Competition is for losers

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Great companies don't become great by competing. Competition is destructive to you in the long run. I think it's hard to see the world through this sort of lens because we have been taught since birth that to be the best you have to be the best competitor. Well I simply don't agree.

When you compete, you drain yourself and in a business you drain your company's resources, whatever resource that might be. One need only look at the struggling cell phone and telecom industry to see proof of this (and one only need to look at the direction the new CEO of T-Mobile is taking the company to see how it should be done).

I can't take all the credit for this idea because it is actually spoken widely and published by the venture capitalist, Peter Thiel. In his book, Zero To One (great read, by the way) he talks about how the successful companies are the ones who don't compete. However I have avoided competition like the plague since I was born and have always thought that to be strange, until I saw that a billionaire thought the same exact way.

Google had other search engines in the beginning, sure. But they didn't compete with them simply because their's was better. Same goes for Facebook. And not to mention Apple. The Apple computer was not the first computer to hit the masses, but it was the best and it was the best for good reason: Steve was obsessed with making it perfect.

I see a lot of theories on how best to "compete" with your "competition" in affiliate marketing. This competition is seeing the same theories as you and they have roughly the same brain as you so it is likely they will come up with the same sort of ways to compete. What we turn into is an industry of websites that "distinguish" themselves from the competitor and tell me, if everyone is distinguishing themselves from the other, is anyone really that distinguished?

I was thinking about this today because I've seen advice to look at your competition and see what they are doing, so I tried that. I almost became sick. "Oh my god they're doing this, I have to do this too! How will I ever succeed if I don't look like that?!?!?"

Chill Ryan, do you, just like you have always done. I hereby take the stand that I will focus on my website and mine alone and that my "competition" will not be the focus of my marketing career.

Competition is for losers.

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Recent Comments

19

Great blog Ryan and I have to agree with you. I plan to work on my website to make it good and attractive to visitors. x

True. Vector your energy to effective profitability for your business rather than wrangling.

Great post - better to soar with the eagles than push and shove at the feeding trough with the pigs.

I like this analogy

I agree wholeheartedly and the only competition is yourself to get better at what you are doing.

I had a feeling you might!

Great Perspective Ryan!

glad you liked it!

There is no-one as unique at being you than you! :)

Jude I always look forward to your responses and this is why, thank you :)

Beautifully said, Ryan:). Thank you!

Thank you!

Good points..
My nickel's worth: By being you or just "doing you," then you are 'distinguishing' yourself from everyone else. Take this site, for example. There is nothing new presented on this site that isn't presented on other sites. It is the way it is presented, and the interactive nature of the membership, which gives it a USP (unique selling position). kinda FB meets affiliate training.
So your unique positions on things cannot be fully duplicated by anyone else. Like you said.... "Just do You"

I don't think I could have said it better myself Jim!

Thanks.

Analyze the competition, sure, but never be the competition. Be you. Being true to who you are will get you much further.

You should never let go of your own values by other people's behavior

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