By Sue DiFranco
Copyright © 2001 Sue DiFranco/Fun Facts Publishing  

Competition, or a dual-action marketing tool? It's time to look at our "competition" in a whole new way. 

Aiding and abetting your competitors can be a beneficial prospect for both of you, and it seems to already be happening in various areas of the scrapbook industry. Here is how you can make it work for you:

Every business has an area of "expertise." If your online store is the decorative scissors capital of the Web, and you have a potential customer that only wants paper, it would make sense to direct her or him to another online store that you recommend. (Make sure you have done business with them before, because your "recommendation" will have clout.) If they enjoyed their experience, they will no doubt respect your expert opinion, and return to shop when they're ready to cut. The other online store, meanwhile, will be thankful and will probably return the favor when faced with their next scissors-obsessed customer.

Scrapping for others is an excellent business, and can bring in many clients, both local and out of the area. What if an out-of-state potential customer stumbles upon your site, but would really prefer doing business with someone local? Or what if a client would prefer a look to her or his pages for which you don't feel suited? Passing these clients along to someone whose work you admire will bring respect, gratitude, and ultimately more business.

Retail storeowners can also team up. Similar to the online store example, if your store is sticker central, but your customer wants die cuts, what should you do? If you know that the store up the street has die cuts to die for, send them along - there's a great chance they'll be back.

Another idea is to team up with your local competition to offer a "Shop at All of Our Stores" special. Each "member" of the club shops at each store, collecting stamps on her or his passport as they go. When they have collected all of their stamps, they're rewarded with a prize - what about one free class at each of your stores? This special can take place in one night, one week, or even an entire month. It encourages shoppers to discover all that is out there, it's great fun, and it boosts business by allowing you to say, "Sure, I could be insulting my competition. But I think they're great, so why don't you shop at all of the stores?" (This is providing, of course, that you truly respect your competition. If you don't feel comfortable  with their business practices, certainly don't "recommend" them.)

A wonderful take on this idea was done in New Jersey and New York. Patty and Judi of The Scrappbooke Shoppe in Bayonne, NJ, teamed up with Amy and Dawn from Staten Island's Makin' Memories and issued a "Top 10 Reasons Why You Have To Shop at The Scrappbooke Shoppe and Makin' Memories This Holiday Season" tip sheet. Some of their reasons included, "We are only 8 miles from one another, and between the two of us we offer EVERYTHING that a scrapper would love to have," "There is also a Toys-R-Us between us....You can get the Santa stuff done then also during your scrappin' shoppin' day," and "We have great Christmas gift ideas, unique to each store, and we would love to share them with you." The two stores offered up a deal: spend a certain amount in the month of November at both stores, and receive free crops AND free gift certificates at each store in January.

Besides being a sound business idea, the teaming up marketing technique also follows the Karma principle (also referred to as Give and You Shall Receive, What Comes Around Goes Around, and the Golden Rule). Try it out - you might just find that this technique turns "competitors" into friends, and potential customers into profits! Good luck!