Surefire Way To Never Have To Compete On Price Again!

“There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.” – Roger Staubach

With an 18 month old daughter... who is now very mobile... and a second child on the way, my wife and I decided it was time to fence in our yard for both their safety and our sanity. So we started to solicit estimates from a few vendors. Much to our dismay the prices for what appeared to be comparable fences varied by over $2000. Unfortunately for the vendors, there was little if any differentiation between them. They asked too few questions and made too few recommendations. They essentially positioned themselves to compete on price... in my opinion, the worst positioning a small business can take!

So as responsible and mindful consumers what did we do? While we didn't hire the lowest price vendor, we did however ask the one that gave us the best warm and fuzzy feeling to at least come close to the lowest price. We don't mind paying a few extra dollars for that warm and fuzzy feeling, even amongst the current state of the economy. And my guess is that many other consumers feel the same.

My suggestion... avoid this scenario for your business at all costs! Don't position yourself for a price war. Stand out!

How? It's simple... Be willing to do the little things that your competition is either unwilling or too lazy to do.

Why? Because it's the little things that make all the difference! It's the little things that show you actually care! It's the little things that justify your existence and your fees! It's the little things that get you hired!

We're not talking about breaking the bank here. If you put just a little creative thought into this, there are literally dozens of little things you could do to out-class the competition.  For example:

• Provide your prospect with a tips sheet on selecting the best vendor and/or solution.
• Educate your prospect on any unforeseeable hiccups they may experience in the buying process (e.g. special permits and variances they may need to move forward, other expenses, etc.).
• Provide price quotes from and/or public information about a few of your competitors to show how you clearly are the best choice. I don’t mean bad mouth your competition. Just stick to the facts and point out the differences between the companies that seem to matter to your target market most.

And to keep your existing clients happily paying your fees, you can model...

• The chiropractor who buys balloons and sings Happy Birthday to his patients.
• The cleaning company who leaves mints on your pillows and fun animal shapes out of a towel at the foot of your bed when their done cleaning your home.
• The landscaper that provides you with great time-saving and beautification tips for your yard.

Sounds so simple right? Yet so few small businesses do these little over and above gestures. These little gems are examples of great marketing!

I'd be willing to bet that most customers of these vendors won't be so concerned if their prices were a few dollars more.

The bottom line... Be remarkable amongst an unremarkable world! Do that and you most certainly won't be competing on price any longer.

© 2009 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then check out Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal' at http://www.MotivationalMarketer.com. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, marketing articles, compete on price, remarkable marketing, target market, small businesses, small business marketing

Can Your Web Site Pass the "Triple-I" Test?

Let’s just assume for a moment that you’re able to convince your target market to stop by your web site.

Would they find it cozy and inviting… cozy and inviting enough to want to stay for a moment? Would they find it valuable… valuable enough to stick around… valuable enough to take your desired action… valuable enough to come back periodically for more?

These are all very important questions that anyone who has a web site that expects any kind of positive result needs to regularly think about and continuously ensure. That’s why I put together a simple system that I call the “Triple-I” test to assist web site owners in giving their web site a regular “check-up” so to speak. Let’s begin…

The 1^st "I"… Inviting
It starts with the basics. First off, your web site needs to be welcoming and approachable. How? It needs to be clean, neat and organized. Ace the clutter. It needs to be easy for your target market to find their way around to get what they want. It has to use an inviting color palette that sits well with your target market. It has to load quickly and use a comfortable combination of text, imagery, and multimedia. And most importantly, it has to be consistent in look and feel with your overall brand.

Now this might seem like a lot of ducks to have in a row however, your web site visitor passes judgment on you in a split second. If they feel comfortable, they’ll stay a moment. If they’re not comfortable… gone! They’re gone as quickly as they can click their mouse.

The 2^nd "I"… Interesting
If your target market is comfortable enough to stay beyond that first split-second, you’ve got a matter of about 3 to 7 seconds to grab their interest. How? An attention-grabbing headline would be a great start. And now that you’ve piqued their interest, you have to give them reason to stick around. How? Stretch their comfort zone. Make your web site experiential. Make it interactive. Create a sense of community. Tap into multiple senses by using multimedia such as audio and video. Use your web site to educate. Use it to position yourself the way you want to be seen by your target market. The key components here are to establish credibility and value.

And lastly the 3^rd "I"… Initiative
Bottom line… your web site must cause your target market to do something. It must be able to capitalize on that comfort zone you’ve established. It must get them into the habit of doing the things you ask them to do. How? Tell them what action you want to take. Make it a simple, non-threatening action such as signing up for your complimentary electronic newsletter. Be specific though, don’t leave it to chance. Just make sure you under-promise and over-deliver this way they feel good about the experience they are having with you and will look to deepen their relationship with you.

So in closing… please note that you really want to get some outside, unbiased, honest feedback to really know how your web site stacks up. Yes, some solid web site statistics such as conversion ratios would be effective here also. However, be conscious of the softer-side of proof… the more intangible stuff that tends to play on the emotions of your target market. This in my opinion is where the real power of effectiveness lies.

So… does your current web site pass muster? Be honest now. The only person you would be fooling is yourself. If it did pass muster, go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back… you deserve it. Don’t fall asleep at the wheel though. Keep on doing what you’re doing and more.

Now if it didn’t pass muster or you’re just not sure, get some help. If you’re serious about your business, do yourself a favor and empower your web site to get you the results you need to succeed.

