Hey Mama, here’s the thing, checking out how our competition is doing can be pretty natural (and useful) for entrepreneurs like us, but if you’re doing it more than you should- then you need to pump the brakes and stop NOW! 

 

Stalking your competition can be smart, but if you’re hitting level 6 stalker status, then you’re in the danger zone. Today, I’ll be sharing 3 reasons why you need to stop stalking your competition, and why it’s keeping your business in STUCK-ville! 

 

If you want to reach the level of success you’ve been craving, you need to stop comparing yourself to others. You need to keep in mind that authenticity and uniqueness will carry you to the top of your game. So, start seeing your amazingness now and stop stalking! 

 

If you’re an entrepreneur who’s been obsessively stalking the competition, then this episode is for you! Sis, its time to stop that right now! Tune in to this episode and learn why. 

 

Are you ready? ENJOY!

 

Juliana

 

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Ready to take your Etsy shop or Amazon Store NEXT LEVEL? See all the ways I can help you www.julianabarbati.com/workwithme

 

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Transcript

Hey, beautiful. Welcome back to the Fruitful Mama Podcast, I have a question for you . Tell me, are you a stalker? Are you just looking at your competition day in and day out, looking at your sales, looking at their reveals what else checking out their social media, maybe you even signed up for their email lis and every single day, you’re just looking at your competition, religiously sis, If that’s you, we have to chat. And this is what this episode is about today because, yes, at some point, we do have to look at our competition and see what’s happening there but this is not something that we do every single day, honestly, and we’re gonna chat about why you need to stop doing that because looking at your competition can be super harmful to you and it’s just not helping you.

So let’s have a real honest, and raw conversation about looking at your competition and how that’s keeping you stuck, you think you’re looking at competition, because you want to be ahead or just want to know what’s going on but honestly, I promise you that the day that you put your head down, and you just work and you make things out of love, and you’re being logical about the things that you’re putting out there, you’re going to have success but if you’re just sitting here refreshing, you know, the browser to see what’s happening with her competitor, girl, you’re just keeping yourself stuck.

No, here’s the thing: when we’re starting our businesses, it’s important to see what our competition is putting out there, we want to look at their reviews. And if they have any negative reviews, or three or four star reviews, we especially want to pay attention to those because usually the people that are leaving those three star reviews, they have really good constructive feedback, I personally find that people that leave one star reviews, a lot of times you’re just really angry people but we still got to take those into consideration but regardless, let’s look at negative reviews. Let’s look at that. Let’s read the product description, let’s take a look at their pictures and things like that. And that is all a very important part of starting your business because if you’re going to stand out, you have to be different, right?

You have to do something different than what everybody else is doing. And you have to find your groove. And what makes you unique. Why should I buy from you versus your competitor, right? So as a savvy business owner, you need to know that. So here’s the thing where you get stuck. If in the beginning part of your business, all you’re doing is stalking your competition. And you’re not being I guess, being proactive about your stalking, right? There needs to be a reason why you’re talking your competitor and I’ve said this before in another episode, but it’s a walk to hell and back super quick in and out just to see what’s going on, and then you come back out because if you stay there, you’re gonna stay paralysed, and you’re not going to take action.

And then you’re going to see how much success your competition has and start asking yourself, why am I even doing this because look at how many sales Jenny has over here, if you have already had a successful shop, she’s pretty awesome, nobody’s going to buy for me. So this is a problem with stock, your competition and just staying there, it’ll keep you stuck, okay. And in the beginning, you go in you look at everything that I just mentioned, you take note of that, and then you apply everything that you learned to your shop because somebody else has made mistakes somebody else’s and things that maybe don’t like me can be improved upon and you’re going to do that on your shop and that’s it.

Okay, and then we stop looking at our competition and we focus on our craft and the things that we’re putting out there because here’s what happens when you don’t and this is true, whether you are in the beginning phase of your business or you have been going for a while. This is the quickest way to copy and paste culture because you think that because this person has this shop and they’re in the same niches you and it is successful shop that if you copy them exactly, you’re gonna have success and that’s not true, this is the quickest way for you to burn yourself out because here’s the thing, if I am a buyer and I’m looking at somebody else’s shop and I’m looking at your shop in your shop is brand spanking new, it has no reviews doesn’t have any sales and it looks exactly like the one your competitors and your competitor has lots of reviews and has lots of sales and just has a lot going on for them guess what if there’s nothing that’s setting you guys apart, I’m going to go with establish shop because it just looks exactly like a knockoff of established shop.

So don’t do that, do not be a knockoff, be original guys. I don’t know if you know this about me. If you hang out with me you know this but I love thrifting for many reasons, but one of the reasons why I love thrifting so much. It’s because I know that the things I’m finding are one of a kind. I can go right now to like a nice store and find a nice dress and be in and out of the store in like no time because I know what I’m looking for I go there and I get it but here’s the thing, I also know that bunch of other women are going to go to the same store and get the same dress so it’s not going to going to be unique. So this is why I left me a thrift store because everything there is one of a kind and I don’t know I just love those thrifty finds in your shop needs to be the same thing, your shopping really needs to be one of a kind, stop looking at your competition, because you’re looking for inspiration, because guess what, that is actually killing your inspiration.

