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The Art of War with Social Media in 5 Steps

27 Jun 2009

A Chinese bamboo book, open to display the bin...

Defeat your worst rivals by killing them with kindness

  1. Your greatest competitor should receive nothing but generosity and praise for their developments
  2. This must be genuine acknowledgement of their strengths and expertise
  3. if you're competing with slouches consider increasing your skills
  4. subtle jabs allowed, for example: noting their awareness of cutting edge technologies, when they steal your best concepts and profess them as their own

Any community will exert social pressure on your enemy/competitor when witnessing your continued kindness. They won't remain avid followers of your opponent for long if your competitor continues to bash you without provocation. At least the rational followers won't. In this way you can convert opposition into support. Mutual understanding can then begin, or leave it at polite differences.

On the other hand, if you're competing with Boone Oakley, you may be in trouble.

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A perfect stategic followup to this concept, How David Beats Goliath, discusses the brilliant simplicity of several underdog victories. The common features between these upsets are immense effort, endurance, and a willingness to break accepted social norms.