Do your readers a favor, link to a competitor (Day 14-31 Kick Butt)

competition.jpg 410×306 pixels.jpg Oh my god! Did I really just say you should link to a competitor? As we continue with our 31-Days to Kick Your Blog in the Butt, it is time to discuss something which causes many to think I am completely crazy.

Since our focus here at Blog For Profit is on how to use a blog to market and promote your business, we could be talking about linking to a direct competitor. And I know this. And I also know many of you are reluctant to do this. To illustrate my premise, let me use a law firm blog as an example.

Most business blogs and professional service firm blogs are narrowly focused on what you are selling or offering as a service. In our example of a law firm blog, lets consider for a moment a family law practice. One which handles matters of divorce, custody and other family law issues. Your office is located in a major city and there are hundreds, if not thousands of other attorneys and law firms handling the same kind of cases. You just started a new blog and you soon discover there are a few other family law bloggers in your city. What should you do?

You should link to your competitor’s blog.

I am not talking about putting up one of those much loved blogrolls. I am talking about linking to them in a blog post as an organic link. Taking what they have written about in their blog, adding to it in your own post and linking to them. Taking their post and putting your own take on it and applying it to your target audience, and linking to them in the post. Remembering to keep your post and their link relevant to each other.

By putting a link to this competitor in a post you have written you are going to accomplish at least 3 things:

You are going to get noticed by this competitor
You are going to be providing information to your readers
You are going to show your readers you are serious about providing them with information they can use and understand.

And I know you are asking why you would want to be noticed by a competitor. Because you just might develop a relationship with them. And they might refer matters to you just like you might need to refer matters to them. No matter what business or professional service you do, you can not handle all of the customers or clients which walk through your door. Why not use your blog to develop a relationship with another business or firm who is using a blog to educate their audience like you are doing with your own blog.

Linking to a competitor is like building a new fast food restaurant, best place to build it, right next to a McDonalds.

Your assignment if you decide to accept it.

Your homework for today is to write a post that is relevant to your audience. Put at least one link to a competitor by using one of their post which is relevant to what you are writing about. And don’t forget to do a trackback to them so they know. Chances are they will know even if you happen to forget the trackback. You are going to be amazed at what happens. They just might contact you and a new relationship might form.

Please leave your comments on how you feel about linking to your competitors. “Lets keep the conversation going.” And be watching for something new coming your way from Michael Martine and me. We will be making an announcement soon and you will see it first here as a participate in 31-Days to Kick Your Blog in the Butt.

Ching Ya

This is refreshing. ^^ I like the idea. In fact I was just advising someone earlier to visit more and study on competitors blog regularly. Looks like I'm way behind but I'm glad I bumped into this post today. Looks like a cool thing to do.

Well put on the McD, I would have build right next to them if I own a similar business. =P Strategy & Strategic.

@wchingya
Social/Blogging Tracker

Wayan

Link to? No, go right out and interview them. And be honest and positive in the interview. Or give them a positive profile. The goal should be to turn them from competition to colaborator by driving business to them. I have turned our direct competition into trusted suppliers and resellers this way.

But even if they will never be true colaborators, still befriend them - best to keep friends close and competitors even closer.

Grant Griffiths

Wayan - Great point. Love the idea of interviewing too.

Tessa Shepperson

I am a British blogger and I blog on residential landlord and tenant law in the Landlord Law Blog http://landlordlaw.blogspot.com. There are only a few of us who blog on this topic, we all know who we are, and we are all friendly to one another.

For example I did a post here http://landlordlaw.blogspot.com/2009/06/five-le... (inspired, I have to say by Probloggers 31 days book) specifically about them. That post has created a lot of good feeling, and we do mention each other in posts occasionally, retweet twitter announcements, and sometimes post comments on each others blogs.

I am also on good terms with many of the British property web-sites and blogs, and sometimes provide comments and guest posts for them (and they often mention me back), as well as the twitter re-tweeting. It all helps with the SEO!

One of the things I like about the blogosphere is that people tend to co-operate rather than oppose and block each other, and long may it continue!

