There are a TON of ways to legally steal money from under your competitor’s noses and this is just one of them. (Without breaking the law of course). Let me share with you a quick story on how I came across this strategy. So listen to this… As most of my clients will know, I’m actually a research specialist doing a bit of copywriting as a side gig. I don’t really consider myself as a copywriter because; One, I’m not that good of a writer. Two, I don’t have that persuasive flair. and lastly, I haven’t even finished writing a whole sales page by myself – yet. But researching is definitely something that I’m good at. Now going back to the story… A while back I was researching for a client’s promotion about their new product which is supposedly designed to help you lose weight while eating more. It’s one of those drugs that promotes better metabolism when you take it with a meal. Anyhoo… I had my client list all of the benefits their product has so I can go ahead and research about anything that would support their claim. A time limit of three days was given to come up with references that would substantiate their claims…something that will make the benefits more believable. And the timer started. Day one came and gone but I got nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. Whew! I must be off my game. Better luck next time. Day two was almost over and still no signs of proof or anything remotely related to what I’m searching for. This is eerily looking like ‘day one’…only slower. Still day two. As pure luck would have it, I went over a cafe and picked up a local magazine which happened to do a feature on one of my client’s direct competitors. I found myself looking and browsing the whole thing. In my mind since they are basically promoting the same types of products, I figured that I can use ‘em for idea generation. Lo and behold, (cue hallelujah music) I found out that they are also promoting an almost-kinda-like-product to what my client has. And the best part is, I discovered a smorgasboard of bullet pointed benefits and features to model from which could actually have solid references compared to what was given to me. So to cut the long story short…I literally stole all their good bullets, made it better and added them as my client’s benefits. And the icing on the cake really was that I was able to provide my client reliable references that just further cemented their claims – which is something that the competition didn’t do. Booyah! There’s no way I would’ve thought of those benefits. Not by a long shot! This maybe something not being talked about openly (might be taboo. I don’t have a clue) but obviously, you can use your competitor’s benefit as long as the same thing applies to your own product or service. Granted that you don’t outright steal their bullet word for word, it can actually help you to write your promotions. I mean, who are they to tell you that their benefit won’t apply to your product? (we’re walking a thin line of being a scoundrel and a saint here…) If your product or service really brings the exact benefit then there’s no reason for you not to use it. Now imagine doing a research among all your competitor’s and grabbing their best benefits/features that applies to your own product or service. How good do you think your sales copy will be like? And it’s so damn simple, you’re doing the proverbial ‘leaving money at the table’ for not doing so. From then on, I always make sure that I rummage through the competition’s dirty laundry first as I may find loose change and possibly overlooked bills inside their pockets. How about you? Do you have other ways to legally steal money from your competitors? If you do, don’t hesitate to share.