© 2008 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then check out Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal' at http://www.MotivationalMarketer.com. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, marketing articles, web site, target market, comfort zone

Marketing Conversion Strategy Series: A Common Sense Approach to Turning Prospects into Paying Customers

By Dean Mercado

"I have learned to imagine an invisible sign around each person's neck that says, 'Make me feel important!'" -- Mary Kay Ash (1918-2001) American businessperson, founder of Mary Kay Inc.

It’s one thing to attract an abundance of leads or prospects to your business, it’s quite another to be able to convert those prospects into paying customers. It takes some trial and error… it takes patience… it takes persistence… it takes practice… lots of it to really get good at it.

Fortunately for us, many of the core skills required for successful conversions can be classified as what some may deem as common sense. One such core skill is nurturing. Nurture your vegetable garden and it will grow. Nurture your children and they will flourish. Nurture your target market and they will buy. Your ability to nurture effectively starts with your clarity in understanding exactly what it is your target market both wants and needs to not only survive but thrive. One such want that we’ll discuss in this conversation is to feel important… to feel needed… to feel wanted… to feel special… to feel that they matter.

So let me ask you a point blank question. Does your marketing make your target market feel important? Try asking some of your existing customers whether or not your marketing had this effect on them. You just may be surprised with what you hear.

So how exactly do you go about making your target market feel important? Well here are three steps to doing just that:

First… in order to do this, you must clearly understand who you target market really is. Who are you really serving? Continue to drill down on the specifics of who your target market really is until you get a very clear picture in your head of someone who best represents the perfect customer… your perfect customer. This is who you target.

Second… you must know a bit about what makes them tick… study them… get to know them… hang around them… what’s important to them? What are their emotional triggers that you can pull to get them to buy? This will give you the ammunition you need to be able to connect with your target market on a deeper more genuine level.

Third… consistently communicate your clear understanding of what’s important to them in your marketing messages; Showing them that you’ve taken the time to really understand what’s important to them will go a long way. In their eyes, this puts you in a different class than much of the competition vying for their attention. And it’s that respect that will make them pay attention to YOU.

So in closing, understand your target market and pay them proper attention and they will respond. Don’t be afraid to show signs of kindness, compassion, and empathy as they will help fill that void in your target market to feel important. You know why? You know why you should do this? Because they deserve it! Don’t we all? We all deserve to feel important because we are! Practice that and I guarantee you will see results!

© 2008 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then check out Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal' at http://www.MotivationalMarketer.com. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

A Simple Way to Convert Prospects to Clients and Clients to Raving Fans

Would you like a way to add more value to your existing client base and in the meantime make more money from them? -- Or, how about a way to shrink your sales cycle by enticing them to start buying from you in the first place?

Well doing so may not be as difficult as it may seem as there are many ways do it. However, I’d like to share with you here one of my favorites -- and it is “Affiliate Marketing”!

Now for those of you who may be new to this concept, let me just briefly explain what it is. Essentially it is where a third party markets the products and/or services on behalf of a retailer in exchange for a commission on any sales they initiate.

So besides the obvious benefit of earning more money in your business, offering great affiliate products can do a number of things for you. For example:

• Offering great affiliate products can make you more valuable to your target market by giving you more products and services to offer at a variety of different price points. So if you want to convert your prospects to clients, entice them to buy now by offering them some lower-priced entry-level affiliate products. If you want to convert your clients to raving fans, offer them a solid back-end of affiliate products that will enhance their experience with you even further.

• Offering great affiliate products can strengthen your positioning with your target market by becoming “great by association”. In other words, if you represent another company or product that your target market already knows, likes, and/or trusts, then those positive feelings stand a good chance of transferring onto you.

• Offering great affiliate products can help increase your brand awareness with your target market by giving you more real reasons to connect and share what you’re about and how you can add value.

And we can go on and on and on here -- as the benefits are endless.

The whole idea is to find quality products and services that make sense for you to represent -- Try to stick with ones that have something to do with what you offer. For example, if you’re a Business Coach, offering baseball equipment is probably not a wise choice for you. However, offering a few books, written by others, that support your methodologies thus improving what’s possible for your clients is a fantastic idea.

One quick and easy way to get started is to become an affiliate of Amazon.com. Register as an Amazon Associate (their affiliate marketing program), drive traffic to their web site using specially formatted links that they provide, and get paid when the person you refer buys -- it’s that simple!

When you’re comfortable working as an affiliate marketer with Amazon, then I recommend stepping up your game and registering with a large retailer of digital products such as ClickBank.com. There is something for every affiliate marketer there. Much like Amazon.com, most of the tools you will need to market the products effectively are available to you from their web site.

As you continue to develop your skills in affiliate marketing, another more advanced approach you may want to consider is to reach out to the companies that have products or services that you would like to represent and ask if they have an affiliate program in place that you can participate in. And if they do, get involved. If they don’t, and they’re open to it, try to hammer out a deal to help them set one up in exchange for a more lucrative arrangement.

So in closing, affiliate marketing is a very powerful business builder that can be, and is, leveraged effectively by businesses of all types and sizes. Always remember though to choose which retailers, products, and services you want to represent very carefully as they will reflect in so many ways upon you. Used intelligently, they can certainly help convert your prospects to clients and your clients to raving fans.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, affiliate marketing, affiliate products, affiliate programs, affiliate services, target market, amazon.com, clickbank.com

The Core Skill That Drives Effective Marketing

"Communication is the most important skill in life." -- Stephen R. Covey

Well in my opinion, communication is the most important skill in business as well --especially when it comes to the one aspect of business that I’ll speak of here, marketing.

