Competitor Intelligence and your Business

why competitor intelligence?

If you are ignorant of both your enemy and yourself, then you are a fool and certain to be defeated in every battle.

Sun Tzu, The Art of War, approx 500 BC

Whether large or small, your business works hard to carve out it's niche in the marketplace. Unless the products or services you offer are truly unique you probably do so against fierce competition from other businesses. While you might not exactly see yourself as being at war with those businesses, the fact remains that often you are chasing the same customer group. In some types of businesses you might also be competing for limited raw materials or for the most talented employees. Just as in a war, the successful business is the one that truly understands the enemy, and the landscape in which they do battle. This means tuning in to the way your competitors' think and function, as well as understanding their strengths and vulnerabilities, and their long and short term strategies.

Competitive intelligence can help you to discover the answers to these questions, providing information that may be used to develop your own strategies and keep you one step ahead of the field.

By understanding your competitors you may be able to:

- prempt their next moves

- exploit their weaknesses

- avoid their mistakes

- create a stronger and more effective strategy for your own business.

who are your competitors?

- businesses offering the same product or service

- businesses offering similar products or services

- businesses that might offer the same or similar products or services in the future

- businesses offering technical advancements or other new developments that could remove the need for your product or service altogether.

asking the right questions

Competitive intelligence gathering is of no benefit unless the information collected is collated, fed into the decision-making process and used in a meaningful way. Before any information is collected, it is important that you are clear on your goals for the process. You can then be sure that you are not wasting time and money collecting information that is going to be of no benefit.

It might be that you have specific questions, such as:

- How do customers view our business in comparison to our competitors?

- What marketing strategies are our competitors using and how effective are they?

- What is our general position within the marketplace?

- Who are our true competitors?

Be careful to avoid blinkered thinking when approaching questions of this sort. Business history is littered with examples of companies who dismissed new entrants into their marketplace until it was too late, or even misunderstand the real nature of their relationship with consumers. For instance, when DVD technology first arrived on the market, VHS video manufacturers reacted in two main ways - some began investing in the new technology, edging their bets and creating a foothold in the future for their business; others dismissed DVDs as expensive and impractical, believing customers would be unwilling to replace their large video collections with this new technology. There may even have been some manufacturers who had their head so far in the sand that they were completely unaware of the arrival of DVD until their sales began to fall away.

online competitor intelligence

In the age of the Internet, online competitor intelligence is a key element of your overall strategy. It can tell you:

- what consumers are saying about your brand and product online

- what they are saying about your competitors

- the format and size of your competitor's online marketing strategy

- how effectively your website is performing in comparison to competitors

- how you can improve your online strategy.

Specific practical elements that might be considered include, but are not limited to:

- Feedback from consumer forums and reviews.

- How effectively have your competition optimised their websites?

- Where do they link in natural search results for relevant keywords and phrases?

- How effectively targeted are your competitors' PPC campaigns?

- Which core keywords and phrases do they use in PPC?

- How many good quality incoming links have your competitors established to their websites?

- How good is the usability of your competitors' websites?

collecting competitor information

Competitive intelligence involves gathering information in an ethical manner using publicly available sources. In the age of the Internet we have access to more information than ever, but not all of it is accurate. Often the challenge is as much about identifying genuine, useful information and filtering it for relevance as it is about finding the information in the first place.

Information may come from a wide variety of sources, both within your business and outside it, for example:

- Your sales team and customer advisers have day to day contact with your customers and will often hear news of competitors.

- Your purchasing team may learn that a supplier is now also supplying a competitor.

- A quick search at the Intellectual Property Office may reveal new patents submitted by competitors.

The Internet is a rich mine of information, that can be accessed through search engines, databases such as Dun and Bradstreet and government agencies such as Companies House. Often the best starting point for your search is the competitor's own website, which may contain huge amount of information on company strategy, current clients and the management team.

Competitor research companies such as LaunchPoint have the expertise to dig deeper and gather still more information.


bringing it together

One you have gathered this pile of information, the next step is analysis. It is important to bear in mind that a fair amount of the information gathered will be repetitious, out of date, inaccurate or incomplete. However each small piece can help you to build up a more complete picture of your competitors and put you in a stronger position.

Putting the information together and cataloguing it carefully will allow you to add new information as it comes along, as well as identifying any links and commonalties.

Finally, the relevance and importance of each piece of information needs to be interpreted and analysed - on its own and in conjunction with other information. This is where information starts to become intelligence, and can be used to help decision-making in the future.

