Imagine if you were the David and eBay was the Goliath. Now I love eBay. When my dear friend Meg Whitman, eBay’s CEO asked for my advice on taking the job to run the online auction company, I told her to jump at it. At the time, everyone thought eBay was all about Hummel Figurines and 1950’s Barbie Dolls. But we both knew there was something there. Ask ten people where to find anything collectible, such as leather pants and ten people will reply 'eBay'.

But no company is unbeatable. Yahoo had the same untouchable aura of Google before Google. Consider that when you think of this Belgian Auction House Hebbes.be. I met a Belgian couple at Torino that told me about this auction house after I told them about the company. Johan was looking for a certain motorcycle on eBay after his wife Nele finally gave him the green light. He thought he had found the perfect bike, a Yahama Bulldog in great condition (here is the screen shot of the eBay listing)

Sensai Miyagi would be proud
Clicking through to the details of the bike, Johan saw a picture of a blank room where a bike should have been. The picture had a sign explaining how the bike was gone, but Johan should check out eBay’s Belgian competitor, Hebbes.be for hassle free purchasing.

I almost spit my scotch all over Nele when I heard this. Hebbes.be was using the traffic draw of their biggest competitor to attract customers. I immediately recalled what my Judo Sensai Miyagi taught me as he threw me over his hip. A key teaching of Judo is to learn how to use your opponents strength to your advantage. For me, that meant tossing my hard charging body over my Sensai. For Hebbes, it meant reaching into the backyard of the enemy and setting up shop. eBay’s huge traffic advantage was impossible for Hebbes to match, but cheap to tap into.

When you are looking for ways to compete, learn from Hebbes and Mr. Miyagi: your competitor’s strength may be an excellent opportunity for your marketing.