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Small Business Marketing Articles... Your Competition is NOT Who You Think It Is
As a small business owner, competition seems to be all around us. Others in our area "do what we do" and "offer what we offer". How do you compete? How do you get more clients? How do you leave your competition in the dust. Yes, competing with other small businesses in your industry can be a challenge at times. But... This is not the competition I am speaking of. In fact, your competition is NOT who you think it is. Your competition is NOT the thousands of others in your industry or the hundreds of others located in the same area of town in which you work. Nope. Your competition is something you may not have even thought of. In fact, your competition may be eating your lunch and costing you thousands of dollars and you don't even realize it! Who is this competition you say... Your competition is YOU. Surprised? Think about it. Your competition is your head and how you think about your services. Do you really value what you do? Do you really believe you can change people's lives with what you do? Do you really believe that you're an expert in your field? If so, do you charge what you're worth? Or do you think, "I can't charge as much, because I'm new..." Or whatever other excuse you have in your head. Do you have confidence in yourself and what you offer? Or are you shy and don't let your self-confidence shine. If you don't value your services enough to charge what you're worth, and if you don't believe in yourself...then you're struggling with head trash around the services you provide and how you think about what you do...that's competition. And the competition is you. Your competition is how you describe what you do. When someone asks you, "What do you do?" Do you answer in a way that gets that person interested and excited about what you do and want to know more? Or do they look at you with a blank stare and move on to another subject? If you cannot describe what you do in such crystal clear, attractive way, that makes prospects beg you to tell them more...then you have competition. And the competition is you. Your competition is your fear of getting out there and marketing yourself. Do you get out there on a regular basis and market yourself? By regular, I mean at least weekly...do you get the word out about your services or are you afraid? Do you hide in your office and just hope and pray that clients come? If you're afraid to market yourself and you don't regularly get out there and spread the word about what you do...then you have competition. And the competition is you. Your competition is your hesitation to make a decision about marketing. Maybe you've read all the books, maybe you've attended all the seminars, but still you hesitate and never make a decision to market yourself. Maybe you're hindered by so much "analysis paralysis" that you freeze and do nothing for marketing, because you fear making the wrong decision. If you hesitate and second guess and do not actually "get it done" to market your services...then you have competition. And the competition is you. Your competition is your procrastination and putting things off. How about that marketing "to do" list, have you gotten things done? Or are things perpetually put on the back burner? To attract clients, you cannot procrastinate in your marketing efforts. You cannot "get to it one day." You cannot be so busy that you don't take the time to market yourself. You have to act and act now! If you put things off or procrastinate in your marketing...then you have competition. And the competition is you. Your competition is your lack of focus. Maybe you're getting out there. Maybe you're not putting marketing on the back burner. Maybe you're getting marketing done -- however, if you follow every new technique, idea and marketing tip that you come across...then you probably have a major focus problem. There's a name for this problem: "shiny object syndrome." Meaning: you bounce around from shiny thing to shiny thing to shiny thing. It's hard to focus when you suffer from this and even harder to actually get results from your marketing efforts. If you have a hard time focusing on a marketing task for long periods of time, or bail on an activity before you see results...then you have competition. And the competition is you. Do any of these descriptions sound familiar? If so, do you see the big problem? YOU are more of your competition than others in your industry are. YOU are more of your competition than the economy is. YOU are more of your competition than anything else in your small business. You may be holding yourself back more than you realize. The good news in all of this is, if you can identify with YOU being your own worse competition -- take a deep breath, it's very typical. Most small business owners don't even realize the problem. And, there is a solution... The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. So, Step 1 is to admit that YOU may be hindering your own success. YOU may be your competition. Step 2 is to get help. No one succeeds alone. You need to hire coaches, consultants or mentors and surround yourself with the resources that can fix the problem.
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