Defining Your Target Market: 5 Questions to Dramatically Increase Your Marketing Efforts

“Everybody is a prospect.” I remember those words like it was yesterday.

It happened many years ago when I was a younger ambitious network marketer starting out. I went to a company event, and there on stage was a leader saying those exact words. “Everybody is my prospect!”

Guess what I did after that…

I made the mistake of following that mantra for many years. Struggling until I realized the TRUTH. The truth you may need to hear now if you’ve been living by that same false mantra!

Here’s the truth…

EVERYBODY IS NOT Your Prospect!

Say that to yourself as many times as it takes to sink in, because that thinking… that everybody is your prospect… will keep you struggling and likely broke for much too long! In fact let’s take it a step further.

MOST People Are NOT In Your Target Market!

Whoa! If you’ve been stuck in the mindset that everybody is in your target market, it might feel a bit like a punch in the gut. But it’s actually a very freeing thing.

Because now you can stop wasting your time with all those people who aren’t in your target market, and start focusing on the ones that actually are.

The ones who actually want what you have!  And then of course, you can start putting your message in front of those prospects who are more likely to buy from you, or join your opportunity..

Want VS. Need

You may think that your product or opportunity is the greatest thing in the world, that everybody NEEDS it, and that it may benefit everyone. And who knows, it might.  

However that doesn’t mean that everyone WANTS what you have. You may think that they need it, but what people need and what they pull out their money for… are two completely different things.

For example, it could be argued that everybody needs or should have a gym membership, but more people have cable bills than a gym memberships. Do they need cable? Nope. Do they want it? Looks like it.

More people want (and buy) candy bars, even though they need vegetables.

The key to marketing is to put the right message in front of the right market.

The right target market is simply the people who are more likely to buy what you have. The people who already want what you have to offer.

Where’s the best place to open a hamburger stand? In front of a hungry crowd.

The sooner you realize that (and start applying it) the sooner your business will begin to thrive. Much like mine did as soon as I started targeting the right people withy my offers.

For many people reading this, I could probably stop this article right here, and if you lived by the new mantra I’ve laid out, your marketing would be infinitely more effective from here on out.

But I’m not going to do that. Instead I’m going to show you exactly HOW to define your target market! Sound good?

Let’s get started…

How to Define Your Target Market and Become Infinitely More Effective!

In a nutshell, it all comes down to questions. Or at least THE RIGHT QUESTIONS!

We’ll go over those question in just a second. First let’s talk about marketing versus convincing.

Some Advice Based on Personal Experience About Marketing VS. Convincing

There’s something that you’ll want to think about that we touched a bit on it.

I’ve found in my experience through training and tons of trial and error, that you’ll shortcut the sales process, and all the convincing… if you’ll find people as close to the end of the buying cycle as possible.

Here’s an example for network marketers…

Many people make the mistake of trying to get people who have never shown an interest in starting their own home business to join their opportunity. They make a list of friends and family, and give them DVD’s, and tell them how much money they can make.

That’s okay if that’s the road you want to go down. But in my experience it’s the loooong road.

Why? Because those people have never shown any interest whatsoever in starting a home business, or joining a network marketing company.

However, there ARE tons of people who ARE actively looking online to start making extra money from home. They search things like “how to make money from home”, “How to start a home business.”

Now that’s a little closer to the prospects that we want… however…there are other people who have already found a home business, and discovered that it’s not as easy as they were told to grow that business.

They now know they need more people to talk to (prospects and leads), and that they need to learn how to close people.

Maybe you’ve seen them on Facebook spamming the heck out of their feed and inside groups… trying desperately to let people know  about their opportunity or products, and wondering why they can’t get anybody to join them.

These people are struggling, but they’re already convinced on the benefits of starting a home business, they just need help growing that business. They have a PROBLEM that they need solved.

Who do you think is closer to the end of the sales cycle? Who’s more ready to buy a product?

In other words, you can let someone else do all of the hard work of convincing, and YOU can swoop in and become the hero that gets them closer to their goals by offering them a product that can help them! BOOM!

I’ve discovered (the hard way at times) that this target market I’ve just described is the best target market, and the easiest way to grow a business FASTER! With less (almost zero) convincing.

The best part… once they see that you can and are willing to help them grow their business, they’ll often come to YOU asking what opportunity you’re in.

You become the hunted!

“You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.” ~ Zig Ziglar

Questions to Define Your Target Market

Now let’s get into how you go about defining your target market for YOUR business. There are questions you’ll need the answers to. Here are those questions….

Question #1: What Are You Selling?

We’re all selling something (hopefully). It might be a product or it might be an opportunity or service, but you should have something of value that you’re looking to trade for money.

(If not, you don’t really have a business)

Much more important than what your product is (an ebook, a course, a network marketing opportunity) is to know what prospects will get from that product. What are the benefits? You’ll want to dig deep on this one.

Now it’s vital that you take YOU and your biases about your products out of the equation. This is not about you, it’s about them. Your prospects are continually asking themselves “What’s in it for me?” And to have the answer to that question you have to completely dissect it!

For instance, just to make it easy, let’s say you’re an affiliate for my “No Fear Video Marketing System”.

Why would somebody want that? What can that course and/or doing videos give them?

