Know your real competitors

Often when talking to a new client we’ll ask them to identify five of their most direct competitors.

The truth is we already know the answer. We’ve done our research, now we want to see if they’ve done theirs.

It always surprises me when business owners don’t have a firm grasp on who their competitors really are. It’s a lot harder to compete when you start playing on the wrong field.

Your competitors are who your customers would give their sale to if you weren’t around. That means you may have different competitors now that you’re online and not just a brick and mortar. It also means that just because YOU think you’re competing with Amazon, doesn’t mean you really are if your customers wouldn’t put you two together. That may not be how THEY see you. That’s what you need to know and understand- who do your customers think you’re competing with?

Know your ‘other’ competitors

Your other competitors are the ones you create yourself. They are the things/people/sites that take you away from your business and eat your time.

It’s Twitter. It’s Facebook. It’s industry drama. It’s the ringing phone and the binging email. It’s your self-doubt. It’s your sending five emails to get approval you didn’t need. It’s the really good show on TV. It’s your woulda, coulda, shoulda. It’s your fear of being successful.

These are all competitors to your business. Know that they exist and then work to keep them under control.

Know your team

Very few people survive on the Web alone. Instead, they surround themselves with a team of people, with each player attaching more value.

Knowing and being able to rely on your team helps you to compete better and gives you allies you can go to when you need someone to help you make a play. It also gives you people you know you can trust. That tends to be important in business and on the Web.

Know, for certain, who is on your team and who is simply lingering by the benches looking for information or to dethrone you.

I know that I’ve benefited from creating a strong Web team. I have the people I work with on a daily basis (Rae, Rhea, and Dawn), but I also have the people I can run side plays when one of us needs a push or if someone’s having a hard time moving the ball down the line.

I know certain bloggers I can call up when things get dry and we want to cause some trouble. I know who to go to for assistance on a big play. And I know who has my back when I need someone to fill in.

Building yourself a Web team helps you support what your business is doing

Know your strengths

My strength in sports was always my speed. I was simply head and shoulders faster than anyone near me and, because of that, I could help make things happen even if I didn’t have the best aim when kicking a ball.

In business, my strength comes from my words. I use them to create impact.

When we started Outspoken Media in a recession (it’s a good story) we trusted it because Rhea, Rae and myself all knew our individual strengths and we knew how those strengths could be used together to kick ass as a team. And to date, we’ve been right.

As a business and as an individual, you should know your strengths and create your strategy around them. There are certain things about you that make you uniquely qualified to do what you do (and if not, maybe you should be doing something else). That’s your point of difference, it’s your secret weapon, and it’s what you should be using to compete.

Make note of your strengths and figure out how they can be incorporated into your business.

Know when to make a play

Business is sport, but it shouldn’t be a war. That means knowing the right time to make a play and when to sit out and save everyone from the bloodbath.

Taking every shot that comes your way is going to drain resources, exhaust you and probably make you look a little desperate. While keeping your eyes open, listening and knowing when to strike is going to help you capitalize when opportunities expose themselves.

Make a play when a competitor has opened a door, when there’s a chance to create leadership through action or when you’re following a noble purpose. Sit out when you risk burning a bridge, damaging your brand, and when “winning” won’t aid your long term objectives.  Learn to tell the difference.

Seventeen months into Outspoken Media, I’m still learning how to be a confident businesswoman and entrepreneur.  But one thing I’ve already learned how to do is smell blood and compete.  I can sum up my competitors, anticipate their moves, and I refuse to let anyone get the better of me.  It drives me to be better, to always be on, and to strike when I feel it in my gut.

The store-owner observed and listened to the conversation:

Boy: “Lady, Can you give me the job of cutting your lawn?

Woman: (at the other end of the phone line) “I already
have someone to cut my lawn.”

Boy: “Lady, I will cut your lawn for half the price than the
person who cuts your lawn now.”

Woman: I’m very satisfied with the person who is presently cutting
my lawn.

