This post is bought to you courtesy a few hours of reviews in my Content Bootcamp ! You see, almost everyone made the SAME kinda mistakes. They thought they knew their ideal client, their market, their wants, their needs. But when I dug in, it all became undone. Let me try to summarize the takeaways…..so that you can learn from our mistakes…??
Here goes……
If you’re building a business, then you need to be clear about your target MARKET.
I said target MARKET. Not your AUDIENCE.
An audience listens/watches and then goes away.
Your market is people who’ll actually buy from you.
Your audience wants information, tools, strategies from you.
Your market wants RESULTS.
Your audience loves to consume content from you as long as it’s free.
Your market is people who eagerly WANT to pay for your services.
AND who CAN afford to pay.
a) WANT to pay => they are at a TIPPING POINT where they no longer want to passively consume information about their pain point, but are ACTIVELY SEEKING HELP TO GET RESULTS.
b) CAN pay => The have the DISPOSABLE income to pay for your services.
Someone who’s family income is $40k per year will first prioritize the basics like food, shelter, kids, health. They are unlikely to prioritize the “fancier” things that require them to shell out a few hundred/thousand $$$.
You need to target a market that has the CAPACITY to pay you. Otherwise it’s not business, it’s charity. There’s nothing wrong with Charity. Charity is good. But be clear on what YOU are doing – business or charity.
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Yes, some people may cross over from your audience, to your market.
Yes, you will ALSO need to nurture an audience, so that over time, they may transition over to your target market. They will do so when they reach their personal tipping point and build up the funds to pay you.
How long are you willing to wait for that to happen? You need to prioritize depending on what stage is your business at!!
If you need the money coming in faster – focus on your target market first. Keep building your audience in the background!
It’s ONLY when you have the extra bandwidth, time, energy and $$$ that you “can” focus exclusively on your audience.
Most people do it the other way around. They focus on building their audience. And neglect their market.
Because most of the internet marketing information out there doesn’t clarify this difference.
Most gurus talk about building your audience, or your building your tribe – and mention (if at all) only in the small print somewhere that those people have to WANT to buy from you and must have the CAPACITY & WILLINGNESS to pay you!!!
Your “marketing” content needs to be focused on
+ who you’re marketing to
+ what you’re marketing to them
And heck if you’re not clear about who your target market really is – you’re not going to be able to achieve that.
I see so many people sign up for course after course – to fine tune their copywriting skills, or hone their message, or build their brand – but if you do not understand your TARGET MARKET intimately – none of that will help!
If you’re in the early stages of business – yes, your target market will likely change over time. In fact, it should. You should refine it as you go along. And in turn, refine your message, your brand, your offerings and your marketing content.
But if you try to market to EVERYONE – you’re really going to end up marketing to no one.
So pick ONE target market. Start there. Experiment. Iterate. Learn. Refine. Consciously, systematically – not random jumping about like a headless chicken, chasing every shiny object – the way most people do ??
Oh, and if you want to learn more about all this marketing stuff – specially, how to do it without hustling 24×7 or resorting to icky, sleazy, triggering sales tactic, come join us for the FREE 3-part training Master Your Marketing Bootcamp. Click here to sign up!