I’m a big fan of books like Think and Grow Rich and The Science of Getting Rich. I like that mental success stuff. Regardless of how much credence you give to the idea that one’s mind can influence external events, you can’t deny that your chances of success in business are better if you have a positive, optimistic outlook.

In The Science of Getting Rich, written about a hundred years ago by Wallace Wattles, one of the main ideas is that the competitive mindset works against you. A more productive mindset is one in which you assume that demand for your products or service is unlimited, so there is no reason to be in a competitive mindset. Don’t worry about what your competitors are doing. Just run your own business, providing the very best service possible, confident that there are plenty of customers.

I like that mindset. It’s a very self-empowering approach. Rather than sitting around worrying, just keep your nose to the grind and work harder. In this lousy economy, that is absolutely the best way to think.

HOWEVER…

The world in which I conduct most of my day-to-day business is the online world, and here, unfortunately, the same rules don’t apply. Here is why:

The amount of search engine traffic that is relevant for a particular web site is limited at any given time.

For example, if you sell Nike running shoes on your web site, at any given moment, there are only so many people searching online for Nike running shoes. So, by definition, it is not a situation with unlimited demand; demand is fixed by the number of people performing those searches. So if you want that traffic, you have to FIGHT FOR IT! You are definitely in competition with all the other web sites that sell Nike running shoes. Either your web site has high search engine visibility or it doesn’t.

The online competitive mindset has to be one focused on competition. If you don’t do everything you can to position your web site to be seen by the people searching for your products, then they will see your competitors’ web sites and buy from them.

So…in the real world, demand is unlimited. Online, demand is very limited, which requires a different mindset.

Need help with your online marketing? Call me. I’m Jerry Work. My office phone # is 615-263-2811. Or you can email me at jwork@workmedia.net.