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You are not your target market Part 1

By Becky McCray

You are not your target market. This simple sentence is powerful.

It is my best advice for recruiting volunteers. And on the plane ride home from BlogWorld, it inspired three more stories. Here’s the first one:
Breakfast fun with #bwetravel and #bwetourism with @artofbackpackin posing

Are you hanging around with peers, or customers?

Quit hanging around with your own people. Go find the customers.

I see many business owners or freelancers talking to their peers online and not talking to their target market.

For example, I hear photographers saying they are hanging around online photography forums. Unless other photographers are your target market, that’s not marketing. (It might be research or networking, but those are different goals.)

Think about (better yet, track) where you spend your time online. Are you talking mostly with peers? Do you spend your time talking with others who do the same thing? That time does not count as marketing. Redirect your marketing time to listening to and interacting with your target market.

How do you find your target market online? You ask them. Sounds simple, but few businesses actually do it.

See also:

You are not your target market Part 2: What you like doesn’t equate into what customers like.

You are not your target market Part 3: You know too much.

You are not your target market: How to get more volunteer participation.
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About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
  • Zoom Towns: attracting and supporting remote workers in rural small towns - December 10, 2020
  • In an economic crisis, spend your brainpower before your dollars - November 25, 2020
  • Video: How to fill empty car dealership buildings for the holidays - November 6, 2020
  • How has 2020 changed the challenges rural small towns face? Tell us here - October 20, 2020
  • The Idea Friendly Method to surviving a business crisis - October 6, 2020
  • Join me for the Rural Renewal Symposium online Oct 13 - September 26, 2020
  • Cheap placemaking idea: instant murals - September 11, 2020
  • Refilling the rural business pipeline - July 7, 2020
  • Huge vacant buildings: grants to renovate? - June 9, 2020
  • Economic self defense for small towns  - June 7, 2020

November 7, 2011 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, marketing, Small Biz 100 Tagged With: service businesses

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Comments

  1. Ricardo Bueno says

    November 8, 2011 at 3:34 am

    Funny, I was just having this conversation with someone today… Thinking back on Blogworld LA I mentioned how I find it silly that some people hang out with the same group of peers that they see all the time rather than taking this event as an opportunity to meet and connect with new faces.

    I find that such a shame.

    And yes, I can see this happening just as much in the online space. In my niche (real estate) it’s Agents connecting with other Agents. And though yes, that’s a form of networking, it’s not as effective as working to build relationships with consumers.

  2. Becky McCray says

    November 8, 2011 at 10:39 pm

    Ricardo, having made a lot of friends in the BlogWorld group, I understand why we want to talk to friends, rather than meet new people. It’s not easy, but I do work to balance the two.

  3. Courtney says

    November 10, 2011 at 1:32 pm

    Definitely something that I need to remember – to find the customers and build a relationship with them, instead of spending all my time networking. Thanks for the reminder!

  4. Becky McCray says

    November 10, 2011 at 2:30 pm

    Courtney, thanks for reading and commenting!

  5. Kelsey says

    November 15, 2011 at 11:29 pm

    Social media is a good place to get feedback from your actual customers.

Trackbacks

  1. You are not your target market Part 3 says:
    March 17, 2013 at 5:57 pm

    […] See also: You are not your target market Part 1: Quit hanging around with your own people. Go find the custome… […]

  2. How to get more volunteer participation says:
    March 17, 2013 at 6:28 pm

    […] You are not your target market Part 1: Quit hanging around with your own people. Go find the custome… […]

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