Ask any business owner to list their top priorities, and no
doubt “more customers/leads” will be near the top.

There’s one CRITICAL concept that all business owners
MUST KNOW in order to move their business forward.

Whether you’re brand new and just starting your business
or you’ve been around for awhile, you have to know WHO
your target market is.

This is key, because if we don’t know WHO they are, we
can’t know WHERE they are, or WHAT they want and need.

I know…and I’ve heard it hundreds of times…

”But everyone is a potential customer…as long as they can
fog a mirror…”

But that’s just not true.

There are certain things that your products do and do not do
that attract certain people.

For example, maybe you work with a company that has a
weight loss product.  Somebody who is very thin and fit is
not likely to be attracted to it

Perhaps you’re marketing for a hardware store that features
specials for do-it-yourself-ers.  A tool of the month, or
something like that.  You wouldn’t expect many customers
to be coming from the high-rise retirement condos.

I’m sure you get my point.

You’re looking for a “message to market” match.

One of the best things you can do for yourself and your
business is to sit down with pencil and paper and write
down exactly what benefits your product or service has and
ask yourself…who do they apply to?

Man or woman?  How old are they?

What are they looking for?  What are they thinking about?

What ‘s their income level?  What are they interested in?

Do they like to read, or are they the active outdoor type?

What kinds of PROBLEMS are they having?

Get your description as close to being an actual person as
you possibly can.  You may want to even give this “person”
a name.

What you’re actually doing is creating an avatar of your
ideal prospect.

The reason it’s so critical to know who your market is
SPECIFICALLY is so you know where to FIND them!

This is KEY!

For example, if your market is made up of women over the
age of 50, the chance of finding them hanging around a
forum for skateboarders is not very good.  And you more
than likely won’t find many ideal customers for your baby
products at an auto parts store.

Probably the best example I’ve heard on this topic was
from marketing expert and trainer, Diane Hochman.  She
equates it to trying to find a relative you’ve never met,
Uncle Harry,  at a major airport without knowing the terminal,
the airline or his flight number and running around yelling
his name everywhere trying to find him.

When you know who your target market is, not only do you
know where they hang out and what they’re thinking, you
speak their language.

You know what they lay in bed awake worrying about at
night, what they’re typing into Google at 3:00 a.m. and
you can speak right into them.

I think it was Randy Gage who suggested we “enter the
conversation that they’re having in their head”.

It’s then that they’ll respond to you.

Take some time to totally flesh out this person (or people)
and get to know EXACTLY who your target market is.

Once you know WHO you’re talking to, it’s much easier to
have a conversation.

Please note: If you have more than one product, you will
likely have more than one target market and need to flesh
out more than one person.