Target Market

Written by Bob Osgoodby


Identifying your target market is one ofrepparttar things you should have learned in Marketing 101, no matter what school you attended. Many of us attendrepparttar 121954 "School of Hard Knocks", and if you don't learn it there, you probably never will be successful in your marketing efforts.

Now let's think a little. Would you really try to sell summer clothing inrepparttar 121955 middle ofrepparttar 121956 winter? Not many people would. Why? There is little if any market for summer clothes inrepparttar 121957 winter.

How about winter coats inrepparttar 121958 Bahamas - sure an occasional "snow bird" might buy one, or a Bahamian, who was travelling north. But to open a store that sold nothing but winter clothing there should not be onrepparttar 121959 top of your priority list.

Why isrepparttar 121960 answer to both ofrepparttar 121961 above no? Simple - they don't match your target market. Your target market should consist of people who not only need your product or service, but also haverepparttar 121962 wherewithal to pay for it.

Doesrepparttar 121963 Internet have this same requirement? Sure - whilerepparttar 121964 Internet is worldwide and covers most ofrepparttar 121965 globe, it is probably more important to find your target market there than anyplace else.

Most places you might advertise in don't have detailed demographics on their visitors or readers. Some companies are trying to get this information, but it is a long uphill battle as most people are unwilling to give out personal information onrepparttar 121966 web.

This is one instance where you have to use some common sense. While you may not have detailed demographics available, there are some things you can do to sharpenrepparttar 121967 focus a bit. If you were selling a health product geared toward older people, you can automatically rule outrepparttar 121968 "kiddie sites" or ones that appeal to a young crowd such asrepparttar 121969 sites where you download free music.

Web Sites or Newsletters that specialize in humor are normally a "no-no" asrepparttar 121970 grind of getting two or three jokes out a day, will guarantee that they will publish some that will offend somebody. It is also one ofrepparttar 121971 least targeted. Don't get me wrong here. Humor has its place as long as it is in good taste, is not offensive, and is part of a publication that reaches a specific group.

Developing a Marketing Plan

Written by Bob Osgoodby


We hear it said that in order to be in business, you must have a Business Plan, and this is true. Without one, you are like a person in a dark room trying to find something. Eventually, you may stumble across it, but how much time did you waste inrepparttar process? If you had turned onrepparttar 121953 lights,repparttar 121954 odds are you would have found it a lot faster.

The Internet provides a great number of opportunities that allow someone to get into business quickly, but many folks who try, are like that person stumbling about a dark room. A good business plan requires that research is done on whether it will work prior to getting started. Once a product or service is settled on,repparttar 121955 next major step is to develop a marketing plan.

Atrepparttar 121956 risk of oversimplification, a good marketing plan must get information about your product or services to those who are able and willing to buy them. You will be competing with "droves" of others however, who are trying to accomplishrepparttar 121957 same goal, sorepparttar 121958 steps you take here will either make or break your business. Let's see if we can turn on a light or two.

The first part of your marketing plan should be to identify your potential market. Again, this sounds like a simple process. But it is amazing how many people don't. A campaign aimed directly at your target market, will produce results.

Don't believerepparttar 121959 ads you read about how mass email isrepparttar 121960 road to success. Nothing could be further fromrepparttar 121961 truth. If someone receives a lot of junk email (spam) about a particular product or opportunity, it leaves a bad taste in their mouth.

If you are into Network Marketing or represent an Affiliate, what better place to advertise yours, than where they are trying to market theirs? They have already made a decision about this being a viable field, and many are looking to diversify. So here we have identified a potential target market.

Are there ezines or newsletters that go out to these people, or others who might be considering this? If so, this is a must. How about web sites that accept ads which are similarly targeted? You should definitely have representation there.

What about cost? There are thousands of places (FFA) where you can place a free web ad. In fact, there is software that will post your ad automatically to them. The majority of these however, only keep a limited number of ads up there. When new ads come in,repparttar 121962 older ones get rolled off. Your ad there has a life, which is usually measured in seconds. Hardly worth your time, not to mentionrepparttar 121963 expense ofrepparttar 121964 software. The real agenda here is thatrepparttar 121965 FFA sites don't care if anyone sees your ad. Their business is collecting targeted email addresses that they then market. If you don't believe this, place an ad in one, and watchrepparttar 121966 spam that arrives daily in your mail multiply faster than you thought possible.

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