We can take that existential question, “Who are we and what the heck are we doing here,” apply it to business, and call it marketing. What am I all about, and who would or should care?
File this entry into the “I already know that” bin. Isn’t that the case with a lot of the things we say we know? “Oh, I already know how important marketing is.” The only distinction is between those who know and those who put that knowledge to use consistently and effectively.
So even though I can sound like a coo-coo clock sometimes, I do it on purpose because there are certain areas of business that you must, must, MUST get right or else stay broke. One of those areas is marketing.
It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve heard it. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve looked at it.
You need to relook at it, tighten it, tighten it again, and tighten it some more. The more you can tighten that marketing down the better off you are. Sometimes you find out different things as you proceed.
So what does that mean, ‘your market’? Back to basics: your market is who is ‘most likely’—very important words—to buy your product or service.
One of the biggest mistakes most people make is trying to be all things to all people. And they end up being no-thing to no one. When I was doing private consultations for many years, I would say that was 80% of my clients’ biggest problems—trying to be too much to too many different people. That’s a hard way to do business.
Why? It’s far too expensive to try and reach masses. Your message is watered down dramatically and never lands. It’s really hard to focus in and stay tight. This is where self-awareness comes in handy. Our ego mind says more is better, but that’s not true.
Less is better! Tighter is better! More focused is better!
Our marketing methods are going to focus in on two arenas: Who it is that you’re selling to and what’s your product? What it is that you do specifically for those people? How are you perceived? Are you perceived as the specialist for a certain group? If you’re not, you’re fighting a very tough uphill and expensive battle.
The key is to be a big fish in a small pond. The idea is to identify your specific market, your primary or your best prospects. The more you can define the people who buy, the more you know about them, the better you can find them and the better you can serve them. Marketing is all about finding those people and letting them know how you are going to serve them.
So here’s one to internalize as sincerely and with as much energy as you can: ‘If you can’t define them you can’t find them.
Now it’s your turn! In this community, knowledge is power, so what’s your marketing experience? What are some important lessons learned or issues that you’ve come across? I’d love to hear from you!
Next week we’ll highlight some more important features of marketing.
We can take that existential question, “Who are we and what the heck are we doing here,” apply it to business, and call it marketing. What am I all about, and who would or should care?
File this entry into the “I already know that” bin. Isn’t that the case with a lot of the things we say we know? “Oh, I already know how important marketing is.” The only distinction is between those who know and those who put that knowledge to use consistently and effectively.
So even though I can sound like a coo-coo clock sometimes, I do it on purpose because there are certain areas of business that you must, must, MUST get right or else stay broke. One of those areas is marketing.
It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve heard it. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve looked at it.
You need to relook at it, tighten it, tighten it again, and tighten it some more. The more you can tighten that marketing down the better off you are. Sometimes you find out different things as you proceed.
So what does that mean, ‘your market’? Back to basics: your market is who is ‘most likely’—very important words—to buy your product or service.
One of the biggest mistakes most people make is trying to be all things to all people. And they end up being no-thing to no one. When I was doing private consultations for many years, I would say that was 80% of my clients’ biggest problems—trying to be too much to too many different people. That’s a hard way to do business.
Why? It’s far too expensive to try and reach masses. Your message is watered down dramatically and never lands. It’s really hard to focus in and stay tight. This is where self-awareness comes in handy. Our ego mind says more is better, but that’s not true.
Less is better! Tighter is better! More focused is better!
Our marketing methods are going to focus in on two arenas: Who it is that you’re selling to and what’s your product? What it is that you do specifically for those people? How are you perceived? Are you perceived as the specialist for a certain group? If you’re not, you’re fighting a very tough uphill and expensive battle.
The key is to be a big fish in a small pond. The idea is to identify your specific market, your primary or your best prospects. The more you can define the people who buy, the more you know about them, the better you can find them and the better you can serve them. Marketing is all about finding those people and letting them know how you are going to serve them.
So here’s one to internalize as sincerely and with as much energy as you can: ‘If you can’t define them you can’t find them.
Now it’s your turn! In this community, knowledge is power, so what’s your marketing experience? What are some important lessons learned or issues that you’ve come across? I’d love to hear from you!
Next week we’ll highlight some more important features of marketing.
