I have to admit, this week's article was written out of 
sheer frustration and some pity.

Many people have contacted me lately asking online marketing 
questions before they have even picked a product to sell.

The ask, "Should I run a Google Adwords campaign to drive 
traffic to site X" I get asked?

"To sell what product I ask?"

The response is usually a high-level suggestion of an
extremely general topic like..."something to do with 
marketing" or "helping people save money doing X"

All of a sudden, I drop the bomb that catches almost 
everyone off guard...

"Who are you going to sell this product to?"

Now, one of two things happen, either I lose them for
a few minutes OR the response is that "I will sell it
to anyone who want to save money with X?"

Wrong!!

Here's a little tip that comes from years of trial-and-
error, thousands of lost dollars and more advice than 
you can pack into one lifetime -- and you know what?

You won't find this tip in Online Marketing books, tapes
or seminars.

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First - find out who you are going to sell your products
to and THEN go find out what they want.

******************************************************

You see, without a clear understanding of WHO will buy 
your products you have no idea....

1. What they want 
2. How to reach them
3. If they will buy what you offer
4. How many of them are there
5. How to market to them
6. How much they will pay for what you offer

I certainly don't blame anyone who wants to skip past this
tedious task of finding out who to sell to.

First of all, it takes work to find target markets - you 
have to identify a group of people who have similar 
characteristics such as: profession, personal traits, 
geography, desires, demographics, hobbbies, etc...

Second, you have to give up the thought that you are going
to sell what you offer to everyone -- and understand that
by focusing on a smaller, defined group you will put much
more money in your pocket in the long-term.

Third, you have to have RAZOR sharp focus - something many
of us are unwilling to do as it takes effort, discipline,
planning, and confidence.  Something many new business 
entrepreneurs are lacking in their quest to turn their 
frustrating situations into immediate riches.

An EXAMPLE!

I was driving down our major highway yesterday, on my way
back from an outing with my kids when I noticed a sign 
titled "Wine Storage!"  

What was it?

Someone had the smarts to NOT compete with the thousands
of other storage warehouses in the city, but to designate
a section of their storage targeted at Wine Lovers.  

How easy would it be to find wine lovers versus finding
people who wanted to store stuff?

Can I find mailing lists for people who like to store 
STUFF? Not likely.

Can I find mailing lists for people who are wine lovers.

Absolutely!

Another example -- you know those hand car wash garages
that sit in many villages around the country.  You drive
your car in, deposit a few bucks and you get the privelege
of spraying your car until you get your frustrations out.

How about a PET WASH.

Pretty ingenious right?  

I spoke with the owner and figures he brings in 30% more 
business just based on people coming in on the weekend to
wash their pets.

So - what about your products or services?

Do they FIRST target a group of people you can reach and
THEN give them something they want badly?

It really can make the difference between making allot of 
money online or struggling to get by.