. You are building the structure of your business on what someone else has done before you, but improving the end product by going the extra distance in covering the whole story in a clear manner.

    Now that is smart business.

    About The Author

    David Geer's Success 4U Marketing helps small business owners discover how to market any product or service online ? quickly ... easily ... profitably ... successfully.

    http://www.cashflowseller.com/

    In The News:

    • pen paper and inkwell


    cat break through


    Get FASTER Download Times By Making BIGGER Web Pages!

    As a webmaster you already know how important it is... Read More

    Flash Design Adds Website Versatility

    You have probably viewed many Flash-based components while surfing the... Read More

    When You Create A Web Site, Dont Make A Splash!

    Don't make a splash!Are you thinking about using a splash... Read More

    Do Your Website Yourself - 4 Simple Steps to Get Your Dreams on the Web

    Many people hire professional web site designers for as much... Read More

    Creating a Basic Web Design Template

    A "template" is simply a design format which you can... Read More

    Web Design - 7 Key Things to Avoid

    A search for "web design" on Google returns more than... Read More

    Do You Make These Common (But Deadly) Website Design Mistakes?

    Building a website can be overwhelming, here are some design... Read More

    A Crash Course on Graphic Philosophy 101

    Novice and professional graphic designers, we are aware that you... Read More

    The Top Ten Checklist For Low Web Site Sales

    You have good traffic, but low client sign ups and... Read More

    Dont Overdo it!

    Have you ever been to site with so much ad... Read More

    What Drives Repeat Visitors To Your Site?

    There can be zillions of reasons why your visitors return... Read More

    Good Web Design ? What Is It?

    There is unlimited possibilities when it comes to designing a... Read More

    Website Registration Roadmap - How to Create Your Own Website in 7 Easy Steps

    Creating your own website is actually easy in today's world... Read More

    Affordable Website Design In Manchester

    If you have a business, big or small you may... Read More

    Top Six Ways To Make Your Visitors To Hate YOU!

    We will take a look at why your visitors may... Read More

    Do-It-Yourself or Hire a Professional Designer

    Remember your vision for your company and the brand or... Read More

    How to Make Your Site Attractive to Potential Link Partners

    Every now and then, I receive a link exchange request... Read More

    Custom Web Site Design Strategies

    Web site design has certainly, in the past decade, evolved... Read More

    Web Page Building for Beginners 4

    Page ranking by search engines such as Google are not... Read More

    Event Planning Must Include An Event Website

    As part of your event planning you should seriously consider... Read More

    How Not To Get Web Design Work

    I get the occasional web design lead from my website.... Read More

    Building An Effective Furniture Sales Web Site

    Web sites that feature products ? especially furniture or other... Read More

    Simple Steps To Proper Web Design

    Over the course of the last decade, the Internet has... Read More

    Give People What They Want And Watch Your Profits Soar!

    Do you know why the majority of people use the... Read More

    Content is Crucial!

    Content is undoubtedly the most important element of a website.... Read More

    Custom Website Design - 3 Must Have Tools

    Creating your own website can be fun and easy, as... Read More

    Creating Personal Web Sites

    This is a two-part article about creating a web site... Read More

    Database Driven Website

    The solution lies in creating a 'Database driven website', through... Read More

    Top Ten Fonts for Website Design

    The top ten fonts for website design might change in... Read More

    Do You Want To Save Time With Your Web Design?

    It starts off simply; a few HTML pages, a few... Read More

    10 Ways Web Site Text Can Impact Your Readers Buying Decision

    10 Ways Web Site Text Can Impact Your Reader's Buying... Read More

    Title Tags - How to Make Them More Effective

    The title tags of your web pages are more important... Read More

    A Website Checklist

    If you've just finished building your new website (or revamping... Read More