Lessons From The Best Marketing Books of All Time

You feel the rush of the cool fall air blow thru the trees as you sit on the deck of your dream house, sipping freshly ground coffee with organic rich cream. Taking in the sights, sounds & smell of your dream, which has now become your reality, you wrestle between four topics for this week’s newsletter.

Each is a great topic and each will meet a need for your target audience. But remembering all the comments on Facebook the week before steers you toward this week’s focus. You begin writing… effortlessly.

Beating with the heart of your ideal client has made writing, marketing, growing and expanding your company a breeze. They move and live with you. Serving these customers is like second nature to you.

Or maybe not.

Do you wake up in the morning dreading what you never got done the night before? Weaving through stacks of unfinished notes you feel sick again and far from any form of inspiration?

Are you finding yourself getting jealous at the results that other people talk about on Facebook? Do you end up researching the day away with very little to show for your efforts?

If writing an email to your customer base of 509 people seems like more of a chore than even going to the dentist…… it could be that you have no clue who your ideal client is.

Would-be entrepreneurs often get excited about the possibility of growing a business, but later discover that excitement and dream boards don’t pay the bills. Positive thinking isn’t enough to keep the optimism and motivation high. Without knowing who it is you’re serving it could become a case of self-induced torture if you’re not careful.

So what can you do?

How do you find your ideal customer in the first place?

And honestly, why do so few Gurus ever discuss the topic?

Finding your ideal customer or client will be the fuel you need to create the best house list, write the perfect offer, come up with perfect prices and an irresistible message.

But who is YOUR ideal client?

Your first step is a search on Google. For example, if you are a business that offers a specialized product for saving money at the grocery story and cutting coupons, you’ll want to find out where people are who currently use coupons and savings tips.

But to take it a step further, let’s say you offer a software package that organizes all of your online coupons effortlessly, according to city, state, etc. You’ll want to go to websites that show people talking about how they hate cutting coupons but wish it was easier! (TIP- find the people wanting a solution!)

Research your topics, clients, customers and anything you can find. Find the problem people are frustrated by and fix it! Find your biggest competitors and become one of their customers.

Then onto more research about your ideal prospect-

What are the demographics – age, gender, income, marital status, location.

What are the psychographics – motivations, core emotions, frustrations, dreams, goal.

Guesswork doesn’t work here. You must read the data. Just because you ‘think you know’ your ideal prospect because you believe in your product or service doesn’t mean you actually do. Take the time to do the research. More than 75% or more of your marketing success will be tied to this data.

By knowing this critical information you won’t feel like you’re aiming into the air and hoping something sticks. You can speak directly to your client, as if you were enjoying a cup of coffee over a cafe table on the lake. Effortlessly.

If you’re marketing a weight loss or fitness product it’s not likely you’ll make millions by marketing to “anyone who wants to lose weight”. With a net that wide you’ll generate a ton of ‘leads’ before you ‘build a house list’. Sure, you’ll get some sales but you could also waste a lot of time and money. Rather, market to a group of people who want to lose weight. What do women in their childbearing years look for or crave when wanting to lose weight? This steers your writing quickly in the right direction.

As you serve these women who are losing weight rapidly with your program, “invite” them to make it a “team effort” with someone they love. Bring their spouse, boyfriend or maybe even a relative. This is one of the fastest ways to double the sales of your products, increase results and get even longer lasting weight loss as an ultimate goal. The more people gathered together moving towards a goal that you can create, the less likely you’ll have fallout. It’s a beautiful thing.

When I sold nutrition products, which was more than 2/3 of my entire career in direct sales and network marketing, I always drove my campaigns towards one specific prospect. Then expanded from there. This made it so much easier to steer my business in the direction I needed it to go.

Do you know who your ideal client is?

My favorite keyword research tool is “Spyfu”. Take the time to order the monthly version. You don’t need to keep paying month after month. Do your research, print out and save all of your data and be on your way. Be sure to check back every quarter ( or sooner) to see who your new competitors are and where the market is going.

Remember as well that some of your biggest competitors could be your best JV partners. If your ego is in the right place and you want to serve people with excellence, creating a joint venture relationship with a competitor could propel you forward very quickly. But be sure you’ve done your homework. Know the customer they serve (and you hope to acquire) or you won’t be taken seriously.

By Sandi Krakowski