Finding Your Target Market

Achieving sales is probably the biggest 

challenge a web business owner has. It requires 

a balanced mix of the right products, competitive 

pricing, optimal web design, aggressive advertising 

and attracting the right online visitors.

While all of the above are equally important in 

achieving abundant sales, none of them will work 

at all if you don't target the people that are most 

likely to buy your products or services. These 

people are known as your target or niche market. 

Focusing in on your niche market will allow you to 

find only those that are ready, willing and able to 

buy what you have to offer.

Your niche market provides you the competitive edge 

over larger corporations because larger companies 

tend to market to a much broader range of people. 

Their promotions are more generalized and less focused. 

For them, the smaller markets are not worth bothering 

with. This now becomes your opportunity to capture 

those highly defined niche markets that they left behind.

Defining your Market

In order to find these people you must first determine 

who they are. This might sound like a simple or 

perhaps insignificant question at first but it can 

possibly make or break the success of your sales if 

you don't give it some serious thought. 

Here's how to get started.

Think about the following and jot down all those 

that might apply to people interested in your products 

or services. Don't rule out any category completely. 

Think about each group of people and how they might 

apply.

Age Group:

infants, Children, teens, young adults, baby boomers, 

middle aged, elderly or all.

Gender:

Male, female or both

Marital status:

single, married, divorced, widowed or all

Ethnic or religious backgrounds

Occupations:

Executives, doctors, lawyers, housewives, 

business owners, teachers, blue collar, 

white collar, students, out of work, etc.

Health Status:

healthy, diseased, home bound, active, sedentary, etc.

Interests:

sports, hiking, music, arts, computers, reading 

television, animals, home decorating, cars, 

walking, running, relaxation, health conscious, 

age conscious, physical fitness, etc.

Income status:

low income, middle income, high income, no income.

Education:

high school dropout, high school, college, MBA 

PHD, hates school, loves school, etc.

Certainly all categories are not listed above, 

however these can get you started on thinking about 

all the possibilities.

Next, it's important to determine what benefits 

you are offering. Examine your products or services 

carefully listing all the benefits that you can 

think of. Perhaps take a poll of your existing 

customers and ask them what it is they like about 

your products or services. What benefits them the 

most.

Once you have a listed all of the benefits, think 

about what people would be interested in these 

benefits based on your list above. Then put them 

together to assist you in reaching a market that 

will bring you sales.

Reaching Your Target Market

Search engines are the best way of finding a 

targeted market because those searching on the 

web can type in exactly what they are searching 

for and receive the targeted traffic the search 

engines so proudly advertise.

But attaining good placement on the search engines 

is often difficult and time consuming.

Ezines and newsletters are a very effective alternative.

Most ezines cover specific subjects such as finance, 

marketing, health, internet, etc. Your job will be to 

find an ezine whose topic matches your target market. 

To do this you must locate an ezine directory. Directories 

usually list contact information, advertising rates, and 

circulation. Once you find a targeted ezine then place 

your ad. Be sure your ad includes as many of your product 

benefits as the ad will allow.

The idea is to define your target market specifically 

enough so that you can find the appropriate place to 

advertise and then create sales messages that 

make your readers feel you are talking directly to them.

You'll be amazed at the amount of traffic you can receive 

by finding your target market and reaching them in the 

appropriate location.

Elizabeth McGee has spent 20 years in the service and support industry. She has moved her expertise to the world wide web helping businesses find trusted tools, enhance customer service, build confidence and increase sales. Elizabeth's sites can be viewed here: http://www.pro-marketing-online.com http://www.homenotion.com

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