Effective communication will not only bridge the gap between you and your target market, but it will also magnetically draw them across that bridge toward you and then captivate them.

Effective communication should never be a one-way street where only one party is doing all the speaking -- then it’s not really a conversation is it? Which as marketers, we should always be looking to create and maintain conversations. Otherwise it’s more like a lecture where someone is speaking at you rather than with you.

Effective communication should ebb and flow like the tide -- with a sort of naturally magnetic push and pull to balance it. Too much push or pull and you risk creating repellent effects such as overwhelm from information overload, or making you appear too pushy. Too little push or pull and you risk appearing lifeless and dull or worse yet, non-existent. So a careful balance is critical.

Effective communication should flow gracefully like a dance. As the marketer you may choose to lead and make it real easy, lucrative, and fun for those you’re communicating with to follow.

Effective communication should establish a connection between both parties by first creating a clearing for it to happen and then continuously building rapport.

And we can go on and on and on here however the point I want to get to is that communication is marketing and marketing is communication. Every time you open your mouth, you are marketing. Every time you write an email, you are marketing. Every time you stop talking and start listening to someone in your target market, you are marketing. Your clothes, your posture, your grooming, you body language all communicate a lot about you -- they’re all forms of marketing. Are you starting to see both the correlation and importance here?

Now as I’ve started to allude to, communication can be broken down into 2 forms, verbal and non-verbal. Allow me to explain:

Verbal Communication

By verbal communication, I’m referring to any variation of either speaking or listening. Let’s briefly explore the two.

Speaking

Whether writing an email, delivering a live speech, recording a podcast, posting on your blog, writing an advertisement, or using some other vehicle to communicate, when speaking, keep it direct and easy to understand. And most of all don’t ever be embarrassed or afraid to ask for what you want. Don’t try to impress your target market with industry jargon and fancy words. Simply speak in a tongue that will resonate positively with them.

Listening

Truly in my book the most underrated form of marketing available today. Quite simply people love the sound of their own voice and are usually pretty generous in sharing privileged information if given the proper space and prodding. Let alone if they feel that you are genuinely interested. Wow, what’s possible then?!

Non-verbal Communication

By non-verbal communication, I’m referring to the other, more intangible and often overlooked form of communication such as your appearance, your body language, your choice of fonts, the look and feel of your web site, even as far as the vibration and energy you convey. You may be surprised how often times your non-verbal communication speaks louder than your verbal communication. This is the kind of stuff that can boggle the mind with poor results from your marketing if you’re not paying attention to it.

Effective communication is making sure that both the verbal and non-verbal portions are in sync -- mixed messages tend to cause confusion and distrust -- two qualities that repel rather than attract.

And yes, whether you’re using verbal or non-verbal communication, you are marketing.

So in closing, your ability to communicate effectively will be in direct proportion to your success and happiness in all areas of your life. Now I’ve just scratched the surface and drew some correlations for you here. So if I could impart just one thought unto you, let it be to make one of your life’s endeavors to continually practice, nurture, and enhance your communication skills.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, marketing, communication, verbal communication, non-verbal communication, target market

6 Ways To Help Turn New Contacts Into Sales

You attend local networking events meeting people and exchanging business cards; you participate in lead exchange groups like BNI in hopes of getting referrals; you create profiles on popular social networking sites like Ryze, LinkedIn, and MySpace; yet you’re still wondering why all this networking isn’t translating into increased sales.

Well while many business professionals work very hard to gather new contacts, the area where I see so many of them break down is in their ability to nurture those new contacts into long-term relationships. Relationships that can eventually turn into the increased sales that most of them are looking for.

So how do you go about nurturing those new contacts?

Well here are 6 ways that can help you take your professional relationships to a deeper, more prosperous level for all:

1. As humans, we’re never too old to enjoy positive attention. So if you stumble upon someone you know being quoted, discussed, or acknowledged publicly either in the media or by other professionals in their absence, give them a call or send them an email to let them know and congratulate them.
2. Acknowledge them on holidays, birthdays, and other cultural or religious special days. For example, in Greece, a person’s name day is highly celebrated -- so familiarizing yourself with what’s important to your contacts, and reaching out to them on those special days can go a long way in building a solid bond.
3. If you witness them doing something great or selfless, let them know how their actions touched, moved, or inspired you.
4. Always be on the lookout for opportunities to connect people. Someone’s looking for an electrician, refer one. Someone’s target market is Dentist’s and you know a few, introduce them. Someone’s looking to join a networking group, connect them with someone who runs one. Two people that you’ve met separately at the same networking event share a common interest, become the conduit and introduce them. My point is, helping others connect typically doesn’t go unnoticed, and is a win-win for all.
5. Forward along timely, useful, and/or entertaining information. Stumble across a great article on golf, send a copy to those you know who are golf enthusiasts. Read a great book on sales that has helped your business grow, recommend it to others who may also benefit from its wisdom. Don’t be stingy here, share the gift of knowledge whenever possible.
6. Inform them of events that may be of interest. Now when I say events, I mean any professional networking, entertainment, or educational events. Some examples might be, if you have a contact who is struggling with their finances and you know of a financial guru giving a free teleseminar, let your contact know about it. If you’re attending an event that you expect to be excellent for networking with real estate experts, and you happen to have a contact that serves that target market, invite them along. In other words, always be in the know of what events are happening around you and always ask yourself who else do I know that may be interested in this event?

