Envy Can Ruin a Promising Brand
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008I run an online Mastermind group, where 4 of us meet on a weekly basis. It’s a great way I figured to hone my skills in my upcoming mentoring venture … geez, I keep on plugging that again … what’s that: HomeOfficeMentor.com… ;-)
I brought up a topic last night that was out from left field.
I asked my fellow Masterminders about envy. Do they envy other people (their competitors) with the success they’re having and you are trying to attain.
Further to that, I asked how do you deal with it.
Envy of a successful competitor is a natural human emotion. And I believe there are two ways that you can go about dealing with it. One is in a positive way and the other in a negative, destroying type of way.
The Positives of Envy
Seeing someone in your niche doing well is a Godsend. It validates all your research and planning that you’re on the right track.
If you’re of a positive mindset, then it shouldn’t be too hard to turn that envy into Competitor Intelligence. What better way is there than to sit back and really delve into the reasons for their success. What are they doing that you aren’t? And I don’t mean just go out and copying them.
Watch for the clues. The interaction they have with their readers, clients, buyers … whatever. Experience it for yourself and jot down notes on what caught your attention. It could be just the little things that could make a huge difference.
The Negatives of Envy
Well what’s to say. Jealously, Bitterness, Negativity, Resentment. It wastes your time. It drains your of your energy. You lose focus.
If you head down that road then eventually you’ll end up failing your own brand, because you will do it no justice by being envious of your competitor’s success.
A Personal Example
I’ll give you an example. A personal example. I’ve always wanted to run an “internet Magazine” for the home business. It’s been one of those things that’s been floating in my head for years.
Then comes along eMoms at Home, - eh, a nice little blog. Then months later it’s gone through the roof and is now an … “internet magazine”.
To be honest, my first thought was one of envy. Why her? Why not me? Why did I have to live in Australia when all the action was in the U.S? And so on.
But guess what? That lasted barely minutes. Because it dawned on me that if this “internet magazine” was a success then my ideas where right all along. And seeing someone else doing it and succeeding at it gave me great pleasure - and it continues to give me great pleasure to this day.
Even though I’m not looking in that area today, I still marvel at the success, and in fact, I follow many so-called “internet magazines” to see and learn how they go about their thing.
Basically, you can see envy as coming to a fork in the road. The path you choose to go down will say a lot about you and your ultimate success or failure online.
My suggestion: Take envy and use it as a positive spur to take your own business to the next level.