Dominate Your Niche!

Maki at DoshDosh has just written an excellent post showing you How to Dominate Your Niche Competitors.

While most bloggers and Internet marketers focus on the technical aspects of increasing traffic and improving conversions–SEO, keywords, linking, copywriting, site design, etc.–Maki offers 9 activities that are, in my opinion, far more important:

1. Focus on Building a Reputation.

2. Increase Your Product Value.

3. Develop Retention Equity.

4. Target a Sub-Niche.

5. Establish a Community.

6. Optimize Your Product Launches.

7. Celebrate Your Competitors.

8. Perform On-going Competitor Analysis.

9. Collaborate on Joint Projects.

Go read his post to learn why each step is so important to your success.

I'd like to add one more to make it an even 10:

10. Provide Exceptional Customer Service. This is implied in several of the activities above, but it's so important, it deserves to be listed separately.

Think about the merchants/companies that really impress you. Is it because their product or prices are good? Or is it because their service makes you feel valued and appreciated? In today's fast-paced world, isn't it nice when someone takes the time to do something special for you?

As Zig Ziglar (or Stephen R. Covey, or some other brilliant person) said, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." Show how much you care by providing exceptional customer service.

Always deliver MORE than expected, and you’ll become buzz-worthy in no time!