| The role of marketing in business may surprise you. | | | | to heavily saturated markets. |
| Many books and seminars on marketing begin on how | | | | RULE: When competing in a saturated market, define |
| to develop the Marketing Plan. I believe this to be a | | | | and maintain a tightly focused niche market for your |
| mistake. | | | | business. |
| You shouldn't begin thinking how you are going to | | | | If you find there are many web sites marketing a |
| market something until you first determine if you have | | | | similar product and not enough people are actually |
| something to market. You also need to have the ability | | | | buying to make your product idea profitable, it is better |
| to develop and service your product; will it work the | | | | to find out before you launch your Marketing |
| way you say it will work; are there no adverse legal | | | | Campaign. |
| ramifications? Finally, can you sell of offer it for a | | | | 2. Newsgroups, Discussion Boards,Chat Rooms |
| profit? | | | | Be still, and listen. People will TELL you what they like |
| Finding your Niche Market | | | | and don't like; what they're looking for. These forums |
| To begin, you need to find a product that people need. | | | | are frequently visited by people seeking advice. By |
| Think back in your life. Was there any problem that | | | | monitoring these discussions you will discover the |
| you felt was not resolved completely? Was a solution | | | | "hurts" that need to be filled. |
| presented to you that could have been more | | | | This is a great way to find potential products or |
| complete? Still no ideas? | | | | service ideas. If the same question is repeated, there |
| Then seriously contemplate and record the following: | | | | are probably hundreds and, perhaps, thousands of |
| | | | people wondering the same thing. Some good places |
| 1. What kind of things are you interested in? Tennis, | | | | to start: |
| Books, Music..... | | | | - ThreadWatch |
| 2. Do these interest border on Passion? Football, | | | | - WebmasterWorld |
| Writing, Collecting..... | | | | - CashKeywords |
| 3. Where is your Knowledge base? Is there any | | | | - Google Groups |
| subject or topic that you know a lot about? | | | | A search in any of the major search engines will |
| 4. Are you the person people come to for answers - | | | | provide several good boards and chat rooms. |
| asking your advice or opinion? | | | | 3. Customer Use |
| Answer the above questions. Consider each point | | | | If you already have an established customer base, |
| carefully; don't be afraid to consult with friends, family | | | | send out an email survey. 80% of your continual sales |
| and colleagues. And be completely honest. When you | | | | come from 20% of your client base. Statistics have |
| pursue a business that you are passionate about, | | | | shown that up to 36% of your current client base will |
| something you really like to do, your chances of | | | | purchase form you again if you have something similar |
| success in business increases dramatically. | | | | to offer. |
| Finding the Hurt | | | | 4. The Reviews Are In |
| The product or service you wish to develop should be | | | | These sites are used by people to either rave or |
| related to something you are interested in. By | | | | complain. This makes it a gold-mine of information of |
| promoting your interests, it will feel less like work, and | | | | how the public perceives the competition. |
| more like fun. After all, wouldn't you rather "work" at | | | | - Cunsumer Review |
| what is fun? | | | | - Consumer Search |
| Many people make the mistake of developing a | | | | - Epinions |
| product first, then trying to find a market. That is | | | | 5. Competitive Analysis |
| backwards. You must first find the demand, and then | | | | What exactly is your competition offering? What |
| fill it. This will guarantee the success of your product, | | | | solutions are they offering? Where are they |
| as people are already looking for what you are about | | | | vulnerable? To beat the competition, you need to |
| to develop. By filling this need, you can actively focus | | | | understand the competition. |
| your energies on marketing to the audiences that will | | | | The purpose of Competitive Analysis is t to determine |
| provide the highest sales profit. | | | | which business strengths are needed to be |
| I. Finding the Right Markets: | | | | competitive in the market. You also need to determine |
| Examine your list. You now must research and find | | | | how the competition will react to your strategies |
| markets that relate to your list of interests. Brainstorm | | | | BEFORE you implement them. |
| a list of general, potential markets for each of your | | | | Your competitors could be your greatest source of |
| interests. Do not be concerned if your markets seem | | | | inspiration. Once you have chosen your area of |
| too broad or general. Utilize friends, family and the | | | | interest - start a thorough market research. |
| Internet - searching keywords related to your interests. | | | | To analyze the competition, gather information on: |
| II. Research the Competition: | | | | |
| Now that you have your list of specific markets, it's | | | | 1. Their Competitive Market Share |
| time to examine the competition -both online and off. | | | | 2. Their Current Strategies |