Now in order to successfully carry-out these 6 ways I’ve shared with you here, there’s one key skill that you’ll need to employ and continually develop, and that is to be a great listener. No I’m not talking about the type of passive listening that many of us engage in most of the time. I’m talking about active listening -- The type of listening where you are actually paying attention well enough to learn what’s really important to the person you’re speaking with. It’s through the skill of effective listening where you’ll harvest the seeds necessary to ensure healthy relationships down the road.

So in closing, always remember that people buy from people they know, like, and trust. So it behooves you to continuously look for ways to nurture your professional relationships. Do that effectively and watch their value, and your success, soar.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, networking, target market, BNI, referrals, social networking, Ryze, LinkedIn, MySpace

A Simple Metric to Gauge Your Web Site’s Popularity

So tell me… how exactly do you know whether or not your web site is working for you? Is it making you money? Is it increasing your visibility with your target market? Is it broadening your reach within your target market? And what about your credibility, is it establishing and continually reaffirming it with your target market?

For most types of businesses, unless your web site serves as an e-commerce site directly selling your products and services to your customers, it is very difficult to establish and track whether or not your web site is actually making you money.

However with minimal effort, you can easily track and measure whether your web site is increasing your visibility, broadening your reach, and establishing your credibility with your target market… three very important reasons for marketing… with one simple metric. Here’s how it works.

From your Internet browser go to the popular search engine Google’s web site www.google.com and type in the search box the word “links”, a colon, a space, and then your web site’s domain name minus the typical “http://www.” part. So for example, for my web site, I would type: “links: OnlineMarketingMuscle.com” and hit either the “Enter” key or click the “Google Search” button.

The result that Google will return is any and all Internet URLs that it knows about that have linked to my web site. And in the eyes of the search engines, typically the more links the better. Yes, the quality of who’s linking to you does factor in to how you’re perceived by the search engines as well, but that’s a conversation for another day. So unless a large majority of your inbound links are coming from offensive, less than desirable sites, it’s hard to argue with the power of sheer volume -- it speaks volumes about your popularity across the web.

Now to take the usefulness of that data up a notch, run this metric once a month and record the results in a spreadsheet. Then from the spreadsheet you can easily produce a graph showing your increasing web popularity over time.

That’s it… it’s that simple.

So in closing, it’s nearly impossible to know whether or not your web site is working for you if you don’t maintain and analyze some sort of metrics. The one we’ve discussed here is just one in a series of simple, yet critical ones that everyone using the web as a marketing medium should have in their arsenal. The key here though, is not just collecting the data but how you leverage that data to enable you to make better marketing and business decisions.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercdo, Online Marketing Muscle, metrics, web site, target market, marketing, search engines, Google

15 Creative Ways to Make Your Business Card Sizzle

In my opinion, probably the most important and misused marketing collateral that small businesses have is their business card. Now I network an awful lot and tend to gather my fair share of business cards and I have to say, I’m often at a loss how people put such little thought and effort into constructing what very likely will become the lasting image that they leave me with. That being said, if you’re willing, with a little effort, you can use your expertly-crafted business card to easily stand out from the pack.

Let’s try a little exercise. Grab a handful of business cards that you’ve received from people you’ve met and spread them out on a table, face-up so that you can easily see all of them. Now take your eyes off the business cards for a minute and then look back at them. Select the top 5 business cards that for whatever reason just seem to catch your eye. Then analyze those business cards. What about them grabbed your attention and why? The idea here is to learn what works and what doesn’t work in terms of having an immediate WOW impact.

Now once you’ve grabbed their attention, at a bare minimum, I highly recommend that your business card contain the following staples: your name, business name, business address, phone number, email address, and web site address.

Now in my book, these should be a no-brainer. However, I can’t tell you how many times I get a business card from someone without one or more of them.

Another possibility for the above list of staples could be your “title”. However, I’m not crazy about titles and often they are more limiting than anything else. So unless they serve a dual purpose of maybe say communicating what you do, such as “Business Coach” or “Certified Financial Planner”, I’d leave it out and use the real estate for something more valuable.

Now are you ready to step up your game? Well alright -- here are 15 of my favorite tips that can make your business card really sizzle:

1. Use Both Sides of Your Business Card

I don’t know about you but the majority of the business cards I see very rarely take advantage of this precious real estate. Why? I couldn’t tell you. Just remember to leave a little white space if possible for the receiver of your business card in case they want to jot down a few notes about you.

2. Add Your Photo

Take it from a guy who networks a lot; don’t waste any opportunity to be remembered. A photo on a business card definitely makes your marketing work overtime for you and in my book should become a staple. Three of the most important benefits of doing this are one, that it’s personal, two, it establishes a comfort level with you, and three, it makes you easily recognizable.

3. State What You Do

Don’t make me guess. This is typically the kind of note someone will jot down on the back of you business card unless of course you make it easy for them and include it.

4. State Who You Do It For

Again make it easy for me to either hire or refer you.

5. State a Key Competitive Advantage -- Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Why buy from you? Give me a reason. What makes your product or service special? Include this little tidbit on your business card so your target market won’t soon forget.

6. Have a Call to Action

Clearly spell out for me what action you’d like me to take next (e.g. sign up for your newsletter, visit your blog, etc.)

7. Use an Odd Size or Shape for Your Business Card

Some possibilities may be a larger business card size, rounded edges, a specific and relevant shape like a flower if you’re a florist, etc.

