AUDIO: Cleansing your competitive self in a “blue ocean”

ATLANTA, GA.
December 25, 2012 9:01pm

Competition can be bad for your business -- not because a competitor has a better product or service but because it can provide a false sense of what your industry is, says Kay Green, a management consultant and author.

Too often, she says, what a businessperson is looking at is no more than the competition’s propaganda and not an accurate picture about anything.

What’s needed is a type of “blue ocean” approach, she says.

“It’s all about differentiating yourself so much that you are avoiding the competition,” says Ms. Green. “What the ‘blue ocean’ strategy suggests is that you really find your niche. In essence it is putting a different spin on your skills and highlighting what you have or what your brand has … so you’re not competing directly with the sharks.”

(Kay Green talks about the myth of competition and what the smart business person should do about it in today/s exclusive CVBT Audio Interview. Please left-click on the link below to listen now or right-click on the link to download the MP3 audio file for later listening.)

Ms. Green says the better strategy is to form and maintain your own unique standards, and determine what you will and won’t do. In essence, stop thinking about simply trying to beat the competition and start thinking about enhancing yourself, your business, and your brand, she says.

Ms. Green is CEO and president of RKG Marketing Solutions of Atlanta, Ga. In addition, she is a professor of marketing and author of the new book, “I’ve Been Called the B* Word… Now What Do I Do? 13 Rules for the New-Age Professional Woman.”