Dw230; Seo-search Engine Optimization: Get the Basic Scoop on Seo

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) needs to be a factor in an online home based business. Starting a website is a way to get your name, interests and what you have to offer out on the World Wide Web.

DW230 is a Japanese search engine that allows quick searches utilizing Google, Yahoo and MSN.

A vast majority of internet users use search engines to find what they are looking for. As an online entrepreneur it is beneficial to know what search engines look for when they return search results. Having a website would be a waste of time without the proper SEO.
When you have a Website with information that has proven to be of great interest to the online community you will have to optimize it to drive traffic from search engines.

The amount of search volume generated by keywords and terms is the building block for search engine optimization. Your websites content should be directly related relevant to one topic. This will allow search engine algorithms to determine how to index your website.
Indexing is how search engines store websites so they will have relevant information to return when users perform a search
.
SEO; for keywords and phrases:

To determine how often words and phrases are looked up in search engines go to:
www.seo2020.com/seo-tools/keyword-research/keyword-research-tool/

Type in "Work at Home Business". You see it generates over 37,000 in monthly search volume. (at the time this article was written)
Search volume needs to be the basis of what you're looking for and how many other sites are competing for the same word or phrases should also be considered. Your website content should focus on providing quality content surrounding your keywords or phrases.

*Note: focusing on keywords does not mean repeating them over and over within your content. It has been said that Google considers websites with repetitive keywords as "spammy".

If Google labels your website as spammy you will have difficulty getting indexed and ranked. So beware!

Search engine optimization entails many things but one goal is to provide search engines with websites they can identify to be of value.
"Quality content is discussed in the Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) article on my webpage."

Having quality backlinks is another common but sometimes overlooked SEO strategy. Posting your website content to article and search engine directories is one way of achieving multiple backlinks. Obtaining quality backlinks is the most time consuming part of SEO and it is recommended that this process be outsourced.

The results you see from backlinks can take several months but the page rank and traffic you will obtain from it is astounding.
This is not an overnight process, SEO takes time (I will repeat this fact throughout the article)!

For HTML websites you can optimize for search engine robots by adding specific tags in your source code. For example:

* Search engine optimization: get the basic scoop on SEO.
* seo,search engine optimization,Internet,online business .
* You can not successfully run an Internet business without SEO. Familiarize yourself with Search Engine * Optimization today.

You should also have your keyword or phrase in your article/content headings. When search engine robots crawl your webpage they will find that your title specifies what the webpage is about. The keyword meta tag will further specify what terms will be discussed in your content (no need for a space between the commas). The description meta tag is how your webpage will appear in the search index.

This is basic SEO information. I suggest you do all of the basics then outsource the rest. There are many companies that stay abreast of changes in all search engines. The value of outsourcing SEO is that it allows you to:

1. Grow your business
2. Free up time for you to start another website.

Ultimately you are trying to ensure your webpage appears in search engine results when someone does a search on your topic or keyword/phrase.

Lets Flash forward:

You have built a highly optimized website with a highly searched keyword phrase that has multiple articles which are spin-offs of you keyword/phrase. For instance:

* Work at Home: (phrase)
* Work at home jobs
* Work at home business
* Work at home opportunities

So you would have the main "phrase" as your home page and 3 different pages with articles. These are broad topics used for example only, you can ultimately get more detailed in your subjects. Remember each article must have a keyword density of no more than 12%. Some will argue the percentage of keyword density your article should have. My suggestion would be to have a non internet marketer proof read your article and ask them if they feel your keyword phrase is repeated to often.

Again, be very light with the density (no more than 12%). Keyword density has increasingly become less important to search engine robots as it can be viewed as spam if over used. What search engine bots do find important is what synonymic terms are used with your keywords.

On your website, the home page links to each article page and each article links to the subsequent article. No article will link to the previous article or to the homepage within the article content. Place a "Sitemap" link and "contact us" links on each article page. The aforementioned is a basic website linking structure which will allow search bots to move fluidly through your website without running into broken links. This is important for search engine optimization because it will allow the robots to crawl your entire site. When you link from one page to the next have the link as far down in the article as possible. This will allow the search engine bots to fully crawl your articles. If unable to naturally incorporate the next page link in your article text you can create a visual line break between the bottom of your article and add the link to the next page below it.

Next>

Submit your homepage URL to multiple WEBSITE directories to get your site indexed (outsource). There are paid and unpaid web directory services. I'd suggest using the unpaid services for now. Search engine robots frequently scan web directories for information so you need to have your website in a directory to get indexed.

