Column van work-at-home expert Liz Folger

How To Make Money From Your Competition

Sooner or later it's going to happen to you. You'll start your wonderful successful business and eventually someone will move in on your turf. Yikes!!

One of my good friends had this happen to her not long ago. She had even given this person some tips on starting her business. Not until later did this person tell her that she lived in almost the same town as her. OUCH!!

How do you handle competition? I'll be honest, when I see another work-at-home mom book hit the shelves -- I cringe. It's natural to feel like someone is moving in on your great biz idea. And it's natural to feel like any moment you are probably going to lose all your business to this person.

If you're marketing on the Net, you find it's a two edge sword as far as competition goes, because while we can sell all over the world -- we are now competing with everyone all over the world.

Here are some tips to keep your competition at bay:

• Do the best job for every customer you have.
• Don't forget to market your business. Sometimes when we are inundated with work -- marketing is the last thing on our mind.
• Learn about your competition. Find out what makes their customers happy and unhappy.
• Have your customers fill out a survey about their business experience with you. You might get some great tips from them.
• In everything you do, treat your customers like gold, because that is what they're worth. Remember it's easier to sell something to those who have bought from you before, than to go out and find new customers.

As one work-at-home mom put it, "Constant customer contact is a key to your business. If you forget about them, they'll forget about you. What's the old saying, "out of sight, out of mind!"

Addition Resources: "How to Drive Your Competition Crazy : Creating Disruption for Fun and Profit" By Guy Kawasaki