The business intelligence industry is alive and well on the internet. It is actually detrimental for any business to ignore this particular tactic. Low-level spying can actually be done on Google. Just look at the top three positions for any search result. Just visit these sites, and discover what it is that maybe happening. You could look at how much they charge for each product and service that they offer. This is just scratching the surface of what is possible to do. Many people that have large businesses do a lot of traveling to get this info. Most of this information is online. You simply have to find the right websites to get the information you need.


The most basic type of research into a business probably begins with Google. There's nothing wrong with this, but this is how you build the base of knowledge on your competition. Whatever business you are in, you should know what keywords your competitors are using - they are probably very similar! You can get some helpful information, especially if they are using Google PPC, or Adwords. You can get a lot of this information if you use comparison sites. These are done for many services and products on the web. This type of information will already be presented for you, and you may find your own products listed there too. Use ghost inquiries on all of your competitors and have that person basically blend in as a regular consumer. The idea is to become very familiar with every aspect of their business, from initial inquiry to post sales. Few strategies will provide you with a clearer view of the competition than this. You can then compare every aspect of their business to yours. You can identify any weak areas that you can capitalize on, such as customer service that's not up to par. In response to this, you would make an extra effort in the customer service department and advertise this in your promotions.


One place where your competitors will freely provide you with plenty of facts about themselves is LinkedIn. You can't just spy on others, though, as you'll need to be a participating member to get the most out of LinkedIn. Some businesses understand the risks of telling the world everything about themselves. Most companies, however, also want to get plenty of publicity so they can grow and attract more customers. A company that uses LinkedIn as a networking tool is likely to be fairly open in its communications. An easy and legal way to spy on anyone is to simply sign up to receive updates on any company you're interested in. As you are going along and working your business, you will learn new ways to promote your offers; so what you need to do is hypothetically apply them to what you do and see if it is viable. Very many online businesses and marketers have found internet marketing to be useful; yet we know there are many who cannot or will not use it for some reason. However, as strange as it may sound not all marketers want to take their businesses to higher levels of performance. When it comes to business, however, and making money - we usually think there is a desire for more expansion and business building. Any business on or off the internet can benefit tremendously by expanding their marketing and advertising. The smart small web business owner will always have an open mind to new methods for increasing exposure. Essentially, you want to find a way to get this information on autopilot. You need to spy on your competitors as much as possible. Some information will be more valuable than other information. It's just a chance you're going to have to take. You will figure all of this out once you start getting information on your competitors everyday.