Once your website is indexed submit each of your ARTICLES to article directories (outsource).

Do a search on "search engine friendly directories". Do not waste your time with new directories or directories with low page rank.
Keep your website optimized and with fresh content by adding two articles a week and do not forget to submit them to article directories.
Adding just 2 articles per week will allow search engines to see natural website growth which studies have shown to be favored against automated article generation that adds 50 or so articles a week or a day.

Search engine optimization (SEO) takes time, in most cases you will not see results overnight.

As mentioned before; for a fee, companies will optimize your website and submit them to directories, but beware, you get what you pay for.
For instance, some companies advertise they will submit your website to 1000 search engine friendly directories for $100. More than likely these companies will not give your site the proper submission it deserves.

Submitting articles to search engine directories is a time consuming task and it is not cheap. On the other hand, when your site is submitted to the right directories the rewards are astounding.

It is only worth getting a website optimized if people have genuine interest in the information you offer. There is a substantial amount of time involved with submitting content to directories and in order to grow your Home Based Business you may need to find a auto submitter that will allow you to input your information and submit to hundreds of directories with the click of your mouse.

source from : articlebase

Anatomy of an Internet Marketing Guru

A guru is both a boon and a bane to Internet marketing. But for one thing, the anatomy of a guru is classic example of Internet marketing strategies at its finest. You may learn a thing or two about internet marketing from a guru.

Effective Marketing and Promoting: Creating an Outrageous Demand

A guru is not necessarily the most excellent in the field, but he or she is the one who is best able to market and promote his services. They just have this knack for creating an outrageous demand to customers, and strange enough, they garner so much popularity on the field they have chosen to specialize in. More and more people just consult them once they have established that outrageous demand.

Writing articles

Writing articles is another thing that most gurus have in common. You will find that the likes of Dr. Phil are often found to be an author of numerous articles on the subject matter. More and more people are being exposed to the guru’s expertise due to these articles. It is, in a way, some sort of bait for new readers to subscribe to his or her content. A winning article not just gains a lot of hits, but it also leads the readers to follow the guru’s other writings, events and whathaveyous.

Concept of Micro-Branding

You may find it difficult to be a guru in a very wide aspect. The large scope of Internet marketing is too difficult to claim to be a guru for. Micro-branding is being like a mini-guru. You just take a portion of the big industry and choose to specialize in it. Sometimes it employs the “first come, first served” basis. You find an empty niche and you fill it in.

Maintaining Guru Status: Reinvention

Gurus do not get their status forever. They have the tendency to be dethroned if they do not shape up or meet the new demands of their target industry. Reinvention is necessary to be able to keep up and stay in their pedestal. Guru status is imputed by customers. And by the minute, the concept of a guru is being reshaped by these people who placed them there. More and more people are also added in the roster of those seeking advice in a certain field, and there is a need to update one’s self in accordance with added customers in the target niche.

source from : articlebase

The Philippine Online Shopping Experience

The Philippines is known for its wonderful sceneries, exotic locations and
most of all for its people's hospitality, well this doesn't necessarily
restrict the hospitality when you're standing on Philippine soil, you can
readily feel this sense of being taken care in everything Filipino even in
the internet environment. When you're online shopping in the Philippine
islands, one company takes hospitality as its highest value and that company
is Express Regalo. But what is Express Regalo? Express Regalo is the best
experience when it comes to online shopping in the Philippine islands. With
a broad collections of products for you to choose from Express Regalo can
simply be compared to a mall than an online store, A feat only done by a few
and a feat done here only by Express Regalo for to have that online shopping
in the Philippine islands experience. With products for your every need,
it's no wonder Express Regalo is the top choice when it comes to online
shopping in the Philippine islands, and without further adieu let's see
what's inside Express Regalo. For starters, they have one of the biggest
collections of flowers for your loved one's pleasure because it's as easy as
pressing a few buttons to give a bouquet, they also have electronics and
gadgets, cameras and video cameras that's perfect for taking memories of
those get together parties and what's a get together if you don't have a
feast, but wait Express Regalo also have one of those in their arsenal. So
for that perfect online shopping in the Philippine islands just log on to

Public Relations- Do Not Miss This Huge Opportunity!

Public relations is not only for large companies. Even small businesses can take advantage of publicity to increase their exposure and grow their customer base. Here are a few tips to help you get started with your PR campaign:

- Make your media coverage do double duty. A major component of public relations is "planting" feature stories or news in newspapers, magazines, television or radio programs.