Christopher G. Hill

If I didn't link to my "competitors" in the legal community, I'd run out of links awfully fast! This seemed pretty obvious to me, but is a great tip none the less.

Thanks Grant.

Laura Walsh

Grant-

This is a great piece of advice.

I always view a company as more credible, and more interested in what's best for me, when it is willing to recommend or even reference a competitor's site, services, or products.

I need to start doing more of this, apart from my blogroll, as you pointed out.

Thanks,
Laura

Cindy King

Grant,

I love this tip :) This might be my favorite so far!

It really keeps us thinking about what we offer, and what we do better.

I use Twitter to keep in touch and network with "competitors" much more than my blog though. What I have found is that we are not really competitors... what I offer is DIFFERENT. Reaching out to competitors is probably what made me see the uniqueness of what I offered compared to the others out there.

The problem I often encounter is that others think I am their competitor when I'm not. I COULD probably do what some of these people do, but that's not what I do best, and not really what I like doing.

In the end, this social networking with "competitors" is very stimulating, inspiring... and fun.

Donna Seyle

Hi: I've never figured out how to trackback to the links I put in my posts. On the WP dashboard, there is a place to input a trackback when you are writing the post, and I assumed that was the trackback link to the post I was writing, not to an internal link. Is that true? And if so, how do I trackback to the link?

Catherine

I completely agree with you Grant. For a few reasons - I'm too small and I'm new, I don't know enough, I want to know more and I would surely learn something from their them.

I think of them as teachers. That said, I ensure that my keywords target a smaller audience in the same niche because I cannot compete, yet.

Mrs Green

In my blogging genre (environmental and green issues) I don't have 'competitors' as I'm not running a business. I link to other people spreading a similar message to ours as often as I can because I feel it is the right thing to do.
I'm on a mission to make a difference in the world, and the more people on board with the idea, the better as far as I'm concerned. It's not about ego or being 'the best' or whatever other crazy ideas humans have, it's about working together for positive change.

But sure, if I *were* selling products or services I would still link to 'competitors' because it keeps my own ego in check ;)

Mary McGuire Smith

LOL I love this concept! I have been espousing this philosophy in practice as well as on my blog (and my other internet sources, too), although linking other blogs is something I have to get more familiar with...I have tried several times, but most of the time, I can't get the link to work (links to websites, I can manage, but blogs not so much), so I only reference it in a general way (like saying "this was posted on so-and-so's bog, which I subscribe to", etc.). I have always believed that working WITH people is more effective than working against them. People still look at me funny when they ask me who my biggest competitors are and I reply-"I have no competitors, I have fellow trainers", or I say "we don't have to compete for clients-there are enough potential clients for all of us".
This philosophy benefits my business in several ways. 1. I am not making reactionary business decisions based on what my fellow trainers are doing. 2. I don't get sucked into the gossip grapevine 3. I keep learning. 4. Fellow trainers know I am not bashing them, so they are actually less likely to "bash" me. 5. Customers feel more comfortable with me and feel more open to discuss things that they see and hear about what is going on when they watch other trainers or their students. 6. Probably the most important thing is that, as a group, we can offer our students opportunities that we couldn't afford to on our own. There are many more less significant ways that this helps, too.
Thanks for the continued lessons!

Robert Fay

God, what a great assignment. I haven't had time to read any of the other comments as I just finished the chore. I guess I overdid it. I linked about four or so psychic sites and also got a mutual link with the PsychicWebDirectory out of the UK. AND I got some stunning information that I had not expected corroborating the Nuking of NYC in the next three months as just reported by a well know Russian psychic. It is at the end of the blog because it just came in. Maybe the rest of the class will be interested: http://eductivefuturegroup.com/ or in the its own category: http://eductivefuturegroup.com/?cat=126
Whew!
By the way Tessa, I like the feel of your blog. The best part is your picture: Mirthfully IRREVERENT trouble maker. I love it!
On to tomorrow!
Respectfully yours,
the IRF

Michael Martine

Your "competitors" are also your best collaborators and joint-venture partners. Partnering multiplies your strength and everyone makes more money in a sales or business situation.

Your competitors are actually your professional community. Be the person who helps make the community stronger.