I love this quote, Harv: ‘If you can’t define them you can’t find them.” So true.
As an expert who offers a unique energy healing process that transforms ANY of life's challenges — physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, work issues, health issues, money issues, relationship issues — you get the picture, it was hard for me to narrow my focus and concentrate on identifying my market.
I've been doing Resonance Repatterning for over 10 years and I've found that defining my market has been a personal growth experience because I've had to get clear about my own needs as a practitioner, who I enjoy working with and how I want to work with them.
This may seem selfish, but I've learned that if I'm not excited about my work, it's not very attractive to others. If I'm working in a way that supports and nourishes me, then I can give the best of myself to my clients. No one wants to have a healing session from someone who is burnt out!
Knowing who you are, what you have to offer and who you want to offer it to makes life more simple. You can keep your focus and ignore “shiny object opportunities” that take you off your path.
Great point! It really is important to narrow down your prospective client instead of trying to sell to everyone!
Great article Harv!
I've recently decided to take a new direction in my business based on what MY niche is.
Once I looked at the hard evidence of how I run my business currently (protocol, checklists, & templates oh my!), I realized that these very items are completely marketable to others who want to have my knowledge and insight without having to recreate the wheel for themselves.
With that 'little' discovery, I am now creating a machine that will generate money for me while I sleep! Hmmm… 'work less, make more $$'! I LOVE IT!!
By defining my new target market, I've discovered that narrowing my focus will actually increase my sales – globally!
And what's more – I feel peaceful, powerful, and totally alive, instead of slugging it out trying to be all things to all people!
harv, thanks so much, you asked what i do.. im indepent, and a indepent thinker. im a investor, i work in the trump org, ewi, with was emi, but i go back 20 years with bob and john childers, yes im a secret millionaire, im a public speeker and i writer, i have been seen in the chicago suntimes bussiness section and the wall street journel next to warren buffet and donald trump, harv thanks you do make dreams reality.. john miller
its hard to believe you werea writer with such poor grammer and typos in your writings!
Love this post – and so absolutely true. Unlesswe are clear on who we are communicating with and how to share with them how our product or service will satisfy a want or need, we won't have a chance at success.
Getting clients to focus on this is often very challenging, but the rewards are tremendous.
You need to be able to answer the question “why should I buy from you?” without saying the same thing your competitor will say.
Josh Bulloc
Kansas City, MO
Harv, You are so, so, right. That was one of the hardest lessons I had to learn the hard way. ” You can not be all things to all people” It took me a long time to figure this one out as I always thought that I could please everybody no matter what. Once I realized my error I was able to refine and hone in on my target market. This is like life or death in business. Figure this one out and you are way ahead of the pack.
Thanks Harv for all your wisdom, from a Quantum Leap graduate
Niche đựng rat la kho , nhung toi chan Chắc se tim được Thanks Harv .
I listened to Seth Godin at Ted's say the same thing… not being remarkable to everybody but being remarkable to those who care to listen. Well, marketing gurus are saying it, how can I go wrong with this? Thanks for the inspiring post.
These posts are great! “…what’s your marketing experience? What are some important lessons learned or issues that you’ve come across?” My marketing experience has come from my background using the products my business manufactures and distributes. I began a business this year “Organic Life Products” and we specialize in all natural health and beauty care products. We are different from our competition because we have our standard products, yet we customize lotions for our customers AND we will have workshops to teach our customers how to make them (in a generic way.) We are also about educating our customers on their specific needs for their skin to make the correct recommendations. Our main issue has been to make sure that we are not pigeonholed into one culture of people.
Niche has been stressed again and again by teachers and instructors over the past 2 years when I started to attend seminars like Guerrilla Business Intensive by Peak Potentials and some other internet marketing courses by Asian instructors.
Whether or not they teach the right way to find niche, it's almost become a must in every marketing seminar/program. But I'm glad I learned the ways that worked, taught by Harv and Alex Mandossian.
I just came across finding niche again in the recent Ultimate Internet Boot Camp and it's just got even clearer for me to learn to find my niche, correcting and continuing along the way, venturing into my first internet business!
Thanks Harv and Alex for teaching us to turn passions into profits in UIBC!
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“Who are we and what the heck are we doing here, Love this statement. I am selling something I believe in and it makes a difference.
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