How Will You Compete on the Internet?
I stumbled accross a relatively new SEO to the blogosphere, and a very nice article. I really wish everyone would do an about page with a picture so I could tell if it's someone I've met (my apologies if I have). Rambling aside, this was a really nice piece reflecting on the unique selling points of businesses on the web.
I would say that the #1 reason that I turn away work is because of poor business models. I REALLY don't want to spend time working on a project that I think will ultimately fail. The best way to find a GOOD business model is to determine what you're unique selling points (USP) will be...or...how you plan to compete within the marketplace.
There are four ways to compete:1) Extensive distribution
2) Customer Focus
3) Economies of Scale
4) Product Innovation
It seems to me that a solid understanding of basic strategy is the indentifying characteristics of a successful businessperson.
Are there other competition strategies that you've seen that he's missed?
How will you compete on the Internet?
It's not SEO but it's 100% valid
The post isn't really SEO in terms of .htaccess files.. but it's pretty much on the money in regards to your online strategy for building a business.
How Will You Compete ?
A very good point! I no longer build sites for people in my operating area.
There is too much disappointment. The area I operate in is quite naive both in terms of site owners and punters.
Everything is Google (up to 97%)there is very little spam so the first page of serps tend to be excellent.
Accordingly very few stray past page 1, so effectively, unless you can physically drive traffic to your site, if you cannot get on the first page of G then in my area you cannot compete - you may as well not bother.
I constantly have to tell people, just because some compete and do well on the internet does not guarantee that you will also
Author
Todd, that article is from Tom Schmitz - I met him during the Seattle SEW Live! event. Cool guy.
online strategy...my bite
On "distribution",
I would put "online marketing" within distribution, and consider that just because you can find the manufacturer's web page doesn't mean you can buy it or find a source for it. Many still pass you off to a distribution channel, providing little more than a logo and URL for a vendor. I think distribution is still a huge part of strategy, although today distribution includes supporting your distributors online, making sure your distributors are accessible, are sending the proper message, are upselling or representing properly, etc.
Or, perhaps they have been to business school and studied the decline of the retail electronics market circa 1985 when mail order took over? Ready to spend $500 on a new camera? Visit your local camera retailer, handle every model and ask all the good questions, and make your buy decision. Walk out with nothing more than a $2 photography magazine and place your order by phone at one of the hundreds of mail order camera outfits in the back pages (at 30% off retail).
It didn't take long for the camera shops to close, or cut their inventory down to the showstoppers and high-markup junk like picture frames, or start a photo printing lab. Comprehensive inventory was a virtue before that, and after those who couldn't liquidate fast enough sank.
Start offering quality customer service by phone for commodity items, and you start providing your competitor's pre-sales support.
IMHO not generally true, although sometimes true. Top tier buyers don't buy top brands over the Internet: they pay retail. Present a quality brand at a discount on the Internet, and you can outsell everyone. It's only when you look "cheap" that you fall into this inferiority trap. Of course, finding a well-managed brand that you can sell on the Internet is the real challenge. Most prohibit it.
Customer service is lacking
Customer service is lacking everywhere, I sell a homemade product and when someone emails me they are blown away that I respond within minutes, there is also a repetitive comment thanking me and promising return purchases. Sure enough, year after year these people come back buying my product for friends and family.
...and all simply because there was a real live human on the other end of the phone who was willing to answer a few questions.
Customer service is lacking
Too much of the "Build it and they will come" and the "get rich quick mentality". Promises of "It sells itself" with no mention or thought of service before, during, and after a "potential" sale.
It was always my belief that a quick response to a question or problem should be the rule not the exception. Seems to be another case of common sense being uncommon.
Please, by all means, let your emails and messages sit for a while. I promise I won't say anything nasty when they contact me.
Now, if I can just figure out how to bottle and sell word of mouth...
Dave
wrapping your head around the viewer's perspective
I have a content site full of the typical content plus ads, and it does very well in the SEs. It has a decent handle on the SERPs for it's theme. But it also has a unique editorial voice, due to a very unique and opinionated writer. I hired her before I even knew what I would do with her writing (this was pre blog days). As it turns out, she is a good blogger, a good columnist, and a good commentator.
But the most amazing thing (and now the business driver) is how she influences her audience. When she says "I like this (link)" the CTR shoots up and the conversions are incredible. Such endorsements put the rest of the monetization to shame (adsense, direct ads, etc). She's no Oprah, but the idea is the same. Once the framing is in place, the influence works for you.
is that "product innovation" or "customer focus"?