Case Study – An Evening of UFO’s

What if you have an idea in mind for a product targeting UFO believers, but you have no idea where to start? If you had tuned in to “After Dark” on Friday, June 4th, 2004, you would be well on your way to identifying your target market’s favorite hangouts and trusted sources. You would also have a leg up on targeting potential JV partners.

The evening’s guest speaker, Peter Davenport, is a renowned Ufologist and maintainer of National UFO Reporting Center database (current Alexa ranking: 405,859). A quick visit to www.nuforc.org reveals a whole new series of related links you can follow: • http://www.cufos.org J. Allen Hynek’s (another well known researcher) Center for UFO Studies • http://www.mufon.com Mutual UFO Network. The granddaddy of all serious UFO researchers • http://www.rense.com Jeff Rense Radio Program

Bingo! The Jeff Rense program and its home on web mark yet another major destination of your target market. You just discovered a new niche program you can tune into to glean more data. You find a wealth of content at rense.com site that further educates you in your market’s interests. Oh, and what’s this? It looks like Rense is affiliate savvy. Advertising opportunities abound on this site with an Alexa ranking of 3,995!

You should keep a pen and paper handy as you crawl through these sites. Each site you visit will have its own series of related links. You could literally spend hours following this branching trail across web. As you go, you begin to create a map of your target niche’s online universe. Make special note of any site with a message board, as this will provide you with both advertising opportunities and additional strategic data from those most “in know” – your potential customers.

Happy hunting!

John Calder is the owner/editor of The Ezine Dot Net. Subscribe Today and get real information YOU can use to help build your online business today! http://www.TheEzine.Net

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I was talking with a struggling self-employed woman other day. She asked me what kind of coaching I do. I said, “I work with business owners who are tired of having their marketing efforts fall flat.” She said, “Oh my God, that’s me!” I asked her, “Do people’s eyes glaze over when you tell them what you do?” She said, “Yes! They do! I need you!”

She was excited when she heard my marketing statement! She instantly heard herself in description. It indicated to her that I know her situation and probably have perfect solution. This is what situational marketing does for you.

Good situational marketing has several important qualities. It is:

·Clear and specific – listener hears themselves exactly in message ·Emotional – it elicits a response in gut or heart ·Communicated in words your clients actually use themselves ·Easy to remember ·Unusual in a way that really makes it stand out.

Start with a careful examination of your unique talents and strengths. Then examine situations your ideal clients face and listen to words they use to describe them. Ask yourself what they say to themselves as they’re driving to office or brushing their teeth at night. When you find a match between work you are passionate about doing and a problem your clients are aware that they have, you have struck gold. You know what to say, and you know what products and services you need to develop in order to help them. You know you can help them because their problem is really rooted in an area of personal growth in which you are an expert. And your ideal clients actually become excited to talk to you!

Here are some more examples of situational marketing:

·People who secretly wish they’d get laid off so they can go do what they REALLY want to do ·Single working moms sharing custody with a jerk ·Contractors who are tired of worrying where their next job is coming from ·Business owners who wish their employees would stop bickering and do their jobs ·Full time moms whose children are growing up and who wonder, “Now what do I do?”

Want to learn more? Check out Rebel Business Marketing Challenge at http://www.rebelbusiness.com/rd.cfm?id=36.