8. Magnetize the Back of Your Business Card

People seem to have a hard time throwing away business cards if they are magnetized. As a matter of fact it’s pretty common that they’ll stick them on something like a file cabinet or a refrigerator.

9. Include Tips Related To Your Business

How about a list of 5 things to look for when hiring someone who does what you do? And obviously you can slant this towards your competitive advantages.

10. Include a Calendar on the Back-side of Your Business Card

This technique is one that can keep people referring back to your business card as often as possible.

11. Include Important Dates Hinting When Someone Should Think of You

If you’re an accountant serving small businesses, maybe you include important tax dates that they need to remember. If you’re a landscaper maybe you provide dates on when they should call you for specific services like mulching in the spring, pruning in the fall and so on.

12. Make It Serve Double-Time As A Frequent Rewards Card

Stamp it every time they buy something from you and after a certain number of purchases, give them something of value for free.

13. Make It Serve Double-Time As A Coupon to Use during Their Next Visit

Just leave a spot where you can handwrite an expiration date to cause some sort of urgency to purchase again soon.

14. Make It Serve Double-Time As an Appointment Scheduler

Just leave spots where you can handwrite the time and date of your next appointment.

15. Include Other Web Site URLs Where They Can Connect with You Further

For example your blog; your pages on Social Networking web sites such as MySpace, LinkedIn, or Ryze; Squidoo pages; etc.

So in closing, don’t miss this golden opportunity to have your business card work overtime for you. Implement one, two, or all of these techniques if they make sense of course and watch your business connections bear bigger and better fruits.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, business cards, target market, blog, social networking, web sites, MySpace, LinkedIn, Ryze, Squidoo

5 Ways to Leverage Your Voice to Market Yourself and Your Small Business

Have the gift of gab? Well lucky you because in the world of marketing, the gift of gab can be a huge asset for your small business -- that is so long as you leverage it properly.

To plant some seeds on how you can do this, here are 5 of my favorite ways to leverage your voice to market yourself and your small business:

1. Public Speaking

There are not many ways that will unequivocally set you apart from the pack as well as public speaking does. It immediately lends credibility and positions you in the mind of your target market as the obvious expert in your field.

2. Teleseminars and Webinars

If either the face-to-face of public speaking is too uncomfortable for you, or if you just want to supplement you public speaking efforts, conducting teleseminars and webinars may be the way the go. These are best used in marketing to inexpensively leverage your voice talents to both educate and allow prospects to test drive what you bring to the table for them.

3. Podcasting

Using audio to educate your target market on a regular basis via podcasts is a fantastic way to build credibility and top-of-mind awareness with your target market. Podcasting holds a certain attraction for its rather large community of enthusiasts -- almost cult-like in terms of their passion for it. And that passion can potentially be leveraged into major success for you.

4. Radio

Becoming a guest expert on business radio talk shows both on traditional radio stations as well as Internet-based ones can have a huge impact on exploding your business quickly. If you are finding it difficult getting on radio shows as an expert, start building relationships with the show hosts by calling in regularly as a listener in an attempt to add value to the show.

5. Networking

This is the forum for flexing you gab muscles. Whether it’s in person at networking events, seminars, or trade shows, or online in forums or social networking sites such as MySpace, Ryze, or LinkedIn, your ability to chat it up with your target market will definitely set you apart from the competition.

So in closing, if you happen to have the gift of gab, go with it. Continually nurture and leverage it so it can serve as a means to get you where you want to go. Typically, the marketing strategies and tactics that are based on this gift are inexpensive yet extremely effective.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, small business, public speaking, target market, teleseminars, webinars, podcasting, podcasts, business radio talk shows, radio, networking, networking events, seminars, trade shows, online forums, social networking, MySpace, Ryze, LinkedIn, marketing strategies, marketing tactics

9 Characteristics of a "Sticky" Web Site That Keeps Your Visitors Coming Back For More

It’s one thing to drive traffic to your web site once, it’s quite another to get those visitors to come back… let alone come back often.

Think about it, you get invited to a friend’s house for a little get together. How would you feel if all they did was talk about themselves all night? Probably pretty bored and maybe even a tad bit annoyed… right? Let alone be motivated enough to attend their next gathering. So why is it then that so many web sites out there do precisely that? They focus on me, me, me and not enough on the people who really matter… their target market.

And here’s a little secret for you. Your target market doesn’t care that much about you to sit their and listen to you go on and on about yourself. Their main concern is themselves and what you can do for them.

So let me ask you, is your web site all about you or is it all about adding value to your target market? Does your web site pass the “stickiness” test? In other words, do your visitors keep coming back? If so why? These are all serious questions that any small business with a web site needs to answer.

In order to answer questions like these, it’s important for us to discover what exactly makes a web site sticky in the first place. Well a great way to explore this concept is with an ad-hoc case study. So for me, I sat down with a pen and paper and just brainstormed a few different web sites that I frequented often. Who were they? And why did I keep going back? Let’s take a look at one of those web sites, Amazon.com. First off, I realized that I visit that site quite often, usually several times a week. Now the big question was why. So here’s what I came up with… 9 characteristics that made their web site sticky for me and kept me, the visitor, coming back for more:

1. They feed my insatiable appetite for what they offer… books… and they’ve got a phenomenal selection
2. They fuel my desire to consume more books by emailing me occasionally new recommendations based on my purchasing history
3. They make it easy for me to find out what’s new in the subjects as well as authors I’m interested in
4. I can express my opinions by both rating and reviewing books on their web site
5. They peak my curiosity by making me wonder what books they’re going to recommend for me each time I visit their web site
6. They personalize my experience by using my name on their web site and customizing the home page I see based on my preferences
7. They create a sense of community by allowing me to connect with other like-minded people as “friends”
8. They feed my ego by allowing me to position myself as an expert in any subject matter I choose by creating “Listmania!” lists and “So you’d like to…” guides
9. And lastly, they allow me to help others make great decisions by rating and reviewing books, creating “Listmania!” lists and writing those “So you’d like to…” guides

Now just to place some perspective on this exercise, I do understand that Amazon.com has a bit more money to spend on their web site than your typical small business; however there is still a lot we can learn from great web sites such as theirs. And not all of the greatness that their web site brings to the table cost big bucks. So take a closer look and see if there are any concepts you can learn from and model on your web site.

