By Debbie LaChusa
Narrowing your focus to one primary group of people
is often difficult for small business owners. They want to help everyone —
and very often their product or service CAN help a variety of people.
It also goes against human nature to narrow your
focus in order to grow a business. Common sense seems to tell us if we want
to grow our business big, we need to appeal to more people.
In reality the opposite is true. When we narrow our
focus to a particular group of people we become an expert in solving their
particular problems. We get to know them very well and we can develop
additional products and services to fill their needs.
So how do you decide who your target market is?
Following are 5 tips:
1) Think about the type of people who can MOST
benefit from what you have to offer.
2) Think about who you would most enjoy helping, or
working with.
3. Think about the type of people who will be
easiest to reach, AND who will be most receptive to what you are selling.
These will be people who KNOW they have THE problem you can solve and are
LOOKING for a solution.
4) Know that just because you select a particular
group of people to focus your marketing on, does NOT mean you can't help
others who may come to you. It only means you're going to focus your
proactive marketing efforts on the target group you select.
5) Lastly, don't over-think it. Listen to your gut,
pick a group you feel you can really help and proceed with the development
of your marketing plan. Marketing is a fluid process. The important thing is
to start. You can always refine your audience and your plan later as you
learn more.
(C) 2005 Debbie LaChusa
About the author:
20-year marketing veteran Debbie LaChusa created The
10stepmarketing System to help small business owners and solo-preneurs
successfully market their business, themselves without spending a fortune on
marketing. To learn more about this simple, step-by-step program and to sign
up for her FREE audio class and FREE weekly ezine featuring how-to articles,
tips and advice, visit
http://www.10stepmarketing.com
