We don’t operate our businesses in a vacuum and it’s so important to know who your competitors are and what they’re doing.
At the same time you don’t want to allow yourself to get overwhelmed by your competition. In fact, if you shift your perspective, you’ll find that your competitors can become valuable strategic alliance partners.
Why do you want to know your competitors? When choosing your niche, you want to evaluate the competitive landscape so you can ensure that there is sufficient competition already successfully working in this niche. If there isn’t, it’s a sign that it’s not a viable niche.
You also want to see how you can differentiate yourself. Do you have a unique approach or perspective? How is your competition marketing itself – what can you learn from what they’re doing?
Sign up for their lists and keep on top of what they’re doing. Learn from them. Comment on their blogs. Connect with them on social media. As I said, you’ll be amazed how your competitors can become joint venture partners if you have the right perspective.
One great tool I came across to help you learn about your competitors is http://www.statmyweb.com/. This free tool provides a wealth of information about any website, including:
- when it was created
- where is it hosted
- how much is it worth
- Where it ranks on the web
- Estimated visits
- Alexa traffic rankings
- keywords ranking
- links analysis
- and more
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