We’re back again with another Small Business Post again, courtesy of Fee and her endless list of fantastic topics that are just great to discuss. This week, she’s been discussing The Danger of Comparing Yourself to Others over on her site and of course now, I want to put across my thoughts on the same issue. I am more than guilty of looking at competitors website, services and adverts, I think it’s essential to ensure you aren’t completely going about things the wrong way plus it also gives you a hint as to what works and what doesn’t. I’m not suggesting that I go to competitor’s sites and think ‘UGH that’s rubbish’, it’s more like seeing what works for them and how I can do things a little differently. There are scores of carbon copy companies out there who claim to do things differently but in reality, they don’t. I hope to be different, this is why I try and offer slightly different services to your regular copywriter, including my Creative Writing Support Package which has proved quite popular with a couple of budding writers and I have scope for a further development of this which has stemmed from my book reviewing hobby/service via my other blog. Anyway, back to the topic.
You are clearly not the only person who does what you do, this never happens, there is always someone else offering an element of your idea in some way and comparing yourselves to others is a fantastic way of reflecting on yourself and seeing what you can do differently and how you can ensure you are offering the best you can offer. Of course, there are pitfalls to looking at competitors, the big names are out there and there are folk who can genuinely claim to have worked with a hugely successful and popular brands and therefore, they look extremely credible and have a really strong customer base to support them. However, as a small business I think perspective is important, there’s no use me comparing myself to someone who has just come out of an agency based job where they’ve been able to lift a number of clients and take them with them in their new venture, it’s a different circumstance entirely to my own and the same can be said when you come across the big guns who’s been in the game for years and years.
I put together this little Wordle (yes, I love Wordles a bit too much) which I think shows many of the things a potential customer will be looking for from a copywriter and I feel able to say yes to the majority of the points I’ve made and so, I know I can do what I do and I know there are people out there who want the service. I beat myself up a lot during the first few months, especially when putting this site together, I wondered whether it would even be worth it.