The best home business professionals have one thing in common and that is that they know how to promote their business. Regardless of the product or service you sell, if you learn a few simple steps, you too will have great success.
It all starts with how to market your small home-based business – it only takes three simple steps. You need to send the right message, to the right market, using the right medium.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can slack off on any of these three steps, even if you’re trying to earn extra money from home part-time. You could have the best message in the world, but if you didn’t deliver it to the right market with the right media, you’re sunk!
Think about it: If you had great copy of a product that would allow any golfer to drive 300 yards, if you put it in a scrapbooking magazine, you’d probably only reach a VERY small portion of your audience. – If any! This is a classic example of pitching to the wrong market (small potential audience for your local business work) and media (again, small potential audience).
The first step is to understand your market. Who are they, what do they want out of life, what are their hopes, dreams and fears? Where do they shop, what kind of car do they drive, what sports do they play, what is their socioeconomic situation? The more information you can imagine and research about your market, the more likely it is that you can create copy that makes them want to buy what you’re selling.
Second, you must craft a message. Your message should address what you KNOW your market wants, but doesn’t currently have. If your golfer wants to hit his drive 300 yards every time, at this point he’s probably hooking or cutting it 200 yards and embarrassed that he ends up on the wrong fairway. He’s tired of looking for loose balls and wants to “drive like a ‘macho’ man!” Your message should uncover your current “pain” and then show a way your product will provide the solution. Finally, your message must provide the security of some kind of guarantee.
Third, you need the right media. You probably don’t want to use Ladies’ House Journal as the means to deliver the message to your “manly” golfer. probably read golf summary and I wouldn’t be caught dead looking Ladies’ House Journal. You probably read the sports pages in the newspaper. You probably watch golf on ESPN. Yes, some of the media I just mentioned would be expensive, but there are great ways to use social media and blogging to reach people in that target market.
Whatever your main home-based business you’re trying to sell, you’d use the same three-step method every time. At home business professionals take the time to really work on their promotions because if you have weak promotions, your sales probably aren’t doing anything close to what you projected. But if your small home-based business has Ferocious Promotions, you’ll do just fine.
There you have it: market, media, message. Get them right and you’ll hit a home run…or a three-hundred-yard drive!