Boy: (with more perseverance) “Lady, I’ll even sweep the floor and the stairs of your house for free.

Woman: No, thank you.

With a smile on his face, the little boy
replaced the receiver.

The store-owner, who was listening to all
this, walked over to the boy.

Store Owner: “Son…. I like your attitude; I like that
positive spirit and would like to offer you a job.”

Boy: “No thanks,

Store Owner: But you were really pleading for one.

Boy: No Sir, I was just checking my performance at the job I already
have. I am the one who is working for that lady I was talking to!”

This is called “Self Appraisal”

(via Juned Munshi)

Continue reading at technologizer.com >>

the news snippet as provided by google:

In a newspaper, the most important story is featured on the front page. If it’s a really important piece, then it’s placed “above the fold,” which means you can find it on the top half of the first page — the bottom half is folded behind and isn’t readily seen when you first look at the newspaper.

The same concept applies to browsers as well. There’s no clear line for “above the fold” on a browser — there are many different sizes of monitors, browsers are not always full screen and other things like toolbars can take up space. Consider a “Donate” button on a non-profit site. If it’s far down the page, you may not see it when you first view the page. You can of course scroll downwards, but many people don’t scroll and will miss it entirely. For example, on the download page for Google Earth, the install rate increased by 10% when we moved the “Download” button 100 pixels upward. We can attribute that increase to users who wanted to try out Google Earth, but didn’t see the button before.

To help you understand how everyone sees your website, we created a tool called Browser Size in our 20% time. Browser Size is based on a sample of data from visitors to google.com. Special code collects data on the height and width of the browser for a sample of users. For a given point in the browser, the tool will tell you what percentage of users can see it. For example, if an important button is in the 80% region it means that 20% of users have to scroll in order to see it. If you’re a web designer, you can use Browser Size to redesign your page to minimize scrolling and make sure that the important parts of the page are always prominent to your audience. We hope people will use this tool to make their websites better, in turn making the web better for everyone.

If you’re interested in learning more about Browser Size, check out our post on the Google Code Blog.

LOL…!!!

અમૃત ભરેલું અંતર જેનું, સાગર જેવડું સત્,
પૂનમચંદના પાનિયા આગળ ડોશી લખાવે ખત,
ગગો એનો મુંબઇ કામે;
ગીગુભાઇ નાગજી નામે.

લખ્ય કે માડી ! પાંચ વરસમાં પ્હોંચી નથી એક પાઇ
કાગળની એક ચબરખી પણ, તને મળી નથી ભાઇ !
સમાચાર સાંભળી તારા,
રોવું મારે કેટલા દ્હાડા ?

ભાણાનો ભાણિયો લખે છે કે, ગગુ રોજ મને ભેળો થાય,
દન આખો જાય દાડિયું ખેંચવા રાતે હોટલમાં ખાય,
નિત નવાં લૂગડાં પ્હેરે
પાણી જેમ પઇસા વેરે.

હોટલનું ઝાઝું ખાઇશ મા, રાખજે ખરચી-ખૂટનું માપ,
દવાદારૂના દોકડા આપણે કાઢશું ક્યાંથી, બાપ !
કાયા તારી રાખજે રૂડી,
ગરીબની ઇ જ છે મૂડી.

ખોરડું વેચ્યું ને ખેતર વેચ્યું, કૂબામાં કર્યો છે વાસ,
જારનો રોટલો જડે નહિ તે દી પીઉં છું એકલી છાશ,
તારે પકવાનનું ભાણું,
મારે નિત જારનું ખાણું.

દેખતી તે દી દળણાં-પાણી કરતી ઠામેઠામ,
આંખ વિનાનાં આંધળાંને હવે કોઇ ન આપે કામ,
તારે ગામ વીજળીદીવા,
મારે આંહીં અંધારાં પીવાં.

