Keeping Your Blog Friends Close and Your Enemies Closer

It may be an old saying but it has never been truer than in the world of blogging.

In this example the word enemy might be a little harsh so perhaps competitor would be a better choice. Your competitor is any blog that happens to be in your niche, and another word for niche might also be your blog’s main topic.Recently Darren Rowse wrote a post on Analyzing Your Blog’s Competition. You could say that Darren and I are competitor’s. So why is it better to be friends with your competitor instead of enemies?Off the top of my head I can think of five benefits:

1. We can now work collaboratively and bounce off one another’s posts, just like I’m doing here.

2. We no longer lurk around each other’s blogs like peeping-toms under cover of darkness. We can leave comments and add to the conversation without being confrontational or fear of reprisal.

3. We don’t need to feel intimidated by each other’s success, or alternatively relish in our failures. That sort of thinking can be poisonous to one’s soul.

4. We can share resources and pick each other’s brains to the benefit of our readers.

5. In effect, as allies we can become even better bloggers and so will our readers.

So what’s the moral of this story? Make allies of your competitors instead of enemies. It’s a win/win proposition.

Related Posts: Reconciling Darren Rowse