Here is a discussion at search engine watch about what creates success online.  Here is my favorite quote of the discussion:

A few years ago, people regarded forum software as some magic bullet to SEO because several forums ranked very well for competitive terms. But it was not the platform, it was the user-base. The content. The USP.

Another bandwagon people jumped on was the old Link Directory, because they worked well. For a while. That got fixed. But the really special links directories are still doing well - not because of the platform, but because of their editors. The content. The USP.

Article directory? Yawn. Seen a thousand. The engines have seen millions. None succeed because of the platform. For an Article Directory to succeed and stand out from its millions of boring others it won’t be due to the platform. It will be down to the content, the unique, high-quality, fascinating, writers and the strict, focused, reader-focused editors. The content. The USP.

When you hear the old saw that “Content is King”, it doesn’t mean ‘on page copy’. It is nothing to do with word-counts, keyword frequency, or keyword density. It is about supplying with high quality and unbeatable value, the information for which there is a strong demand.

No, wait, this is my favorite quote:

It sounds like you may have something different then, some USP, and so it can work.

The next thing to address is the barrier to competition. Is there anything to stop some other company with more resources from seeing what you start to do, and then copying it - perhaps even managing to launch first/bigger because it has more resources? Is there anything to stop 100 competitors doing that?

Having a unique idea is the first and usually hardest part of the puzzle, but holding onto that idea and being the one to realise its potential is the other, and often more valuable, half.

In fact, they’re both my favorites.  To see why, join the discussion.