લિખિતંગ તારી આંધળી માના વાંચજે ઝાઝા જુહાર
એકે રહ્યું નથી અંગનું ઢાંકણ, ખૂટી છે કોઠીએ જાર.
હવે નથી જીવવા આરો,
આવ્યો ભીખ માગવા વારો.

દેખતા દીકરાનો જવાબ -ઇંદુલાલ ગાંધી

ફાટ્યાં-તૂટ્યાં જેને ગોદડી ગાભાં, આળોટવા ફૂટપાથ,
આંધળી ડોશીનો દેખતો દીકરો, કરતો મનની વાત.
વાંચી તારાં દુ:ખડાં માડી ! ભીની થઈ આંખડી મારી.

પાંચ વરસમાં પાઈ મળી નથી, એમ તું નાખતી ધા,
આવ્યો તે દિ’થી આ હોટલને ગણી, માડી વિનાના ‘મા’
બાંધી ફૂટપાયરી જેણે, રાખ્યો રંગ રાતનો એણે !

ભાણિયો તો માડી ! થાય ભેળો જે દિ’ મિલો બધી હોય બંધ,
એક જોડી મારાં લૂગડાંમા, એને, આવી અમીરીની ગંધ ?
ભાડે લાવી લૂગડાં મોંઘા, ખાતો ખારા દાળિયા સોંઘા.

દવાદારૂ આંહી આવે ન ઢૂંકડા, એવી છે કારમી વેઠ,
રાત ને દિવસ રળું તોયે મારું, ખાલી ને ખાલી પેટ,
રાતે આવે નીંદર રૂડી, મારી કને એટલી મૂડી.

જારને ઝાઝા જુહાર કે’જે, ઊડે આંહી મકાઈનો લોટ,
બેસવા પણ ઠેકાણું ના મળે, કૂબામાં તારે શી ખોટ ?
મુંબઈની મેડીયું મોટી, પાયામાંથી સાવ છે ખોટી.

ભીંસ વધીને ઠેલંઠેલા, રોજ પડે હડતાળ,
શે’રના કરતા ગામડામાં, મને દેખાય ઝાઝો માલ,
નથી જાવું દાડિયે તારે, દિવાળીએ આવવું મારે.

કાગળનું તારે કામ શું માડી ! વાવડ સાચા જાણ,
તારા અંધાપાની લાકડી થાવાના, મેં લીધા પચખાણ,
હવે નથી ગોઠતું માડી, વાંચી તારી આપદા કાળી.

Thanks to tahuko.com for the amazing collection of Gujarati poetry

credits: xkcd.com for d amazing stuff they have!!

The little girl said, “No, Dad. You hold my hand.”

“What’s the difference?” Asked the puzzled father.

“There’s a big difference,” replied the little girl.

“If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go. But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens, you will never let my hand go.”

In any relationship, the essence of trust is not in its bind, but in its bond.

#1 Set a major goal, but follow a path. The path has mini goals that go in many directions. When you learn to succeed at mini goals, you will be motivated to challenge grand goals.
	#2 Finish what you start. A half finished project is of no use to anyone. Quitting is a habit. Develop the habit of finishing self-motivated projects.
#3 Socialize with others of similar interest. Mutual support is motivating. We will develop the attitudes of our five best friends. If they are losers, we will be a loser. If they are winners, we will be a winner. To be a cowboy we must associate with cowboys.
	#4 Learn how to learn. Dependency on others for knowledge supports the habit of procrastination. Man has the ability to learn without instructors. In fact, when we learn the art of self-education we will find, if not create, opportunity to find success beyond our wildest dreams.
#5 Harmonize natural talent with interest that motivates. Natural talent creates motivation, motivation creates persistence and persistence gets the job done.
	#6 Increase knowledge of subjects that inspires. The more we know about a subject, the more we want to learn about it. A self-propelled upward spiral develops.
#7 Take risk. Failure and bouncing back are elements of motivation. Failure is a learning tool. No one has ever succeeded at anything worthwhile without a string of failures.