Who Are Your Competitors, Really?

To create a unique position in the marketplace and get noticed, you need to also know exactly who your competitors are, the people who treat the same problems you do, both in your industry and in other industries. In essence, this is who you’re competing with, even if you’re not a competitive person.
Another way to phrase this is: Who do you lose business to on a regular basis?
Let’s say you’re a massage therapist and you help people deal with stress.
Here’s a rough list of who you might be “competing” with:
- Other independent massage therapists (that’s a given)- Spas that offer massage therapy- Aromatherapy practitioners- Personal trainers- Life coaches- Acupuncturists- Chiropractors- Yoga instructors- Meditation specialists- Herbalists- Travel agents- Bartenders? (yup, a seminar participant once said this!)- Subliminal relaxation tapes- You name it!
You get my point. It’s usually more than just the people in your particular industry, which is something that not everyone thinks about.
Your Client Attraction Assignment:
Get clear on who works to attain the same results with clients as you do, essentially, who’s going after the same market. Make a list. This will help you to differentiate yourself (more on that in a future post!) so much that someone can’t help but want to work with YOU as opposed to the competition.
Extra credit assignment: Think about how they position themselves to your shared customer. Write it down because it will help you with your own marketing message.