Also it’s important to consider what your target market would want from your web site. Maybe it’s all 9 of the characteristics I’ve shared… maybe it’s additional characteristics that didn’t show up in my ad-hoc Amazon.com case study. The best way to find out is to just ask your target market. Additionally, find out what web sites they frequent and why. You may be surprised at what you find out.

So in closing, I sincerely believe you will find that the more you continually look for ways to make your visitor’s experience a dynamic one, the more likely they will come back… over and over again. And the more they come back, the more likely they are to buy.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, web sites, target market, amazon.com, amazon, books

2 Types of Marketing Strategies Every Small Business Must Have To Not Only Survive but Thrive

Let’s face it. There are an endless number of marketing strategies and tactics that a small business can employ. And when you factor in all the different combinations of these, the task at hand of choosing which ones to use can be both daunting and overwhelming. Do I join a networking group? Should we advertise in the local newspaper? Should we participate in a trade show? Do we need a web site? All these choices can confuse you if you let them and simply put, a confused mind typically does nothing, it tends to lock up, and worse yet it typically doesn’t take the actions necessary to grow -- actions such as marketing your small business.

So what I’ve done for you here is identify 2 types of marketing strategies that every small business must have to not only survive but thrive. So here goes:

1. A “Lead Generation” Type of Strategy

This type of marketing strategy at a minimum brings awareness to your target market of who you are, what you do, and why they should listen to you. It should help you generate interest amongst your target market in what you bring to the table -- enough interest where they inquire about your products and services -- they become a prospect for you.

Some examples of “Lead Generation” strategies and tactics are:

• Advertising in trade magazines
• Submitting articles to online article directories
• Joint venture arrangements with others who serve your target market
• Endorsements from others who have an influence over your target market
• Referrals from others who have an influence over your target market
• Ethical bribes -- in other words offering something of value for free in exchange for contact information
• Public speaking to position yourself as an authority in your field
• Trade shows
• Networking events to meet and greet your target market

And we can go on an on and on here. However as you are probably starting to see your choices are endless so where do you start? Well how about choosing one or two that resonate immediately with you and work those for a while. If they seem to be working, continue, if not try a different one. In other words do more of what’s working and less of what’s not. The point is get into action!

2. A “Keep-In-Touch” Type of Strategy

Once you’ve acquired leads using any combination of “Lead Generation” strategies and tactics, it’s critical that you find ways to stay in front of them -- stay in front of them long and effectively enough to persuade them to respond positively to your call to action -- eventually becoming paying clients.

Some examples of “Keep-In-Touch” strategies and tactics are:

• Sending out a weekly newsletter
• Participating in online forums and social networks
• Making phone calls to share something your prospects may deem valuable
• Attending regular networking events to reconnect with prospects
• Emailing prospects an article that they may find useful
• Send holiday and birthday greeting cards
• Refer business to your prospects
• Invite prospects to events
• Be a connector by introducing one prospect to another that you feel they should know

And once again, we can go on an on and on here.

So in closing, keep it simple. Choose one or two from each type of marketing strategy and work them diligently. Yes you will definitely find that some are better than others for you however, I firmly believe that any one of them, if diligently applied, will bear fruit -- you just need to take massive action.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, marketing, marketing strategy, marketing strategies, small business marketing strategies, small business marketing strategy, target market, lead generation, advertising, joint venture partnerships, endorsements, referrals, public speaking, trade shows, networking, newsletter, social networks, greeting cards

Want to Play A Bigger and Better Game With Your Business? It’s Simple… Step Up Your Marketing!

"The future depends entirely on what each of us does every day." -- Gloria Steinem (American journalist, founder of Ms. Magazine)

You want to earn more money in your business? Step up your marketing!

You want to attract not only more, but better clients? Step up your marketing!

You want to be the person your target market calls when they need what you do? Step up your marketing!

My point is whatever your motivation is for success in your business, stepping up your marketing is critical to making it happen!

So let me ask you. Are you bringing you’re “A” game every day? If so, awesome! Just continue to do more of what’s working and less of what’s not.

If you’re not bringing you’re “A” game every day, why aren’t you? What’s holding you back? Is whatever holding you back real or perceived? I firmly believe that where there’s a will there’s a way -- so do you have the will to succeed? Or, does the notion of success scare the pants off you? As crazy as that sounds, the fear of success is quite common.

I don’t want you to beat yourself up though if you haven’t been bringing your “A” game in the past -- that’s not my point. It’s what you do right now, today that counts. Remember what you do today, dictates your results tomorrow.

Author Robert Ringer says it well in the title of one of his books, “Action!: Nothing Happens Until Something Moves.” -- That kind of sums it all up.

You could have the greatest marketing plan in the world however unless you implement it, it’s useless!

