This was a post over at Webmaster World that I thought was quite good. I’ve doctored it up a bit with my own methods that I have found effective. As I always state, what can help you the most is by having good relationships … and they start with your supplier.

If you find yourself going up against the likes of Amazon.com and Buy.com you have serious concerns due to the sheer size and efficiency of those companies. But you can compete, it just comes down to “Points of Difference”. We’ll use selling software in this example:

1. Go directly to the manufacturer and argue for the merits of a diversified marketplace for their product. If they “go all in” with Amazon and effectively kill off their other distribution channels then they will be at the mercy of Amazon. Is that what they want? I highly doubt it. What if Amazon gets the hiccups? What if Amazon cuts them off or decides to play favorites with a new entry into the software field? They need “friends” in the marketplace.

2. Form a buying collective. Hunt down other distributors and suggest that they agree to pool their purchasing power to allow for a reduced price and higher margins. Yes you are helping out competitors, however, your main competitor is Amazon. By reducing cost, you are able to have higher margins, thus offer incentives for the customer to buy from you.

3. Offer general software installation tech support at $65+/hour. Bundle 1 hour of installation support for the significantly discounted rate of $35/hour. Outsource your tech support. Be mindful of where you outsource it to and verify the quality often. The sad reality is that most outsourcing starts out very well and drops off fast.

4. Go the anti-buying collective route: Join forces and advise your manufacturer/vendor that you all will stop buying and reselling their software, and begin to promote a competitive or open source product, unless you are offered a competitive price. This fits the “What the hell, we might as well all go down in flames if we’re not going to play nice” model. Just make sure you are prepared to take this stance and have a true backup plan.

5. Seek competitive bids from competing vendors/manufacturers for the same/similar product.

6. Sell knowledge and experience, not just the product and put a price on the sharing of knowledge.

7. Cross sell niche products that work with BrandX. Know your product and know what works well with it. Find out what freeware or open source products work well with it and bundle that. Have a demo of the associated and assorted “bundled freeware” running on your website. Make access to the demo a sign-up proposition ~ mailing list growing.

8. Tell the truth when selling. “We cannot compete with Amazon purely on price BUT Amazon cannot compete with us for the following reasons . . . ” This is where you list your Points of Difference.

9. Openly declare war on Amazon. Rally the masses.

10. At the same time you openly declare war on Amazon declare war on Walmart.

Here’s an idea: Show customers a photograph of the house you live in. Next to it show people a photograph of the house the CEO and other “C” level employees of Amazon live in. Then ask your customers what it is that they really want to support – what they want to vote, to create – with their dollars, pounds, yen, pesos, lira, francs, euros, . . .