If you design kitchens, is another kitchen designer your competition? Most likely not. And the sooner you can position and modify your marketing strategy against your real competition, the sooner you will start to see more business come through the door. So Who Really Is Your Competition? The answer to that is always--Never the most obvious. So let's take the example of the kitchen designer. Having decided that another kitchen designer isn't his competition, he now has to decide who is his real competition.
His Real Competition Could Be A Car Salesman
Is this for real? How can a car salesman be a kitchen designer's competition? Let's analyse this more carefully. A kitchen and a car are both fighting for the same thing-- The householder's limited budget.
If the kitchen designer, were able to convince a couple that a kitchen is more important than a new car (which he could easily do if there was a foodie around), he now has a better chance of them dropping the car in favour of the kitchen.
The Advantage Of This Method Of Positioning
The most obvious advantage is that you're not losing any current customers. All your past advertising is bringing in the customers that are looking for kitchens anyway.
What it does do however, is bring in a new lot of customers that would never have thought about kitchens, if you hadn't implanted it in their minds. Effectively, you have both, customers who are looking for kitchens as well as customers who are forfeiting their new cars in favour of new kitchens.
How Your Re-Positioning Can Help You Focus
We had a client who ran a laundromat. Her current customers were people who did not have washing machines. Obviously, her business went up and down based on the season and on her customers limited budget. We got her to refocus her marketing strategy on a new target-- Customers who had washing machines.
These customers had the money, but no time. By deciding that her real competition was time she decided to target people who had limited time instead.
As a result, she was now targeting busy people while other laundromats were targeting people with washing. This positioning actually helped the laundromat stand out from the rest of the competition.
How The Laundromat Did A Full 180
This re-positioning did a couple of things for them. One, it helped them focus on their target audience. Consequently, they changed their name from just XYZ Laundromat to Bizzie Buggers.
It was catchy and bang on target. It also now meant that busy customers (with the money), were more likely to stop over and drop their washing. Plus they had the regular customers walking through the door anyway.
What You Need To Do
Sit down and write who your immediate competition could be. Then write down what your business is really up against. Here are some examples.
These aren't necessarily your right targets but they help you see things in a different light and help you determine who your real competition could possibly be.
Cartoonist= Photographer
Computer Salesman= Filing Cabinet
Car Dealer= Expensive Restaurant Meals
©Psychotactics.All Rights Reserved.
Written By: Sean D'Souza
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If you would like to learn more about the way the human brain works, and how customers make buying decisions, go to http://www.5000bc.com
There's a vast library of free articles and information on topics as varied as copywriting, small business ideas, public speaking, sales conversion, psychological tactics, branding and other marketing related subjects. Go to http://www.5000bc.com today. You'll be amazed at what you find there.
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Sean has developed a system called Psycho Tactics. PsychoTactics unlocks the working of the human brain and radically tweaks the way you think and act about your business. This results in clarity of thought and greater profits. Today, Sean is constantly teaching small business- &How they too can do the same?'
He does this through his websites http://www.5000bc.com/http://www.psychotactics.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
Online education courses are a great way to learn many things. With the sheer number of people today who have regular access to the Internet, the opportunities to learn these things are far greater than they were just a decade or two ago. Without online education, the only way to learn a new skill or take a class would be to physically attend that class or find someone who could teach you privately. Because of the technology of online education, there are literally thousands of things you can learn and many of them can be studied right from the privacy of your own home.
In many cases, the fact that you are learning from home can be a real benefit. Consider the privacy you have in your home.
If you are learning something new, there's no need for others to even know you are studying this particular subject. You may be embarrassed to let others know that you don't already have this knowledge, or it might simply be in your best interest that others don't know. For example, you may be seeking to gain a training certificate that will put you in line for a promotion. It might be politically incorrect in your current employment to be making this move. Your current supervisor might resent the fact that you want to move up. While secrecy is never a good thing, being discreet about your plans might be a wise move. You may even be looking for employment elsewhere and taking online education courses may be a stepping stone to that move. Again, letting your current employer know about your educational goals could be cause for tension in your current work environment.It could also be that you just want to learn something new. You'll find literally hundreds of online education courses available.
Whether you're wanting to learn to sew or you want to work on a degree, you can likely find an online education program that's just right for you.
Matt Norman is the founder of Easy Distance Learning a website providing information on learning online.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
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