"Know thine enemy..."

(A webinar is a live event where you watch a presentation on your computer screen and listen to the presenter over the phone or through your computer speakers.) Our three-step training system has been in development for many months, and we finally "took it to the streets" this past Wednesday. The webinar offered a really cool tool for summarizing your own business and comparing it to the business attributes of your key competitors. As you work your way through the tool's analysis process, you discover the Holy Grail of marketing: what makes your business truly different and compelling. If you missed the webinar, we recorded it, so you can still benefit from this important brand-building event.

But what I really want to talk about for just a minute is Harvey Mackay's book Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive, published by Ballantine Books back in 1996. If you're serious about thinking through your competitive situation and strategy, I highly recommend the book. Mackay has written a whole bunch of great business books, and most of them focus on helping business owners and managers drive growth and do things with a great deal of passion and panache. The books make for very motivating reads, especially when you find yourself floundering a bit during a period of business stress or great change.

Anyway, Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive includes a great quote that I used in part as the headline for this blog: "Know thine enemy. Knowing your competition is just as important as knowing your customer." I subscribe wholeheartedly to the notion of knowing where you stand in relation to those that compete for the hearts and minds of your customers. I don't subscribe, however, to the idea that competitors are "thine enemy." In my business career, I have often learned the most from people who do similar work to what I do. Joining your own industry's association (where your competitors share a seat at the table with you) is a truly great way to get a handle on your market or markets. You can also find out which businesses are successful and what kinds of challenges everyone in your industry is facing. That can be comforting when you hit the inevitable potholes in the road to success.

Some of the longest, and most valuable, relationships I have built over the past 15 years have been with people who do what I do. Now, we don't reveal really critical information about our business and clients that would allow a competitor to gain an advantage, but we do share general information, frustrations, and solutions. Exchanging information with your competitive peers is a truly great experience. But I've also discovered that there are a few serious sharks — people whose intention is only to one-up everyone they meet. They are stiff, egotistical, overly theatrical (in many cases), and really want to bite you. No kidding. But we're all smart, right? Those sharks tend to reveal themselves pretty easily if you are paying attention, so don't get anywhere near them once you've figured out who they are. They are out there, but they are few and far between.

So, take the critical step of getting involved with those who do what you do. The rewards, I promise, are worth your time — and the risk, as small as it is.