I am, like many of us, all about building my business.  I also am a HUGE reader.  My library card is very worn and tattered from all the use .

So, I decided to get a few books on marketing.  One of the books I get has the interesting title of “Marketing Warfare“.  I open it up and the first thing I see is The strategic marketing square, with 4 strategies for 4 different company types:

1. Market leaders
2. No. 2 Companies
3. Smaller companies
4. Local or Regional Companies

To best figure out your marketing strategy, you need to determine which category best fits your company.  My particular company is a fairly newcomer, but has already made some strides.  Therefore, I would use the strategy for a No. 2 company.

Here is what was said about effective strategies for the No. 2 company

• Main consideration is the strength of the leader’s position
• Find a weakness in the leader’s strength and attack at that point
• Launch an attack on as narrow a front as possible.

Now, mind you this is a MARKETING book, written by MARKETING experts (One of them a regular contributor to Forbes.com and magazine).  This is not just some guys talking about playing nice.  They are looking at what works in marketing.

See, my issue is that some would have people believe that good marketing is devoid of ANY mention of a competitor.  That is simply not the case.

I played basketball in high school.  Our goal was to score as many points as possible.  BUT we had to take into account our opponent.  We had to scout and know their strengths and weaknesses.  If I knew one of their players could only dribble with his right hand, I was going to defensively force him to go to his left.  Anything that I knew was a weakness, I was going to use to my advantage.  Was it unfair to exploit and expose his weakness?  HECK NO!

Remember, we are in business.  The company with the most market share wins.  Do I expect our competitors to go away completely…NO!  No more than Burger King expects McDonald’s to just fold up.  But you better believe BK is fighting for as much market share as they can get.  Anybody remember the “broiling beats frying” campaign.

Marketing is full of “wars”…cola wars…burger wars…beer wars…Cable vs Satellite wars…PC vs Mac wars…PC vs PC wars.

So, US vs OUR competitor is nothing new from a marketing standpoint.  It’s just business.

Marketing IS war!
If you can’t handle the competitiveness of building a business and competing for market share…Stay on your job!  Let the CEO and Board of Directors worry about market share.  You just worry about playing nice and baking cakes.

As a business owner (whether in Network Marketing or storefront), you will live and die by what percentage of a market share you have.  Find the strategy that will help you capture the most market share.

Success and Blessings,

Kevin