Monthly Archives: December 2008

When Choosing Your Niche

ritajoblack1As an entrepreneur and/or small business owner, one of the decisions you make when starting your business is which portion of the market is going to be your niche. In order to choose your niche ask yourself, “where in the market will my products or services fit?” Has a new market been created, because of changes in technology or society, which has a potential demand that is not being met? Once you have answered these questions, you have chosen your niche.

In your niche, you will find people with shared characteristics (market segment). The factors (characteristics) that determine market segments are geographic, demographic, behavioral, and psychographic (attitudinal). Your advertising message and marketing strategy will be based on these factors.

It’s ironic how people are more alike than different. The aforementioned factors will affect how a group of people will behave. We tend to be creatures of habit, which causes us to be “sitting ducks” for advertisers and marketers. We leave clues, based on our needs, wants, and mental files, that tell where we live, how we shop, what we buy, and how we spend our leisure time. The same holds true for the market segment you choose to target with your products and/or services. They will have similar needs or wants and behave in similar ways.

In the market place, there is an area or subset where your products and/or services will fit (niche). In the market place, there is a group of clients who can use your products/or services (market segment). As an entrepreneur and/or small business owner with limited advertising and marketing budget, it is important to choose a niche, as well as a segment, in the market.

Using Twitter to Connect with Your Clients

ritajoblack1By now you have probably heard of Twitter, a free social networking and micro-blogging website. It may be a little overwhelming trying to figure out who you should follow and who you would like to follow you. Twitter has a search directory called Twellow, located at http://www.twellow.com/. At Twellow, you can filter out the tweeters according to your target market. All you need to do is perform a search using your target market search term(s) and research the results looking for tweeters who you can follow and maybe follow you. Hopefully, they will become your ideal clients.

Social media marketing is becoming one of the most popular online marketing tools available today for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Social networking is just one form of social media marketing, and it is one of the online marketing tools that I mention in my e-book, “Online Marketing Tools for Today’s Small Business.” Read what others are saying about this affordable, must-have e-book.