We started Bigg Success about eight months ago. In that time, we’ve met some incredible people – listeners of our show, readers of our blog, and colleagues at conferences. One of the most amazing people we’ve met is Liz Strauss.
She’s known as the “queen of blogging.” She’s also the queen of conversation – her blog has more comments than just about any other blog. She’s also an SOB – her label for Successful and Outstanding Blog!
A one-of-a-kind show that’s an incredible resource
Liz recently held a Blog Fair. Think of an auto show, where you have all these cool cars lined up. Liz decided to do this with blogs, allowing other people to promote their sites on her site.
Business owners are often a very competitive group. They want to stamp out their competition so they can gain market share. They’re always looking for a competitive advantage.
But sometimes you can make more money by working together.
Here’s an example There are two established car dealers in a small community about thirty minutes away from a large city. Obviously they compete for the business of the people in their immediate community.
But at some point, they both approach the maximum amount of business that they can get from these people. Can they continue to grow?
Yes!
What if they promoted both of their dealerships together to people in the city? Talk about how they’re committed to saving people money to make it worth the drive.
It’s likely that neither one could afford to advertise in the larger market by themselves. But by working together, they can bring a whole new market into their stores.
It seems that you hear about “coopetition” with internet competitors. But it works offline as well.
https://biggsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/bigg-success_stacked-1080.png10801080George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Fosterhttps://biggsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/BIGG-Success-Nurturing-Your-Inner-Entreprener.jpgGeorge Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster2008-06-26 01:06:032021-01-24 00:20:09It Pays to Cooperate with Your Competitors
It’s a jungle out there. Survival of the fittest, as Charles Darwin said. You have to be stronger than someone else in order to win.
If you want more, someone else will have to accept less. Your victory comes from their loss. We feel good about ourselves when we win. When we beat someone else. We’re better than they are.
There are some dangerous assumptions lurking beneath the surface of these thoughts. Dangerous assumption #1 – Resources are scarce. Let’s get this out of the way – obviously SOME resources ARE scarce and only getting more so. It’s also true that AT THIS POINT, you may face some resource constraints.
However, there are more resources in the world than there are great ideas by people who can bring them to fruition! If you have an idea that makes life better for others, you’ll find an abundance of resources flowing to you.
So are resources scarce? Not the ones you need to live your dream life.
Dangerous assumptions #2 – it’s a zero-sum game. Once again, we recognize that, in select businesses, this is true. For instance, if you trade commodities, you’re in a zero-sum game. The profits and losses will equal each other, netting out to zero.
However, these are exceptions to the rule – most of time, everybody can win if they put their minds to it!
You can focus on getting a bigger piece of pie. However, you’ll find it’s usually more fruitful to find a way to make the pie bigger. You win … so do others. Is that so bad?
Dangerous assumption #3 – Comparing ourselves to others. Ancient philosophers asserted that “comparison” went along with “pride” and “vanity”.
And we all know that old saying – “Pride goeth before a fall.”
Constantly comparing yourself to others is a recipe for constantly being unhappy. Every time your neighbor gets a new car, you have to have a better one.
You lose focus on what’s more important – striving for your personal best to get what you really want out of your life.
Dangerous assumption #4 – Not competing with yourself. We should take a lesson from the athletes that competed in the early Olympics. They competed with themselves. They tried for a personal best every time out. They wanted to excel.
It goes along with our favorite 6 definition of success], which comes from the great basketball coach, John Wooden.
You succeed by doing everything you can to become everything you can be.
You focus on you. Beating your own best performance. It’s not always easy to strive for that next level. But it is fulfilling and meaningful!
It’s true that it the world is more competitive than ever. It’s also true that people are seeing more and more opportunity to cooperate. You need to learn to live with coopetition – that is, cooperative competition.
Some people find it easier to compete; it’s cooperation that comes difficult. For others, it’s the reverse. Today’s world requires the ability to do both, sometimes simultaneously.
That’s easier to do when you think of the marketplace as more than a jungle. Can you feel the love? It comes from the joy of being your best and helping others do the same. Win – win!
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