Comments on: Don’t Want to Lose Market Share? Don’t Do This.

By: Stuart

Stuart — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:14:21 +0000

Just using Google alerts can make the difference between success and failure. It’s amazing how simple (and how infrequently people use them) it is to keep an eye on your competition.

Preempt and win.

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:08:57 +0000

An excellent reminder! I an avid user of the Google Alerts and bookmark all of my competitors websites as a way to keep an eye on what they are doing. Another good way is to monitor their social networking profiles.

By: Leo Bottary

Leo Bottary — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:17:11 +0000

You’re right. Never underestimate your competitors and as Richard Nixon once said in his ten rules of negotiation, leave your adversaries believing you’re capable of anything – that nothing’s off the table. You combat that by recommitting to the strengths of your principles, not engaging in those of your opponents.

The Obama campaign playbook didn’t cover shouting down speakers at events that weren’t their own. But they should have been mindful that the tactics of these groups to disrupt rather than engage could be as effective as they’ve been.

We should be getting all points of view on the table. Reasonable people have legitimate policy differences on health care. Let’s actually listen to everybody. We can only hope that over time, the country will grow tired of those who are shutting people down versus allowing everyone to speak. That in the end, we have to be about country before party and look to a future beyond the mid-term elections. We’ll see.

By: Lauren Fernandez

Lauren Fernandez — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:20:50 +0000

Google Alerts are your friend. I used to do searches everyday for competitors, plus visiting their Web site. Also, constantly educating yourself on the industry helps too.

Good post.