It can be scary to take a good hard look at your competition, but it’s in the best interests of every creative practitioner to know who else is out there, no matter how big or small you are. Understanding your competitors means understanding what your own business should be doing, and how to focus your marketing more effectively. A competitor analysis can also help you understand what your own customers or clients want, and how to better communicate with them.
Start by looking for both direct and indirect competitors. A direct competitor is someone offering the same creative goods or services, in the same market, to the same kinds of clients. Getting very specific about the details reduces the number of direct competitors and makes the process much less fraught, and less complicated.