The minute that you start looking outward for inspiration instead of inward, you’re literally again, falling into the same copy and paste culture where, you know, you started this business because you want a more freedom, because you had all this creativity inside of you that needed to come out but if all you’re doing is copying what somebody else is doing, you’re going to be just like them. So you need to offer something different, especially as a shop. So in this example that I just gave, okay, if I’m a buyer, and I’m looking at your shop and your competitors shop, and everything is the same, except your competitor is more established, they have reviews, they have sales, everything else is same I am going to buy from your competitor, okay. Now, if I’m looking at you and your brand new shop, and the things you have are so unique, they’re amazing. And okay, you don’t have the sales yet.

You don’t have the reviews yet, but I’m looking at your shop. And it’s just oh my gosh, this is so cool. Look at this and hopefully you’ve done a really good job at, if you’re an Etsy you can put on there that your brand new shop and you have maybe a little sale going on, there’s a way that I can connect with you, you’re being warm and cozy and inviting because you can still do that on your Etsy shop and even on Amazon, there are strategies that you can use as a new seller to make sure that people are coming in and buying from you with confidence even though you are a new shop, a new online store, guess what I am going to do it because I am looking for something unique, I am looking for that special, fine, I am looking for that something that I know I’m not going to walk down the street and see somebody else with the exact same thing.

I want things that are unique. And I don’t care what we’re talking about here, whether we’re talking about clothes, or art, or printables, anything, I want my stuff to be one of a kind and to be different, right. So Mama, if you’re the person right now, who is spending all this time looking at your competition, it’s not serving you, it’s not helping you it’s as a matter of fact, keeping us stuck because you think that I don’t know, you might have a leg up if you’re looking at your competition, but you’re not. Okay, so if you’re doing that right now, promise yourself that you’re going to stop, and that you’re going to put your head down and you’re going to work and you’re going to focus on creating a brand like no other, that you’re going to create a community that you’re here for longevity over just some short term gains, think long term mamas stop feeling you need to copy somebody else to be successful, if you have this itch, like desire to become an entrepreneur.

And this is why you’re starting all of this, and this is why you have been going this direction, listen to that, and honor that and know that you are so much better than looking at your competition to see what they’re doing. Whenever I sit down to make this episode for you, I’m not looking at what everybody else is doing out there, I have a very hard and fast rule that I don’t want to look at what nobody else is doing out there because that’s gonna influence me. And the things that I tell you, they’re not going to be coming from the heart anymore, they’re going to be something that I listed somewhere, and now I’m just regurgitating to you. So take the same approach and know that especially these days, where we can literally Google our way to anything, it’s easy for people to see if you’re copying somebody else, people are quicker to call you out.

So be authentic, be genuine and even in this world of people just telling you to be authentic, the way to be authentic is to stay in your lane to put your head down and to honor honestly your inner child and like the things that you love the things that light you up, and not being too worried about what people are gonna say about you or people are gonna think about you, because it’s the truth that like, that’s really how you remain authentic. So find your groove and stick to it and if you have been in the trenches, looking at your competition, you’re going to need to detox and that’s okay. So spend time with yourself. I’m a hippie, and you know it and I love to spend time in nature. It really helps me to reset and get balanced again. So do what you have to do but stop looking at your competition because it’s not helping you and you don’t have a leg up because you’re always on top of what the competition is doing.

The minute that you put all your time and energy into growing your business into being better, reminding yourself that you are your only competition, that if you are better today than you were yesterday, then you’re doing good. Your business is going to soar. So stop looking at everybody else and do your thing, because this is honestly the birthplace of creativity of abundance of wealth. It’s not about you and the things that you like, do you like those things because everybody else is doing it, or do you like it because it’s authentic, because it’s awesome, because it’s really good quality. So apply those same principles when it comes to business that you are running right now because here’s the thing, when you do that, you’re always going to stay on top like, you’re naturally going to stay on top of things because you are so immersed in your business in the growth of a business, that you’re going to be so creative, you’re going to have so much whitespace in your life to think about new ideas and ways to grow in ways to expand in ways to improve your product and ways to maybe introduce another product and nobody can take that from you.

You don’t need to look outward for that, you can just get all the information from within, it’s already there. If you allow it to be an honestly girlfriend, a stalking a business is kind of like stalking your ex, you cannot really move on with your life, for as long as you’re stalking your ex, you’re going to stay stuck but the minute that you let go and you’re screw him, whatever I am my own person, and I got this and you move on. The love of every life comes and life just turns around for you. And it’s the same thing with business, you cannot move forward, if you’re looking to decide or looking behind you just look forward and do your thing. Also, trying to grow a business while you’re talking to somebody else is coming from a place of fear and from lack. And guess what it’s going to be extremely difficult for you to grow a successful business from that place.

The men today understand that you are an abundant person, that you have all the ideas that you know what it takes to grow a business that you don’t need to look elsewhere and compare your sales to somebody else and look at somebody else’s social media account and their follower account and whatever. And understand that what you have here is something amazing and different and unique. You’re going to grow and people are going to get the confidence from you that they’re not going to get if you’re just here. Just you know, walking in somebody else’s footsteps isn’t in a shadow. So trust me when I say that, you gotta stop doing that. It’s not helping you. It’s keeping you stuck. And you’re so much better than that.

Okay, so mama, you’re strong, you’re capable, you can do hard things. And I know you have an amazing business coming my way and I can’t wait for you to share that with me. Until next time, may you be wrapped in peace, love and kindness, and I’ll catch you in the next episode. Bye.