If I was selling rubber ducks I probably wouldn't want to tell everyone that there was another store next door selling the same rubber ducks for the same price rubber ducks.
But the Internet isn't the same as a conventional store front. The Internet is driven by free information & services
Many of you already know about my site FREE IN CYBERSPACE, I link visitors the best free home business resources. The requirement for a link in my site is that you offer a free "VALUABLE" content or service.
http://www.smithfam.com/
Many people visit my site first as their jumping off place to learn how to market their business on-line. Rather than fear my competitors I embrace them.
You may have noticed that Burger King, and Taco Bell locate their stores next door to McDonalds. Everyone does more business precisely because people visit the area when they are hungry for fast food. Since everyone on the block is selling fast food they choose the product that satisfies their hunger at that time. The same relationship works with shopping malls.
I have been doing business this way for 2 years now, I admit its not the fastest way to grow a business. However it's a great way to build trust on-line and trust in turn builds sales.
Internet marketing is niche marketing, There are broad and narrow niches one of the broad nitches is supporting and selling services to on-line businesses. I don't try to be a specialist in every aspect of Internet marketing. I have a summary of my site's products, services and free Internet Resources at the following URL address.
Our Products, Services, Free Marketing Resources
http://www.smithfam.com/toolkit.html
My Internet Marketing newsletter is run in the same way. You know what, it's working great. Now I get 10 times as many articles submitted as I can publish. Why ?, Because many Internet marketers are finding out that free information sells because it brings them back over and over.
It works so well in fact that over 25,000 visitors a month visit my pages from bookmarks. That's a unbelievable ratio of nearly twenty five percent.
http://www.smithfam.com/news/archives.html
The original purpose for developing the Internet was to develop a common protocol to network of computers in order for a FREE exchange of Information, At it's core the Internet exists to full that need. I have found that to see a need and fill it results in trust and trust into sales.
There is plenty of money to be earned on the Internet your willing to look at the long run. I get at least as many referrals from others as I give out. When someone gets a referral from a source they trust It's just that much easier to make the sale. Successful businesses depend on return customers. Much of my income comes from referrals, from competors, many just returning a favor.