Here’s a few ideas you would maybe jot down if you were doing this exercise…

• More leads
• Higher quality leads
• Credibility in the marketplace
• The chance to become a mini-celebrity in their market
• Instant rapport to build know, like, and trust because video is great for that.
• A way to quickly grow their business without bugging friends and family
• A way to get over the fears that they have about doing videos.
• Help getting over the technical stresses of creating marketing videos and getting them online to be found.
• Learn how to increase the chances of getting their videos watched.

There’s plenty more, but you can see how we’ve dissected the benefits.

Hopefully it’s clear now, you’re not selling a course, you’re selling the benefits of what that course can do for your prospects to get THEM closer to THEIR goals.

Now grab a piece of paper, and jot down the benefits of YOUR product until you can’t think of anymore.

Watch this Video from My “No Fear Video Marketing System” Course Where I Expand on the Concepts Above!…

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Question #2: Who Are the People Most Likely to Need and WANT Your Product?

So now you know what your product will do.

Now it’s time to match the product to the market . Who needs and would want something like what you’re offering? Who’s in a position where they’re READY for your product?

Who is actively LOOKING for a product just like yours?

We’ll stay on the same example of the “No Fear Video Marketing System” so you can see how this research gets fleshed out.

We can name a few types of people who might want a product like yours…

• People who have home businesses that want more leads and customers.(duh)
• People who are already creating videos but are still struggling to get leads.
• Busy moms who don’t have a lot of time to physically run their business so they want to work smarter and gain more leverage with their marketing.
• Entrepreneurs and sales people who are great at presenting LIVE, but not so great at putting their words on screen.
• Network marketers who are tired of doing home parties, and want to gain more leverage with their presentations by reaching more people at once.
• People who have a blog, but want their blogs to be more effective with video.
• People who sell real estate, and would rather do a video once showing the home, rather than one at time (so that the people they do talk to are ALREADY interested in and more likely to buy)
• Personal trainers who want to display their value by giving tips online so they get more local customers.
• Personal trainers who want to branch out from their local market, and reach a global market.
• And the list goes on and on!

We could go on forever brainstorming a marketplace that would want a product like the one that you’re offering. But we must drill down even further, because we want our messages to be very targeted toward ONE market.

So then question #3 becomes very important…

Question #3: Who Do YOU Want to Work With? (Who is YOUR Ideal Customer?)

The beautiful thing about having your own business is that you get to CHOOSE who you want to work with.

You get to choose who you will identify best with, and who will identify best with you.

If you’re a mother, who started a business to stay home with your kids, then you may want to target other mothers with the same goals. You get them, and they’ll get you.

If you’re a middle aged man, who wanted to retire young, so that your best years aren’t wasted at a job away from your family, then you can likely attract other middle aged men with the same goals.

You can CHOOSE to target those people, so that your messages are more clear.

Take some time and figure out what type of people that you’re passionate about helping, and who you can relate to.

Question #4: What “Language” Does Your Target Market Speak?

By language I don’t mean ethnicity.

Every market niche speaks a certain way. Golfers have a language they use when they’re out on the links with other golfers. It’s a  language that others who aren’t in that niche won’t understand. You must know that language for YOUR target market.

Moms have a way of talking to other moms that dads don’t understand, and vice versa.

People who practice the martial art of Jiu Jitsu speak a different “language” than those who practice Karate.

Knowing this language allows you to create a message that your target market will immediately identify with. It also lets you start exploring what your target market may type into search engines when they’re looking for solutions to problems.

The RIGHT MESSAGE to the RIGHT MARKET is key!

Question #5: WHO is the Avatar of Your Target Market?

Here’s the fun part.

Now that you know all of the above, you get to create the avatar of your ideal customer. It’s like creating a prototype of the human that you will put your product in front of.

Example?  

How about a young mid-20’s first time mother, who’s maternity leave is about to end. She’s started a network marketing company but has run out of people to talk to about her business, time is running out, and she  is desperate to not have to go back to work and send her child to daycare.

She desperately wants to find a solution to start generating strong leads for her business quickly from home online, so that she can grow her downline and not have to be away from her child.

One more example?

A 55 year old man, who’s slightly overweight, has let his health and eating habits go, and recently was told by his doctor that he’s prediabetic. He’s got grandchildren that he wants to watch grow up for as long as possible.

His doctor told him with the right diet and nutrition he can get his blood sugar back on track without medication. He’s desperate to find a diet solution that will give him the proper nutrition and allow him to lose weight quickly and safely, and beat the diabetes that is haunting him.

When You Speak to Your Target Market You’ll Speak Directly to Your Avatar!

As different as we all are, we’re the same in many more ways.

Your Avatar will encompass MANY in your target market. They’ll resonate with your message, and feel like you’re talking directly to them. This will build rapport with them, and make them begin to feel like they KNOW you, will make them LIKE you because you understand them, and they will then begin to TRUST you enough to whip out their credit card!

And they’ll be YOUR ideal prospect because that’s exactly WHO you targeted!

Define YOUR Target Market TODAY and Watch Your Marketing Results Go Through the Roof!!

You now know what to do to define your target market. It’s up to you now to do the work.

Once you do, and start marketing armed with this information, you’ll begin to attract your target market to you quicker than you ever thought possible!

If you got value from this blog post and video leave me a comment below and please share it with your friends.

You rock,

Mark Harbert

PS: If You Are Looking For A Place To Start Click Here