You might only be interested in carving out a small niche online that earns you a nice five or six figure income, and that’s fine. The beauty of Internet marketing means you can aspire to what you want.
But if you want to run with the truly big (7+ figure) dogs, then there are some rules of business competition you need to know and practice to reach that level:
Rule #1 Respect your competition. Trash talking and disparaging your opponent brings down your own reputation and allows you to underestimate their real capability. Always assume your competition is smarter and more resourceful than you are, that way you’ll play at your highest level and you’ll garner respect.
Rule #2 Use all of your resources and then some. If you only use your own ideas then you’re limiting yourself and your business. Use the Internet, the media and the people you know to get new ideas. The more information you have, the better ideas you can come up with.
Rule #3 Leave your ego at the door. It doesn’t matter if your latest greatest idea came from you or your assistant or someone on television. What does matter if it will put you ahead in the game or not. Just because it’s your idea doesn’t necessarily make it great, just as if it’s someone else’s idea doesn’t necessarily make it bad. We’ve all had great ideas, don’t let it go to your head.
Rule #4 Pursue the holy trinity of marketing. You want to find the convergence of need, entertainment and the new, surprising or unexpected. Making a memorable impact in your customer’s mind in addition to providing a great product or service is what’s going to put you ahead of your competition.
Rule #5 Play to win. Many businesses play to just survive, and that’s not going to make you a competitor in the marketplace. Bring all of your resources and creativity to the table and play not to get through the day or to just keep up, but to win. Keep these principles in mind, and they should help you soar to the top.
