Way back in the day (in a galaxy far away), I played professional golf.
If you’re like most folks, I know what you’re thinking:
“Did you play with Tiger Woods?”
At least that’s the question I used to get all the time when I’d walk into some restaurant in a strange town and the waiter would ask me what I did for a living.
(the golf hat tan line usually begged the question).
Anywho…
I played on the mini-tours — it’s like AAA baseball.
So, while I never made it to “The Show” (The PGA Tour), I did lock eyes with Tiger once for like 4 seconds. It was so cool.
Still, I got pretty damned good at hitting a little white ball with a stick moving 125mph against some of the best almost-PGA tour players on the planet.
(Some of the guys I played against are actually on TV now which is still wild, considering I used to take their money.)
One thing I never understood was why some players refused to look at leaderboards.
I guess it had something to do with playing against yourself and not the rest of the field.
Well, that never made sense to me. I always wanted to know where I stood in the tournament so I’d know what course strategy would give me the best chance at winning.
In fact, Tiger Woods has gone on record saying the same thing. He always looked at leaderboards and adapted accordingly.
And this “not looking at leaderboards” deal is kind of what I see happening with online Brand owners.
They’re focused on building their business (a good thing), but never take time to see who the players are in their market (bad thing)…
Namely, their Direct AND Indirect competitors so they can actually see what else is working out there.
Sam Walton was notorious for visiting competitor stores with a notepad in hand.
And you’ve got to go deep…
I’m not just talking about looking at offers and ads.
You’ve got to actually see what’s below the surface: emails, funnels, retargeting, remarketing, cart abandonment, messenger, cross sells, events, sales, promotions… all of it.
This should go without saying, but please remember: You’re looking for things to model not steal. Seriously, that’s not cool.
Always approach your research “looking for inspiration, not with desperation.”
Also, don’t dwell on them either. You still have to use your swing, not someone else’s.
You still have to out-innovate, out-market, out-sell, out-teach, and out-”customer mind blow” (ok, that last one came out weird) your competition.
But you’d be surprised how many great ideas are right there under your nose.