What Does First Mover Advantage Mean?
One of the terms I learned early on in the Internet business is the meaning and implcations of First Mover Advantage. It may be a tough gain over competitors and in specific markets, but it is highly possible, even in this type of economy.
It used to be that you would hear or see the term often. I know I saw it being done first hand when I started in Internet Marketing, when it was quite popular, more supported, and even dubbed crucial in the net entrepreneur circle for the economy. But things changed drastically in recent years where the term is almost frowned upon, and the people that do dominate the bigger markets are more against it for obvious reasons; competition, and to keep the market cornered.
So what exactly is first mover advantage?
First mover advantage is a very simple concept. It means to be the first company to move significantly in a given market. I’m not implying that it is the first company in the market, but the first significant one that makes the boldest move first that gives them the edge, and top position.
For instance, there were a few search engines out long before Google arrived on the seen. Matter of fact, I remember quite well when it was in the infancey stage. I was using Nightcrawler, AltaVista, etc … when I tried Google for the first time. But Google was the one who made the boldest move, took search engines to a whole new level, and got the first mover advantage over the other ones.
The same is true in places like Amazon, ClickBank, and so forth. These companies weren’t the first of their kind, but yet they were the ones who took the first bold move, and cracked the code so to speak.
Another company that made a resent first move advantage was Apple when they came out with their latest OX Leopard. Apple gained the edge over PC who has dominated the market for years. This did a couple of things in that market that moved the bar up for every other company in the industry.
In certain situations this type of advantage last for quite a while, and sometimes not. The trick to getting the first mover advantage in any market is to come up with the biggest and boldest move that’s never been done before in that market that will take the actual market to the next level.
I think the hardest part about it is to maintain that edge once you get the advantage over the other companies.
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