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In my last post I talked about being a market leader, or more specifically how being the first person or business to do something gives you a massive advantage. Here I’m going to expand on that idea.

What happens if you wanted to be the first company to create a car rental business but after some basic research you realized that it was already being done, and there was already a leader?

You create your own category.

In this case I would suggest something trendy, new, with growth potential. How about a car rental company that only rents out electric cars? Now we are talking!

I would call the rental agency RE/CARS (rechargeable cars?) or something like that, blast out my press release and try to make a go at it.

Here is why creating your own category works and works well.

• Everyone loves new things
• It’s easy to take something that is a proven business model and put your twist on it

Lesson: If you can’t be the first in a category, then set up a new category you can be first in. Look for something that is working well, create a sub-category, be the first and enjoy the first movers advantage.

What is the first movers advantage ? How can you use it in your business life ?

First movers advantage is establishing a category that you or your company can be first in. Now I’m not saying the absolute first company but more specifically the first significant company.

Amazon.com (online books) / Google.com (wicked search engine) / Facebook.com (social networking) / Twitter.com (micro-blogging) are some great examples from today.

Back when I was in business school I remember reading something about the “first movers advantage” in one of my marketing classes and I remember thinking that it was very obvious and not a big deal. After years of being in the business world this obvious piece of knowledge has grown on me considerably.

If you look around in your life you can see this advantage being played out everywhere. If you have a headache you take a Tylenol, you make Xerox copies at the office, at lunch you have a Coke, you cut your finger and put a Band-Aid on it, you FedEx a package overnight and on the way home you play on your iPhone.

Remember “marketing is a battle of perceptions“, not your products or your service.

Can you make your product or service in to a verb? If you can get your product name used as a verb I’d say you’re doing well. Google anything lately?

Once you have planted your brand in the minds of your customers as the first and only in your category you will always be there. And if you are good at providing a high quality product you will have an everlasting advantage on your competition.

Try to be Coke, Gatorade, Bell, Tylenol, Google in your market and reap the benefits of market leadership.

Now for some real world applications!

Maybe you own a flower shop, maybe you are a soccer coach, maybe you love wine, could you take what you know and do something with it on the internet?

The answer is YES…

Have your heard of Gary Vaynerchuk? This guy came out of nowhere to absolutely dominate the Web 2.0 scene in the last few years. How did he make his name? He is a wine blogger! and I suggest you check him out. His site is called wine library.

He is loud, opinionated but he knows his wine and understands branding, but what he won’t come out and tell you is that he is the first significant wine blogger and because of that he has the attention of many wine lovers and will continue to have that position as long as he wants.

He took his family business and grew it out to a 50 million dollar business. Now he probably wasn’t the first guy talking about wine on the internet, but he is known as the “wine guy”.

So here is my tip to you, take your passion, take your business and use the first movers advantage and make a mark now before someone beats you to it.

Additional Sources:

For a really dry long and boring explanation you can check out Wikipedia.

Gary Vees take on web 2.0 and branding

What if someone beat you to it? Define Your Own Category