Is it smart to list my competitors on my website?

Looking through my Google Webmaster Tools stats today and saw that my average top position for 'sage island wilmington nc' was 3!

In an earlier post, I had mentioned how I was ranked #2 on Google for 'web hosting in wilmington nc', Sage Island was number 1.

So, I went to Google and typed in 'sage island wilmington nc' and sure enough, there I was, number 3.

Also, yesterday I was talking to someone about how it is good SEO to place your competitors together in your web marketing campaign. "How's that I asked?" The answer is simple - let's take my situation as an example.

Someone looking for sage island using Google has obviously heard of them somehow right? Either through some other form of advertising that Sage may or may not have paid for. But, that same person may have never heard of me, Impulse Web Solutions, an alternative web company here in Wilmington. So, while they were looking for Sage Island, they may possibly see my link, wondering who I am and click on my link instead. I have to admit, Sage Island is the biggest web company in town right now and is my biggest competition. However, they also have a lot of overhead and expenses, therefore their prices are higher. I have also run into some of their past clients who stated that Sage had gotten so big that they were forgetting the little guys. Small site changes were taking weeks and the quality of work was suffering.

So, with that information, I think I might start mentioning my competitors more often in my blog posts. With that in mind, here are some of the people I consider worthy adversaries in Wilmington NC:

Sage Island
Venue Communications
Akira Media
SecureNet Information Technologies
Modular Media
Blue Tone Media
NC Fusion
Breakforth

We are not a bank

Ran into an interesting article about getting paid on time. I have had problems in the past with clients not paying on time, even after 2 invoices have been sent. I recently implemented a company policy that after 30 days there is a $100 fee for every month the bill is late.

Nice story from the article:

"Allow me to give an example with a little story…I once had lunch with a gentlemen who, at the time, was the CEO of one of the largest freight companies in the world. He had grown it to this position in roughly 5 years from a business that was similar in size to my own. Here is how he told me he set the foundation for his amazing growth.. He took a look at his list of money he was waiting to receive from his clients and how long it was taking to get paid. He set out, himself, to visit each and every customer and tell them “We are not a bank. If you want to continue to be our customer then you need to stop treating us like one. You certainly do not want to start paying us like one.” And he was willing to lose a client if they didn’t value the relationship enough to pay promptly.

Link: Pay Fast. Get Paid Faster