When a favorable story about your business appears in the press, you not only gain the short-term benefits of the positive publicity, but you can also use reprints of the article as a powerful marketing tool. Enclosing a copy of the article with your brochures and sales letters can boost your credibility immeasurably. It's also a great way to show potential partners that you are legitimate.

- If you receive positive press or feedback, use it to your advantage. If you are the subject of someone else's press release, reprint the release with the original contact information in addition to your own.

Or, if you receive a letter containing positive feedback about your products and services, use it to craft a press release showing how your customers feel about your business. Both of these techniques are easy ways to create something newsworthy when not much else is going on with your business.

- Put together a great online press kit. Recent surveys show that members of the media prefer that your press kit be online as opposed to printed on paper. This makes it easier for them to access it wherever and whenever they need to. When creating your online press kit, be sure that you have a clear link from your home page to it, keep the information relevant to what the media needs (this is not intended for the general public), put up all press releases, include any previous media mentions you've received and make sure that your media contact information is easy to find.

By taking the time to put together a great media kit you will be helping the press write about you. If they don't have access to basic information such as when your company was started, what exactly you do and who the important individuals in your organization are, you're making their job harder. And if they have to do extra work to write a story about you, they may decide not to bother!

- Never ask to be notified when your story is printed. A lot of people make this mistake. Remember, it's not the reporter's job to provide you with copies of the story or even inform you when it runs. You should be monitoring the media for mentions of your company and products and if you would like copies you can order them from the circulation department.

It was back in 1910 when a Frenchman by the name of Georges Claude invented the first neon signs, which he then showed at the Paris Motor Show the same year. By 1923, they had made their way to America, and you could say the rest is history. Today you can order custom neon signs that will definitely get noticed and after all, isn't that what it is all about?

Neos is Greek for "new gas." The title is actually quite fitting considering neon lighting came about some time after traditional electric bulbs and lighting. In the earliest times, neon was only available in red, but as technology improved so did the colors available. In fact, today you have more than 150 vibrant colors that can be used in your custom signs.

Since the early days of neon signs, they have certainly caught on, capturing the imagination of both business and consumer. Today's neon signs are considered to be big electronic message boards. Whether they give the name of your company, tell you something such as "open," or promote a product, custom neon signs not only get noticed, they also get remembered.

Custom neon signs are often incorporated with aluminum signs. However they are presented, they make perfect eye catching advertisements. Retail establishments were quick to discover the power of neon, and today you can find at least one neon sign in almost any establishment.

Custom neon signs are very affordable, making them an attractive way to spend advertising dollars. The bright colors instantly grab people's attention almost depositing them on your door for you. From selling fancy beer to selling fancy cars, there is a place in every business to promote what they have to offer, and custom neon signs mean you get to pick the exact message you deliver. Hence, discover the advantages of the most colorful electronic message boards for yourself.

Neon is also popular for displaying the name of the business in big bright letters. In fact, if you want exposure at night, it's really your only good option. Large neon signs are often combined with aluminum signs. Almost all hotels, motels, and restaurants that cater to an after dark market use custom neon signs to promote their business.

Custom neon signs have actually walked out of the business world right into the personal world thanks to some smart marketing. Fun looking cartoon characters that are perfect for a child's room, animated movie characters were an instant hit. Great looking neon clocks, signs for the bar, and retro diner signs for the kitchen are just a sampling of the consumer market neon signs that are becoming available.

And of course almost any of the neon producing sign companies would be happy to produce a custom sign to your specifications. Sports fanatics that aren't happy with the run of the mill sign for their team are having custom neon signs made for their favorite team. Whatever you have in mind pick your size and your color and enjoy your instant electronic message boards.

If you are looking for high quality signs for your business, whether it's aluminum signs, electronic message boards, or custom neon signs, the internet can put you in touch with providers. Don't expect the high quality manufactures to always post their pricing. After all, it's difficult to price until you know exactly what the job entails. With so many different sizes, colors, and requests, there really isn't a standard price table.

You have to admit that our world would be a lot duller place if we didn't have neon signs. Who hasn't entered a new city at night - it's a great feeling - like the city has suddenly come to life with all the neon signs flashing and flickering, the vibrant light on the night sky. There really is no other sign that can have the same impact in displaying its message.

So whether you want custom neon signs to tell people about your business, or you just want to decorate the family room, one thing is certain, these electronic message boards really can't be beat!

