Who would you vote for- the person with the proven results, who tells you how they’re going to help you, who has already helped you before you ever sent them a dime in campaign donations, then given you your own personal proof…. a person who has shown you that they care about your problems….?

Or….

The person whose only selling point is what they think is wrong with their opposition?

It’s easy, isn’t it? If candidate number two is so hot, well why do they have to spend so much time putting their competitor down? I mean, are you kidding me? The best selling point you have for yourself is that you’re not someone else? Or that the way you’re going to screw me over is slightly different than your opponent?

Do I look like an idiot?

You’re sitting there, nodding your head (hopefully to the part that political candidates have it wrong, not that I’m an idiot, LOL), but you are probably hurting your own sales and company by doing the exact same thing.

The most common mistake I see anyone who claims to be a good marketer making, is the attempt to build their fortune on some difference between them and the next guy that they probably twisted out of proportion.

You’ll never see me harp on the i’s that were not dotted or the t’s that were not crossed in my competition’s product, just to get your business. No one is perfect, and there is a difference between, saying “my product is better because…” and saying “my competitor sucks because…”

I might even do a review of their product and tell you under what condition you should buy their product or service instead of mine. (For example, if your traffic troubles have nothing to do with Google, or you only want to get into high profile keywords, I’ll probably pass your name on, with your permission of course.)

If you read my column on a regular basis, you’ll see me do it all the time, often with no chance of a kickback in affiliate fees. (Not because I’m a great person. Half the time I just can’t remember the link. But the point is, when I do, I don’t even come back and edit… because the money isn’t why I do it.)

And the question I’ve been asked is why? The game is all about money, isn’t it? How can I leave all that money on the table?

And here’s my answer.

First, I don’t think helping people with their business is a “game”. It’s serious business. And so is my itty bitty company. Even with all the free stuff I give away all the time, or will point out to you, I make my money from my book sales, primarily. I’m a real work at home person. (And in coming weeks, I’ll have all the proof posted right here, for all you skeptics. )

And not only is compettion-bashing against my principles, it’s unethical. And the practice of bad ethics gets you nothing but unethical clients who see you as an exploitive entity that deserves to be cheated.

Second, I work with my competition. I work in a very specialized niche, where I don’t just do SEO, one that is wide enough that I must turn away business all the time.

Starting in September, I’m limiting my clients to 20 a month, and only when I get one of those new consulting clients to where they need to be, will I take on another client. So where will the other $5,000 in business that I’m offered every month go to?

My friends in the business of course.

The first person I’ll probably call is Chris over at www.seoplus.com. She’s an ethical competitor, a subscriber to my newsletter, and I always witness her conducting business fairly. I’ve yet to see her suggest a course of action she can’t back up with facts and results.

I also suggest other books besides my own. A friend of mine named Donna Maher is an ICop member, another “competitior” who has a copy of my book, and we work closely together often.

Another good person is Shannan Hearne, one of the most responsive people I’ve ever worked with via email.

Third, I’m not leaving money on the table by refraining from bashing people. It’s really simple. I make more money now from giving honest, fair assessments without name-calling, needless nitpicking or focusing on flaws.

When I first started out in business, before I was ever onilne, back in 91, when I was 19. I fell into the same trap of using fear instead of sincerity and willingness to help to sell my products.

And you know what happened?

Nothing. My competitors ignored me, I looked like a fool, and the flaws I pointed out instead of addressing were corrected. And I created more work for myself by having to go back to the drawing board with my sales angle.

Which led me to some of the greatest success of my life – I dropped my angle and started publishing under my nickname Tinu, what everyone already calles me, instead of my full first name, Atinuke, which people find it hard to pronounce and look at.

Really, those are the two most significant changes I made.

I have no angle now. I just want to help as much as I can. I’ll give you as much as I can for free, and I only charge when I must. I learned early on that being able to say I helped someone is a lot more important than money. And when I put what I learned into practice, the money followed.

When you’re the best, you don’t have to go around saying, “I’m the best”. It’s apparent. But if you are secretly insecure about your position, you’ll go around picking on every little flaw you find about others just to make yourself feel good — and most of the time, people know you would have gotten better results by taking your complaints to the source.

When we come back, I’ll tell you a better way to get business that can get you loyal customers for life, and show you how you can leverage that into more free traffic, the relation of reputation to traffic, and a sneaky but perfectly abovebaord and ethical way to get people who needlessly try to bash you off your back. I haven’t had to use this in years, but it always worked like a charm.

And you won’t need it when you get too big to care what some poor soul who hasn’t learned the power of giving thinks about you. For now though, you should know that when your success first emerges, there are people who will try to piggyback off that success