This afternoon I as reading a white paper on the MVNO market (thanks MocoNews.net.) MNVO means Mobile Virtual Network Operators. What does this have to do with websites? Directly, just about nothing.

I like to expand my skills and knowledge by learning about other industries. Often this means I can bring new ideas into my web publishing operations. In order to be the best at what you do its critical that you focus on your goals. However, if you are not careful, you can get tunnel vision and miss everything else thats going on around you.

The point of the white paper is that MVNOs has the oppurtunity to increase profitability by giving niche markets what they want.

Oddly enough, this white paper then made reference to another industry — Consumer Goods.

P&G has a strategy involving frequently renewing brands, e.g. of detergent, and at any given time have multiple brands of what is basically the same core product on the shelves in supermarkets. This might mean some cross-cannibalization among their own products, but has proven superior as a way of reaching all types of customers with different brands, or packaging of the basic detergent, and in avoiding customer choosing the competitors brand when searching for something different.

Think of the SERPs as “shelf space.” Why go after a single spot when you could get half of it? What if you owned five websites in your market, each targetted toward a different niche. Perhaps a forum for the active users, a blog for readers who want to hear about every single trend, an article site for people looking for comprehensive information, and an information product for those who want everything in one package.