Source here

There are many ways to advertise without putting out a lot of cash. Use these tips to your advantage. Modify them and make them your own. Just remember that the only way to succeed with your business is to do something.

No one has ever found success by doing nothing.

1. Put your website on notepads, pens, newsletters, bumper stickers, coffee cups.

2. Flyers - When you buy your morning newspaper, slip some flyers into the rest of the newspapers.

3. Business cards (You can make up your own or get them free through VistaPrint)

4. Article marketing is one of my favorite method of advertising. If you write articles and then use a service to publish them, your articles become viral.Your articles will spread like a virus and could have the potential to be viewed by hundreds of thousands of people.

5. Participating in online discussion forums is an excellent way to get the word out about your business - and it is free. Build relationships first and use your signature file to let everyone know what you do and who you are.

6. Free classifieds

7. Targeted ezine advertising is one of the most cost effective ways to advertise your business.

8. Paid ads - such as solo ads. Test, test, test. Your success depends on your ad and your heading!

9. Mail out postcards.

10. Purchase leads that are targeted and related to your business. If possible get their phone number and followup.

11. Bookmarks for libraries, don't forget to talk to your librarian first.

12. Purchase cheap seed packets, put a tag on them with your website as well as a saying like, I am in the business of helping people grow.

13. Use your knowledge and publish a newsletter or ezine. One your build up your list you can offer paid subscriptions or ads.

14. Word of mouth (friends and family)

15. Forwarded emails - Add your testimony to your signature line.

16. Buttons

17. Pens to hand out with a short advertisement and your URL.

18. Welcome baby cards for hospitals.

19. If your domain name is a string words, try capitalizing each. This helps people who just take a quick glance remember it.

20. Create an information type handout that briefly explains your business.

21. When you go to a garage or yard sale, ask if you can leave a few of your flyers there.

22. Community Colleges. Every student needs a part time job.

23. Put a business card in all outgoing mail including anything that has a postage paid envelope.

24. Visit establishments you do business with (doctor offices, health food stores, karate/dance studios, etc) and ask if you can leave flyers.

25. Car magnets - You can put magnets all over your car.

26. Promote your business for free in local magazines, newspapers, community newsletters, etc. Many rely on voluntary writing contributions. Translate your knowledge into an article. It is free advertising and an effective way to establish yourself as an expert in your field.

27. Leave your business card in restrooms at restaurants or on cork boards around grocery stores.

28. Get a booth at school events and share what you offer.

29. Look into putting an ad in school sponsored publications (directories, PTA booklets, etc). Usually not to expensive.

30. Set up a free giveaway box in any store that will give you permission.

31. Post flyers at apartment complexes if they will allow it.

32. Place flyers under windshield wipers of cars.

33. Newspaper classified ads are cheap and effective. Ask about having your ad appear with a color background to make it stand out even more.

34. Buy a pre-inked, personalized stamp and put your ad on it. Stamp the back of any envelopes that you mail out.

35. When it comes to advertising and marketing, repetition plays an important part in your campaigns success.

36. We all get junk mail with the postage paid envelopes. Just send a flyer back to the company and use their return envelope.

37. Personalized T-shirts

38. Make up Gift basket raffles for Church bazaars, concerts held during summer, at your local community hall, or any town function. Do not forget to put your business card or some other advertisement in the basket.

39. Put flyers on car windshields at your kids sporting events.

40. Leave a business card with your tip for your waiter/waitress.

41. Reply to spam email with your own business advertisement.

42. Give your business cards to friends and family and ask them to give them out to people they know who would be interested in part time income.

43. Put up flyers at the local colleges, libraries and grocery stores.

44. Ask your local chinese takeout if you can post a flyer in their window.

45. Create a post it stack of your business cards with a glue stick and then post them at pay phones, etc.

46. Business cards with a magnetic back really stick in people's minds as well as on their refrigerator.

47. Leave business cards by the change machine in the mall arcade or at the ATM machine.

48. Put your website address on your sun visor using vinyl letters.

49. Find an old metal tin (or new), put a magnet on the back, put your business cards in them and then just attach this to your car when you go into a store.

50. Be different and get noticed. When you are unique then you are one step ahead of your competition.

There are many ways to promote your business without spending a fortune. Think outside the box. Most people notice things that are different, something that draws their attention or even makes them laugh.

Keep it simple, keep it cheap and before you know it your success will be achieved without going broke.

Copyright 2007 Joe Rispoli