| Research businesses that cater to the specific | | | | 3. Future Goals |
| markets on your list. | | | | 4. Where they are vulnerable |
| For Example: Artists might be segmented into oil | | | | 5. What will provoke retaliation |
| painters, watercolor artists, sculptors, advertising. | | | | 6. copies of all their marketing materials |
| Examine how existing businesses cater to these | | | | The more you find out, the better you'll be able to find |
| markets. What approach do they take to the ceramic | | | | a weakness, and then develop a strong Unique Selling |
| artist? Are they offering fr*e advice, selling it, providing | | | | Proposition. Make your product better, faster, easier, |
| products? | | | | safer, and more cost-effective. Do whatever it takes |
| Finally, take a look at how well these businesses are | | | | to entice customers to buy your product or service |
| marketing themselves to the market segment. How | | | | over your competitions. |
| organized and professional looking are their sites? | | | | IV. Customer Analysis : : How Accurate Is Your |
| Two great tools to compare companies is and Alexa | | | | Research? |
| is comparatively accurate, and can give you details for | | | | At this point, determine if your research is accurate? |
| a site including: | | | | Talk to members of the market and confirm it. |
| - Traffic Ranking | | | | - How big of a problem is it for them? |
| - Related Links | | | | - Is it a minor nuisance, or is it something they would |
| - Link Saturation | | | | pay to obtain a solution for? |
| - Contact Information | | | | - How much is that solution worth to them? |
| - Site, User Reviews | | | | 1. Validate your information; get on the phone, run |
| While most of the information is accurate, it can be | | | | surveys, chat in newsgroups. Do research to see if |
| abused. I have found several Reviews coming from | | | | anyone else is currently offering a solution to this |
| competitors with less than flattering remarks. The | | | | problem. If they are, what are they charging and how |
| comments were unfounded and only used to try and | | | | good is the service? |
| reduce the credibility of the actual site. I also found | | | | 2. Customer Interest: Find out if customers are |
| Contact Information slow to be updated. On the whole | | | | interested in the product or service. It may be that |
| it is a great tool and worth utilizing. | | | | there is already enough products in that niche, but it |
| Marketleap will help you compare sites showing Link | | | | lacks in services to help use the products. |
| Popularity, Search Engine Saturation and Keyword | | | | 3. Determine the general price range. Can you offer a |
| Verification. | | | | price advantage? Determine the price-sensitivity of |
| Their Link popularity check is one of the best ways to | | | | your future, potential customers. If the competition is |
| quantifiably and independently measure a website's | | | | constantly cutting costs to gain new customers, this is |
| online awareness and overall visibility. Simply put, link | | | | a warning flag. |
| popularity refers to the total number of links or "votes" | | | | 4. What gender is your potential market? What is their |
| that a search engine has found for that website. | | | | income level? What level of education do they have? |
| Search Engine Saturation simply refers to the number | | | | Their geographic location? These are important |
| of pages a given search engine has in its index for a | | | | factors in order to determine how lucrative your |
| website domain. Not all search engines report this | | | | market will be, as well as how to best approach and |
| information but enough of them do to create some | | | | advertise. |
| meaningful benchmarks for search engine marketing | | | | 5. Most importantly, What motivates the market to |
| campaigns. | | | | buy? Do they react to a price drop? When you |
| The Keyword Verification Tool checks to see if a site | | | | understand your audiences' motivation, you'll be able to |
| is in the top three pages of a search engine result for | | | | appeal to what motivates them to buy. |
| a specific keyword. | | | | Conclusion: |
| III. Meet the Market Demand: | | | | Remember to find the problem before you try to |
| Now it's time to find the greatest need. There are | | | | develop a solution. It is much more lucrative to find out |
| several ways to research this: | | | | what your potential market is searching for and then |
| 1. Research Keywords | | | | filling that need. |
| To narrow down your niche market utilize tools such | | | | - Choose a niche market from your interests |
| as: | | | | - Research keywords to find what the market is |
| - WordTracker | | | | already searching for |
| - Overture Term Suggestion - gives a list of related | | | | - Research existing niches and improve on existing |
| searches and how many times those terms were | | | | products |
| searched in Overture during the previous month. | | | | - Survey current customers for potential products |
| Search for terms that are frequently searched for by | | | | Your business success hinges directly on choosing a |
| your target market - but are not being used effectively | | | | product that the public already wants and then |
| by your competition. This competitive analysis will | | | | providing it. |
| expose untapped needs and help you avoid marketing | | | | |