Written by: Marisa Guthrie, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
The Cure for Constantly Worrying about the Competition
Let me tell you a story. A couple of years ago, I did a talk for a local networking group and had a long conversation with an acquaintance (a newly qualified career and executive coach) about my coaching and teaching work.
A while later, I got a phone call from a colleague and friend, telling me to take a look at this same person’s website. I was very surprised and frankly shocked to see that she had completely rebranded her website, was now calling herself a business coach, and had plagiarized copy (sometimes verbatim!) from my website. As you can imagine, I was more than a bit put out!
So I did the only thing I knew would help me reframe my rage and hurt and went to see my amazing coach and mentor Anni (yes, I practice what I preach!). And what she said has always stayed with me. She said that no one who chose to work with this person would choose to work with me and vice-versa.
While our offerings looked the same on the surface, it was obvious that our values were very, very different for three reasons:
We were telling a different story about ourselves and why we do what we do.
The language we used was different in tone, even though she took some of my actual words!
Our brand identity and how we described our work were also very different.
All of this was telling clients something else about each of us that had nothing to do with the fact that we both said we were business coaches. It told them about our values, our stories, our identities, and our tone of voice.
This has everything to do with the story and nothing to do with features and attributes because when we immerse our marketing in a story, we never ever have to worry about the competition. As the saying goes, “The one thing our competition can’t steal is our story,” and that is the lesson that Anni taught me that day and what I want to share with you now.
There is no such thing as competition.
Someone recently said that comparisonitis (the need to constantly check what the competition is up to) is the death of joy. Running a business should be fun, inspiring, and fulfilling, but when we obsess about what everyone else is doing, it sucks the joy out of everything, so if you have been suffering from comparisonitis, I’m going to give you some simple tips to follow.
If you are spending a little too long checking out the competition, the first thing I want you to do is to repeat after me, “My story is totally unique.” Here’s why.
No matter how many people are in your industry or how crowded the marketplace is, when you use storytelling in your marketing and tell your own story with authenticity, you will never fail to attract the people that are a good fit for you and your business.
Take me as an example. As a business coach to small and micro-businesses, I am operating in a very busy marketplace where there is a lot of competition for what I do.
So how do I stand out and differentiate myself?
By using my personal story of how I came to be a business coach – what experiences in life led me to this point, and how that impacts and influences what I do.
On my website and social media, I tell the story that business was something I was never interested in because, for a long time, I assumed that it was just about making money, and what was important to me is social justice and making a difference.
My pivotal moment came when I made the connection that business could be a vehicle to improving society and that money could be used to effect positive change, and that is why I do what I do; these key values have led me to this point.
My story is unique to me and has very little to do with what I actually offer. On the surface, I may not look that different from another business coach, but what makes me different and unique is my story, which forms the backdrop to everything else I do. My vision is to put money in the hands of the right people, small business owners who care about the things I do and want to make a difference.
None of my ‘competitors’ will ever say that about themselves or their work because they have their own unique story, and people will choose to work with them for other reasons. So when you look at it like this, there really is no need to ever worry about the competition.
You have a unique story about your business, a fork in the road, or a pivotal moment that led you to this point and motivated you to start your business that has nothing to do with how you make money (that is an outcome, not a reason). That story is completely different from anything your competitors have to say about themselves.
Inspiration not obsession.
So, by all means, get inspired by what others do, but if you find it drifting into obsession and starting to get unhealthy, here are the steps to take to set yourself free:
Unfollow all your competitors on social media (I know! But stay with me…)
Set up automation on your emails so that any marketing emails from them go straight to a folder.
Give yourself one day a month to look through everything and do some (healthy) competitor analysis.
Spend some time thinking about how you are using your own unique story across all your marketing channels, and focus on that.
Looking at your industry or market in a healthy way helps you to hone what you offer and gives a definition to what you do. Trying to borrow someone else’s story and make it your own will not only undermine your integrity, but it also will not work in attracting more business, as customers will sense your lack of authenticity.
Remember: You have a fascinating story to tell that will resonate with the people drawn to you.
You don’t need to compare yourself to anyone because (repeat after me) “My story is totally unique.” The more time you spend thinking about someone else’s business, the less time you have to talk about YOUR vision, values, and story, the things that your customers really want to know about you.
The end of the story is this, the person I wrote about at the beginning is no longer a coach of any kind and is now doing something completely different, and what she inadvertently told her clients of that time is that maybe she was not fully committed to what she was doing.
I never had to worry because we were never going to attract the same people anyway. I stayed strong in my story, stayed in my authenticity, and didn’t get distracted by comparison, and here I am!
Marisa Guthrie, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Before setting up her coaching and mentoring business in 2008, Marisa was involved in running businesses for nearly 20 years. A serial entrepreneur, Marisa has set up several businesses and social enterprises, including a cross-party think tank and a business networking organization for women. She was also CEO for a health charity and a business policy advisor for the local and national government. Marisa's work closely supports entrepreneurs in bringing their authentic selves to their work and helps them feel comfortable in their professional identity and business brand. Her mission is for small business owners to do business differently.
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