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Brand Marketing: Check Out the Competition!
by Michele DeKinder-Smith, Founder

When it comes to the competition, how does your business measure up? Do you know what makes your business different and unique? Do you know what your strengths and weaknesses are, relative to that of your competitors?

And—most importantly—do you know how your clients perceive your business, in relation to the competition?

If not, you may be operating under a major liability, for a number of reasons. Number one, if you don’t know what your unique strengths are you’re not giving your market any compelling reason to choose you over the competition. Number two, if you don’t know what your competitors’ weaknesses are you may not be able to take advantage of an important available and/or underserved niche within your market. Number three, if you’re not aware of your own weaknesses you may be driving customers away from your door.

Brand marketing is all about creating a unique, memorable identity for your business that emphasizes not just your strengths, but the strengths that make you different and unique within your market. You may think you already know what your strengths are, but in order to really get a handle on where you want to position your business, you’re going to need to find out how the major brands within your market are positioned, and how to position your brand in relation to them.

So how exactly do you check out the competition, directly—short of posing as an actual customer?
 
Greetings From Jane

Hello, Jane members and friends!

Things at Jane are very exciting lately and we're making great progress in bringing you even more resources and opportunities to interact. As part of that effort, I'm bringing together a group of our key advisors for a two-day offsite near my town in sunny Florida for a brainstorming and planning meeting designed to focus our efforts over the next 6 – 12 months so we can offer even more of what you love.

To help us make sure we're on the right track, will you please click here and give us your feedback on a quick 5-minute survey? Every person who responds will get a Jane Out of the Box t-shirt for helping out!

Michele DeKinder-Smith,
Founder
Handling a Non-Performing Employee
New For Members Today!

Did you celebrate the day when you delegated your workload by hiring contracted staff or direct employs, only to find out that hire was not a best fit? Take just five minutes today to listen to this issue’s featured audio clip – "Ask the Expert" interview with Melanie Benson Strick – Success Connections and the Entrepreneur’s Success Coach.

Melanie will help you isolate non-performing employee issues by reviewing four core areas of potential conflict:. Go here and click on this week’s Listen & Learn to hear Melanie’s interview.

Not a member yet? Click here to join. New items are being added all the time. Today's newest items in the Jane Out of the Box community:

Tools & Templates
  • Are You Hard to Work With?
  • Emergency Planning for Entrepreneurs
  • What Marketing Can Do For You
  • What Marketing Can’t Do For You
Meet a Jane Member ...

Dr. Dorothy Merchant spent over thirty years as a college professor and administrator. Post-retirement as a realtor, she toured hundreds of homes which revealed that lots of folks have lots of clutter in their lives that needs to be better organized! Her website www.SimpleSolutionsPro.com offers women effective systems for handling the demands that they juggle on a daily basis: from a busy professional career to family responsibilities and/or involvement in religious organizations and community. From workshops and seminars to personal assistance and consulting, Simple Solutions helps its clients get organized and stay organized.

How did this professor go from classroom to closets? She was good at retiring, just not good at staying retired. She reflects, "I sat down and listed every job that I had ever had … and discovered that what I enjoy most is educating people and that I like doing it in non-traditional settings."

 

Being a professional organizer provides that opportunity. Her clients " ... are seeking better systems so that they can live and work more efficiently. They recognize that being organized reduces the level of stress in their lives."

The greatest reward of owning Simple Solutions is the knowledge that she is making a difference in people’s lives as " … organizing gives you immediate gratification," Dorothy says. "You enter a space that is in chaos and leave it an organized, functional space. The physical transformation is immediately apparent. Clients report that they feel physically lighter after our sessions; they can think more clearly. That gives me great satisfaction."