People often do forget some very important issues when it comes to competition and online marketing in general. It is very important to know what your competitors are working on, leaving that out your job isn’t complete.

Let’s go back, years back when Pepsi wasn’t paying attention what Coca Cola company was doing, does anyone remember that? Pepsi was focusing on their own product and services and Coca Cola was selling more than Pepsi ever did.

You simply must know and spy on your competition, there are always some new things out there that they could know before you are.

Few years back I was asked by small business owner to analyze their website, the owner had good product however her competition was selling 5 times more than they did. She was also focusing on her very own business, too busy to look up.

Anyways long story short, her competition slashed their prices permanently and the cost of the product they were selling was 50% less! and she was wondering why.

See this was very basic auditing, few hours really and now she does monitor every step that her competitors do online.

Monitor your competition, “spy” what they do and “copy” but never follow.
- Emil

So apart from being pointless, spying on your colleague’s wardrobe will make you look like an idiot.

I’m glad (and still amazed) that now I can interact not only with the authors of the books I buy, but also with other readers on a daily basis.

Thanks for posting such a brilliant article. Cheers!

When I was in the photography industry (for 16 years) I talked to my fellow photographers all the time about how they do things, what they charged, what their deposit polices were, how they bundled products and services, etc. Heck, we even exchanged price lists sometimes. It was all very healthy.

Of course, we all had our unique talents, some of us were better at one type of photography than others, we all had different personalities and dealt with our customers in different ways. We also all had different marketing and networking strengths, and different visions on our companies should be run. We didn’t let everything out of the bag of course, but generally we were pretty open with each other.

I don’t think any of us felt the need to “spy” on each other.

These days I am in the web development business, and due to the Internet, I run my business quite differently than when I had a brick and mortar shop. I am just starting to get to know my competitors (it’s much harder to create a relationship in a global community), so I cannot say if the rapport will be the same, but so far, everyone (yes everyone) I have met in the industry has been quite willing to share ideas, prices, knowledge, etc.

With those that I have formed a relationship with, I have no problem sending work their way (if I am too busy or the work requires a talent that I feel I am not the best person for) and they have sent work my way.

Most people are willing to share their knowledge and their ideas. Spying isn’t the answer. You’ll get much more out of a plain old honest conversation.

My two cents …

I remember one studio quote included boardroom hire and catering for a web design job, which I thought was funny.