Remember the old adage “keep your friends close and keep your enemies closer”? The nitty gritty of those words to live by are that while you want to have close ties to your friends you need to know what your enemies are up to in order to be prepared for their next diabolical or calculated move.

These words were actually more geared to the nuts and bolts of business and/or competition. In broad terms it is a very accurate statement. It is therefore quite applicable in the Internet arena.

In relation to keeping your friends close to you there are many angles to examine and adhere to when managing the daily rigors of your web page or contributing to the makeup of a web page. Primarily it is a matter of being a team player and staying in line with the game plan. Being part of solutions and not a part of the problems.

There are also times when your input is needed. And of course it is essential to complete assignments in a timely fashion as well as keeping things up to date. Being willing to help others or pick up a teammate’s slack is always a welcome asset to any web crew. A propensity to be helpful by way of teaching those who lack your experience is also a noble altruism to invest to the troop. And of course you can examine these business dealings and relationships into finer points to concentrate on, but you get the gist of what we are discussing here.

What about your enemies or your competitors? Without trivializing the elements and benefits of keeping your friends close there is no avoiding that you need to know what your competitors are doing.

For a perspective there is a practice in sports that is called scoreboard watching. For example let’s picture the scene. It is late September and your favorite team needs to win to get into the playoffs and also needs the team right behind them in the standings to lose. As your team goes about its job of playing their game they work hard as a team to get the win.

However as the game is in progress, there is no doubt the players occasionally glance at the out of town scores to see what is happening to their chief competitor. And in fact so are the fans in the stands, as the scoreboard indicates that the enemy is losing the crowd cheers and then are even more inspired for their team.

This happens in business all the time. Remember the Cola Wars? Coca – Cola and Pepsi have had a long history of one upping on another. And again, this is common and manifest in many ways. The lesson?

As you manage your affairs and maintain a tight but fun ship you also need to keep an eye on your challengers. Yes a healthy review of what others are doing can result in many benefits. For starters you can learn what other successful people are doing. By respectfully admiring the professionalism of other web managers and contributors you can only improve your efforts.

This will also aid us in evaluating our method of operation. We may discover that we perhaps need to make a few changes or additions to our strategy. Or maybe we will determine there are other options open to us that we had not previously recognized. In many ways these kinds of deferential levelheaded observations can also spurn us on to greater heights.

To bring in another sports analogy, we can consider the battles of NBA greats Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics Larry Bird. From the days these two met in the NCAA championship game in 1979 to their final days of playing in the NBA they led their teams to greatness and pushed their teams to many classic match ups against one another for NBA Championship Titles. After many memorable gut wrenching clashes they both have experienced the glory of victory and the sting of defeat. In the end when the smoke cleared they both have stated unequivocally for many years since then, that their tenacious and professionally reverent view of one another inspired and drove both of them to be the best they could possibly be.

This is the primary end result that you should have as your aim. Regardless of how much or what part you have in steering the ship or being a part of the ship’s crew, it is incumbent upon you to have an eye on your “enemy”.

Are you a web designer? What are your competitors doing in this aspect? Are you a web master or manager? What marketing and strategical methods are being employed by your successful business equals? Do you write content for a web page? Or is your job to keep the web site accurate and updated? What nuances and unique features do your competitors offer their visitors?

Ultimately you have to be a part of your posse and work hard to encourage and work shoulder to shoulder to achieve positive financial and tangible results. In addition to your commitment and dedication to your web brigade partners you need to channel the same enthusiasm and energy into seeing what your arch rivals are doing. Don’t let it get you down, incite business envy, or become frustrated. No quite the contrary. Let the accomplishments of your business enemies be a springboard instead.

Feed off of their efforts and strive for your own success. As a consequence you will enjoy the fruits of your labor and the team will achieve new heights together.

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