Comments on: How Do You Talk About the Competition?

By: John Dowdell

John Dowdell — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 23:14:48 +0000

(Yeah, my weblog is embarrassing… I keep waiting for another domain name change to invest time in the combination of MT templates and sidebars, and Macromedia templates and sidebars, and any customizations I want of them… last time I republished there were over 6000 entries to make static, so the preview cycle hurts too. I don’t like the way it looks either. :(

By: Scrivs

Scrivs — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 02:25:52 +0000

Oh and John, we gotta get you to fix up the design of your blog man. Can’t be working for Adobe, the design masters, and have the default mt template up!

By: Scrivs

Scrivs — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 02:22:33 +0000

John: That’s actually something we talk about at 9rules, where we don’t necessarily worry about the competition (we do keep an eye out to see if we can learn anything) because lots of times if you execute correctly you will find that the competition handles itself. Also though, any time a company succeeds it’s usually good for the industry so it still becomes a win for you.

Engtech: Markus (Plenty of fish) gives great insight and he is one of the few sites on my feed list.

By: engtech

engtech — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 01:17:11 +0000

People will always find some reason to jump all over you. Look at Michael Arrlington and all the nitpicking over disclosure.

The guy who runs plentyoffish.com quite often discusses what his competition is doing wrong on his blog. http://plentyoffish.wordpress.com/

I find it very interesting to read as an outsider to the industry.

By: John Dowdell

John Dowdell — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 00:17:55 +0000

What competition?

(If you focus on your own goals, then anyone pursuing similar goals is an ally, not a competitor. And when distinguishing solutions for others, you’re actually looking for the best fit to their own situation, not the general “we’re best” rap.)

jd/adobe

By: Kyle

Kyle — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 22:26:38 +0000

My only thought on this is the old theory that you can’t please everyone. Someone is always going to find fault with anything you do and therefore turn away from you or what you are doing. The only thing you can do it make your best effort to please the masses and expect a certain level of offense from certain crowds.

This is life.

By: Scrivs

Scrivs — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 22:01:08 +0000

Devin: Thanks, I fixed it. Simply forgot to paste in the url when I was writing the entry.

Aidan: Couldn’t agree with you more and really have nothing else to add.

By: Aidan Henry

Aidan Henry — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 21:41:45 +0000

I am weary of companies that do not speaking openly of their competition. I think it is healthy. Many companies live in a self-fulfilling echo-chamber and blow smoke up their arses on a day-to-day proclaiming the greatness of their product.

However, it takes a true, focused company to step beyond those boundaries and observe the situation from the outside in. This is one reason why I believe consultants are an important, integral role of any company on a regular basis.

Failing to acknowledge the competition and brush off any external threats is extremely dangerous. My belief is that if a company is truly an industry leader, they will embrace the competition, which should in theory exemplify their product features and strengths – assuming the company is as strong as it thinks.

If any company supresses discussions around the competition, immediately run the other way…

Cheers,
Aidan

By: Devin

Devin — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 21:29:16 +0000

Feel free to delete this but the link goes to the current (not previous) entry.

By: Scrivs

Scrivs — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 19:36:13 +0000

A quick example that I can think of is if you own design firm and it has a blog, do you point out the great work of others or fear that doing so will push potential clients to them?