May 23, 1:06 pm
Marketing Your Business
Last night I attended a Treasure Valley Consultant’s Network presentation by Kathy Martin of Sanders Martin Consulting, LLC. In business for the past ten years as a marketing specialist, she laid out her “Eight M’s” of an effective promotion.
Kathy opened by saying, “The first question most people ask is ‘Where are the best places to advertise and get my marketing message out there?’”
Kathy made it very clear: This is the wrong first question.
Most important? Clearly identify a target market.
A common problem most small business owners and consultants make is thinking “everyone” is their target market. “Think of this as the ‘Raspberry Jam’ effect” she said. “The wider you spread the raspberry jam, the thinner it is.”
I love that word picture.
According to Kathy, the best answer for “Who is my target market?” is really the answer to another question: “What kind of clients/customers provide the best profitability for the least amount of time and effort?”
The real trick (according to Kathy) is getting to know who your clients are BEFORE you contact them. Know who the managers are. Find out about the organizational structure. Discover what kind of organizations they belong to … what kind of meetings they attend . . . what magazines, newsletters, and blogs to they read?
The idea is to know who they are and how they think before doing anything else.
Since many small businesses I know are perpetually fuzzy on the first M—identifying their target market—I’m going to leave the rest of the “M’s” off the table for now and encourage people to do the research Kathy suggests.
I suppose it could be thought of this way: Spend eight or ten hours doing homework on identifying a target market, or spend eight or ten days per month contacting businesses that will never buy your product or service.
Exaggerated comment? Maybe. But if it is, it’s probably not exaggerated by much.
What Kathy suggests ties directly into one of my twelve mantras: “Slower up front equals faster down the road.” In fact, I think it’s not a bad idea to analyze one’s market on regular basis.
Time to get started . . .
Filed in Work, Business, Management, Sales, Leadership, Selling, Advertising, Workplace
Thanks for mentioning my side-project, Treasure Valley Consultants’ Network. The content at this meeting you reported on and gave your own personal insight to is what folks can expect if they wish to join us. It’s a pleasure to have you as a member and any consultant, business owner, or business leader who would like to attend one of our functions is more than welcome. We have a very diverse and unique talent pool right here in the Boise area that’s worth meeting in person.
Justin,
Your brainchild is filling a much needed gap. I’d love to see groups like yours in cities all across the nation …. and the world. (Hmmmmm …. how can you take this and expand on it?)
Big benefits to those who participate.