The secret here is simply that you have to want success… want it so badly that you can taste it! And, be willing to do whatever it takes each day to make it happen. Marketing is never a set it and forget it type of activity. You may have heard the saying that what you focus on expands. Well that goes for growing your business as well. When you market your business, you’re providing the necessary focus to expand what’s possible for it.

Here’s another secret. Successful entrepreneurs are either typically great marketers themselves or, have great marketers on their team.

Reason why… Whether you realize it or not, you’re in 2 businesses… The business of PROVIDING your products and services AND the business of MARKETING them!

And here’s yet another secret. You're better off being a great marketer and being just good at what you do than being great at what you do and being just a good marketer.

So in closing, I’d like to leave you with a very simple yet powerful concept. The fitness of your business depends highly upon your commitment, willingness, and diligence in marketing it… period!

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, marketing, small business success, success, target market

Secrets of the Internet Marketing Experts Series: 2 Keys to Higher Organic Search Engine Rankings

By Dean Mercado

I believe it’s safe to say that regardless of the type of web site you own, drawing the continual attention and favor of the major search engines is very important to your effectiveness on the Internet.

And since it’s never wise for a businessperson to leave their fate in someone else’s hands, it’s imperative that you continually take strides to improve yours.

Think of the Internet as a treadmill running at high speed, stand still and you will actually move backwards as your competitors who are willing to run, pass you by. To play the search engine marketing game, you need to keep your feet moving forward… not just enough to stay in the same place, but fast enough to keep you competitive by propelling you forward ahead of the pack.

That being said, it’s important to understand the motivation behind how the search engines work. Essentially, search engines are judged by you, the user, by their ability to bring you the best matches to whatever it is you’re searching for online -- their inability to do this effectively not only hurts their bottom line but also hurts the usability of the Internet in general.

So it makes a lot of sense that the search engines would take great care in ensuring they are doing the best job they possibly can to help you find what you’re looking for.

I have to say, they certainly have their work cut out for them though. There are tons of very smart people out there continually looking for and exploiting any and all loopholes in an attempt to slant the playing field in their favor. The search engines have essentially assumed the role of policing this activity in order to give all web sites an equal chance at achieving higher rankings. This is why top search engines like Google change their algorithms constantly -- if someone does manage to find and exploit a loophole, it won’t be available for very long. So unless you’ve got nothing better to do, trying to cheat the system is just not cost effective -- I highly recommend that you stick to the tried and true tactics.

What I’m about to share with you, are what I and many other Internet marketing experts consider the 2 most important keys to organically improving your search engine raking. Now are these the only things that the search engines take into consideration when ranking your site? -- Absolutely not! However, these two appear to be the main ones whose importance hasn’t waned over time. So here goes:

1. Fresh, Unique, Relevant Content

Ahh… how the search engines love this… that’s one reason they are so enamored with blogs… because blog content tends to be unique, focused on a specific topic, and updated frequently.

So whether though the posting of your e-zine issues to your web site, posting one-of-a-kind relevant articles, or hosting a discussion forum, just to name a few different things you can do, get into the rhythm and habit of adding in-demand content regularly – I’d recommend at least weekly.

2. Lots of One-Way, Incoming Links from Other High Ranked Sites

This is essentially social proof to the search engines that your web site is important -- and as we stated earlier, this is exactly what the search engines want -- they want to bring their target market the best matches available on the Internet.

Now for the most part, the more web sites that are linked to you, the better! Want to take it up a notch? Don’t just go for quantity, go for quality as well -- Get linked to by other relevant web sites. Want to take it up another notch? Get linked to by web sites that are ranked higher than you. Want to take it even further, have those web sites linking to you use keywords from your destination page as anchor text to represent your link… cool stuff here!

It also important to note that while one-way inbound links appear to be the best kind… this doesn’t mean not to do reciprocal links with other relevant sites… those are good too… they just may not be weighed as heavily as the one-way inbound ones.

So in closing, I’d like to leave you with the notion that if you want to get the most value out of your web site, it’s imperative that you put into place, and take consistent action on, both content and linking tactics for your web site immediately.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, web sites, blogs, search engines, target market

The 3 Things Needed To Turn a Good Web Site, into a Great Web Site

Alright so you have what you think is a good web site. Now what? What do you need to do to not only get it to earn its keep, but turn it from good to great?

Well, in order to have an effective web site of any sort, there are essentially 3 things that have to happen:

1. Your target market needs to know that both you and your web site exist in the first place. So let me ask you, do the people, who you need to know, that you exist, know that you exist? Additionally, what actions are you taking to build awareness?
2. Knowing is not enough, you need to persuade them to visit and in most cases, visit often. So what actions are you taking to do that? What’s in it for them?
3. So now they see the value your web site offers them and they finally do stop by, now what? Well you need to convince them to carry out your intended call to action… whether that is to sign up for your newsletter, comment on your blog, or to buy whatever it is you’re selling. Your ability to get your target market to take your desired action is the bottom-line determining factor of a great web site.

So in closing, you need to be aware that owning a web site is not a set-it and forget-it sort of activity. Without continually implementing the 3 things I just mentioned, your web site, any web site will simply become a money drain.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.


Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my
blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including
links).

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter, the 'Marketing Minute' -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, target market, web site, blog, newsletter, call to action

In Regards to Marketing… let Freedom Ring!

“Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed -- else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.” -- Dwight D. Eisenhower (34^th President of the United States from 1953-1961)

Every 4^th of July, with barbeques blazing and skyrockets soaring, here in the states, we sure know how to celebrate our freedom. And fortunately for us, the extent of our freedom goes way beyond that very special day. As Americans, our civil liberties grant us the right to be, do, or have whatever we want, so long as we abide by our laws and no one gets hurt in the process.

Our limits become only the ones we set upon ourselves -- both personally and professionally. So in essence, freedom is not enough; it’s how we exercise our freedoms that make us truly free.

Let me explain.

Whether you are either an independent professional or a small business owner, your freedoms of speech and self-expression allow you to promote and “brand” yourself and your business pretty much however and whenever you choose.

Essentially, you’re the artist. You paint the picture you want your target market to see. Then you show it to them whenever you want.

Now unless you’re playing out a specific game, withholding that picture from those who could clearly benefit from it is simply negligence -- that is, once again, so long as you don’t have a specific reason for doing so.

As a marketing coach and consultant, it amazes me how often I see businesses for whatever reason being stingy with their marketing, yet complaining that business is slow. I’ve heard 1001 excuses why they couldn’t market themselves… “I have no money”… “No time”… “I don’t know how”… etc. etc. etc. I’m sorry but with today’s resources available, especially with the availability of the Internet, there just is no excuse.

I firmly believe that it’s our duty as businesspeople to consistently educate our target market on what we make possible for them through our products and services -- our marketing is simply a vehicle for communicating that.

As a free market society, it’s sometimes easy to forget just how good we’ve got it. Imagine a world where you weren’t free to market your business. How would your target market find you? How would they know to even look for you in the first place? How long do you honestly think your business would last? -- Probably not very long.

Well lack of marketing will most certainly bring the very same result. But what’s worse is you having a choice of either success or failure and choosing failure by opting to not market yourself effectively.

In our free market society, your marketing becomes the sustenance needed to make your business not only survive, but thrive. Stop nurturing your business by not marketing, and it will most certainly wither and die.

In a nutshell, effective marketing builds strong roots, and strong roots bear healthy fruits.

So in closing, I’d like to leave you with some questions to ponder. Are you fully leveraging the freedoms available to you and effectively marketing your business? If so, how and how often? Do you have a marketing plan? If so, does it position you to fully leverage the freedoms bestowed upon you?

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter, the 'Marketing Minute' -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: marketing articles, Dean Mercado, target market, marketing plans, marketing planning, marketing coach, marketing consultant, small business marketing

5 Factors To Look For When Choosing The Perfect Target Market

As a marketing coach and consultant, one of the biggest and costliest mistakes that I see small businesses make time and time again is that they’re neck deep in their business and they still haven’t clearly defined their target market. They continue to try to be everything to everyone -- that’s just not realistic -- and unfortunately, that usually ends in them being nothing to no one.

As one of my marketing mentors, Dan Kennedy says it, it’s critical that you “find your herd”. Your “herd”, or your “who” as I call it, being your ideal target market -- your perfect prospects and clients so to speak.

It’s critical that you understand that that your “who” is more important than your “what”. In other words, it’s more important to be clear on who you’re serving than what you’re serving them with. The “what” will most definitely change in one way, shape, or form over time as you target market’s wants and needs change.

So how does one go about choosing the ideal target market for their business?

Well here are my 5 factors to look for when choosing the perfect target market.

1. They’re Hungry!
Your target market should already want or need what you offer and the more insatiable the appetite, the better!

The key word here is “already”. If they don’t already want nor need what you offer, it will ultimately cost you much more in marketing dollars to educate them on what it is you do offer and why they should buy it now.

2. They’ve Got Cash!
Simply put, it doesn’t matter how hungry your target market is. If they can’t afford to buy what you’re selling, they may not be a good target market for you – you simply can’t draw blood from a stone.

However, there’s always the possibility of finding someone else who can afford you on their behalf. In other words, look for others who have the cash that would stand to benefit from your shared target market having access to what you offer and market your idea to them.

3. They’re Easily Reachable!
The harder it is to get in front of your target market, the more expensive it gets -- and for small businesses, that typically spells disaster. Unfortunately or fortunately, small businesses just don’t have that bottomless pocket full of cash to spend on marketing themselves -- this forces them to be smarter and more creative marketers.

Bottom line here is you don’t want to make your job any harder, or more expensive, than it has to be, so pick a target market that you can get to easily.

4. There Are Enough of Them Around!
A proper target market has to be large enough for you to not only survive, but thrive. Chances are that if there are only a handful of prospects interested in what you offer, unless your product is extremely consumable, it may be difficult to sustain your business -- let alone grow it.

Bottom line; pick a target market that’s sizable enough for you to serve and relentlessly go after its sweet spot.

5. You Like Them!
You know, some people may think this one is silly, however I’m a firm believer that if you generally like those you serve, you’ll serve them better. And the better you serve them, the better you chances of increasing your market share.

Bottom line here is that life is too short to spend your most precious commodity, your time, with people you don’t like. So why do it? Even if the money is good, chances are that eventually you’ll feel unfulfilled -- so play with people you want to play with.

So in closing, don’t make your job any harder than it needs to be. Clearly choose and define your target market, right from the get go. Take the time to find out everything you can about them -- know their demographic and psychographic profiles -- Be able to answer such questions as: What are their interests? Where do they hang out? And what makes them tick? An understanding of the answers to these very simple yet profound questions can make or break your business.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter, the 'Marketing Minute' -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, target market, marketing plans, marketing planning, marketing coach, marketing consultant, small business marketing