So How Do You Know What To Market?

Hey There Fellow WA Buddies!

Each day I head to the forum, I look for people who are asking repeat questions. This is what generates content for the blog posts you read here. Hint: We're showing you the marketing process directly! Everything we do here is precisely how things work online.

My next post will delve more into how things work further.

So anyway, you can peer into forums to see what the trends are, as people complain or rave about a topic. You're not interested in getting emotionally 'into' what people say because (being the true pro you are) you only want to know what they're struggling to resolve. The bigger the trend, the greater a need.

Apply the 8-Week Plan to Finding Something You Will Be Jazzed About Marketing

Here's what you do.  When you're reading through your 8-Week Plan, all you're initially doing is reading for an overview, much like reading through the table of contents in a book. Then as you read through more, you'll naturally move into chapter contents. Think of the 8-Week Plan like this and you'll start to feel more relaxed. Relaxation is important to help your thoughts flow because eventually you'll be writing for yourself, if you're not outsourcing that type of work.

Don't worry about knowing every little tidbit.

Few of us do even when we're seasoned.

You're just exposing your mind to the overall picture. Then, as you begin to baby-step your way through your marketing plan, you'll begin to fit puzzle pieces together. Kindly keep in mind that this process takes time. I've just now zeroed in on more of the content I'll publish to my website and it's been 3 years. I'm not trying to discourage you. I'm just telling you that it takes time to know precisely how people think, figuring out what they want.

Bookmark Everything You Read

Bookmark what you read as you move through your 8-Week Plan. Then as you start working into implementation phases, you'll click on bookmarks you've previously flagged. This will help you zero in on precisely what you need when you need it most.

Be certain to rate any lessons you work. This rating will store your work for later reference.

Now Here's The Fun Part

To find a niche you're absolutely 'jazzed about working' (very important to your earliest success), head to your local store and hit the magazine section. You don't have to buy a stack of magazines. That's not what we're doing at this point in time.

Pick out a few of your favorite magazines.

Look at the headlines on the cover...then look closely at how ads are placed in-between major and minor articles. Everything within the context of one magazine will usually be a major market.

Now, pay close attention to ...say...2 or 3..or 4 magazines you like. Take two magazines which are entirely unrelated and cross-compare the content.  Ask yourself, "Hmmm, if I owned this magazine myself, would I try to move airplane parts to teenagers'? You would only consider something that wild if you tested the market to confirm there were "Flying Eagles" (FAA teenagers who built airplanes with their parents). That's a fairly slim minority...so you'd most likely stick with adults who build and fly planes as your main market segment.

If you tried to force the market (teens who are just learning to fly), you'd have low response rates simply because they can't afford your airplane parts. So...the magazine comparison test is a very fast way to see how markets are segmented into their smaller markets.

This exercise begins to show you how products and services are broken down into major and minor markets.

A Final Exercise

Now..., to see how the aisles in food stores are organized (or it could be your local drug store), look at the main category headings of each aisle. Make a careful note. Then look at the sub-categories residing within each main aisle to see how carefully products are placed within each sub-category.

You wouldn't market milk of magnesia to infants.

You wouldn't market Kool-Aid to diabetics, unless you had a 'no-sugar' Kool-Aid product.

Beginning to get the picture?

Keep this exercise going strong every time you go the store. Then, you'll begin to see how products are petitioned by 'buying groups'. This is what you're mainly doing online. You're seeking to find 'a hungry market that's not over-fished or under-fished'.

It Gets Even Better

Here's the real fun part. Do you know how we find keywords that are 'heavy hitters'? There are 2 ways. The first way -- focus on product names! It's very specific by name. The second way -- focus on some type of ailment. It's a very specific syndrome or frustration like keratosis pilaris (a dry skin condition few dermatologists can heal). It's that dry skin that can appear on the back of the arms or inner thighs and a fair number of people have it. It's not life-threatening, but it bugs them a lot. So...a keyword phrase that would be connected to healing this type of reocurring problem would be 'organic loofa pads' or Cetaphil Lotion. Those are general examples but the keywords are very concrete.

When you figure out what your smaller market wants and you see how many different topics they'll read about, then you're most of the way there to creating a campaign that will attract people to you on the basis of what you're offering. Finding out what they buy and don't buy...and BINGO, you're in the running.

If you have any questions, feel free to post your comments. I'll be happy to offer additional insightful help. Please know that anything I offer is given as I know it best at the time. That's true because Internet marketers are always evolving. But, much of what I share is based on real world experience.

bkb2012

Internet Marketing Consultant