Captain’s log, stardate 20181215

More betterer

Sent by Jonathan Stark on December 16th, 2018

Reader Zach Stevens replied to my “World’s Best Cup Of Coffee” message with a hilarious real-world example (shared with permission):

When I was in London, I found two Kebab shops right next to each other: “Best Kebab Shop” and “Super Best Kebab Shop”

LOL! It’s like a superlatives arms race. What’s next? Maybe:

EXTRA SUPER BEST KEBAB SHOP!

And then:

NEW AND IMPROVED EXTRA SUPER BEST KEBAB SHOP!!!

I’m going to hazard a guess that these two signs being right next to each other is obviously comical to everyone who see them... except perhaps the owners of the two neighboring businesses.

Here’s the thing:

If you operate on the internet, your business is “right next to” ALL of your competitors, regardless of where they are on the globe.

Bigger and better baseless claims are still baseless claims. And baseless claims don’t make you stand out.

And if you don’t stand out, you end up competing on price and racing to zero.

Yours,

—J