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Casual Articles - Niche Marketing : A Mini Tutorial on Starting a Business
From the psychological point of view advertisements may be classified according to their general purpose or intention and also according to the particular tasks which they set themselves. Thus we may have the three following types, according to the task attempted: Classified Advertisement. Takes initial attention, interest, and memory for granted, and merely seeks to direct the response.Publicity Advertisement. Takes for granted the elements of persuasion, decision, and response, and merely tries to accomplish the tasks which the Classified Advertisement explicitly ignores - namely, to attract and hold attention, and to fix an impression in the reader's mind.Complete Advertisement. Attempts to perform all the various tasks of an appeal. These are, in their logical order: to attract initial attention; to hold attention in an interesting way; to bring about an association or impression which will have permanence or memory value; to convince, persuade, or induce; to suggest and lead to specific response Still differently classified, according to the psychological mechanism they employ or invoke, advertisements may be classified as follows: Reflex Appeals. Directed in a mechanical way toward the simple reflexes, such as bright flashing lights, moving objects, alternating signs, curious noises, etc. T
A search in any of the major search engines will provide several good boards and chat rooms.
3. Customer Use
If you already have an established customer base, send out an email survey. 80% of your continual sales come from 20% of your client base. Statistics have shown that up to 36% of your current client base will purchase form you again if you have something similar to offer.
4. The Reviews Are In
These sites are used by people to either rave or complain. This makes it a gold-mine of information of how the public perceives the competition.
5. Competitive Analysis
What exactly is your competition offering? What solutions are they offering? Where are they vulnerable? To beat the competition, you need to understand the competition.
The purpose of Competitive Analysis is t to determine which business strengths are needed to be competitive in the market. You also need to determine how the competition wi
Most African economies are considered to be unstable either due to political instability or lack of investor appeal. This factor alone (the instability of African economies) means that those in leadership have an uphill task in resuscitating ailing economies.Today, those in power have to consider external factors in their economic recovery strategies. If anything the measure of a country’s economic strength can be said to be a comparison of that county’s economy with others.So what are the advantages and disadvantages of globalization on African economies? Advantages Investors can invest in Africa without necessarily setting foot on the continent e.g. an investor who would probably not consider investing in the continent for security fears perpetrated by travel advisories and bad publicity can buy shares online. Due to globalization some major problems affecting some African countries have been shown to the world urging the west and east to lend in a hand e.g. instances where a country has lacked adequate resources to feed its population have been common in the past. International television stations have covered these stories which culminated in massive support from donor organizations in the form of food aid. Disadvantages Some local businessmen in African countries prefer to save their money in foreign bank ac
You shouldn't begin thinking how you are going to market something until you first determine if you have something to market. You also need to have the ability to develop and service your product; will it work the way you say it will work; are there no adverse legal ramifications? Finally, can you sell of offer it for a profit?
Finding your Niche Market
To begin, you need to find a product that people need. Think back in your life. Was there any problem that you felt was not resolved completely? Was a solution presented to you that could have been more complete? Still no ideas?
Then seriously contemplate and record the following:
- What kind of things are you interested in? Tennis, Books, Music.....
- Do these interest border on Passion? Football, Writing, Collecting.....
- Where is your Knowledge base? Is there any subject or topic that you know a lot about?
- Are you the person people come to for answers - asking your advice or opinion?
Answer the above questions. Consider each point carefully; don't be afraid to consult with friends, family and colleagues. And be completely honest. When you pursue a business that you are passionate about, something you really like to do, your chances of success in business increases dramatically.
Finding the Hurt
The product or service you wish to develop should be related to something you are interested in. By promoting your interests, it will feel less like work, and more like fun. After all, wouldn't you rather "work" at what is fun?
Many people make the mistake of developing a product first, then trying to find a market. That is backwards. You must first find the demand, and then fill it. This will guarantee the success of your product, as people are already looking for what you are about to develop. By filling this need, you can actively focus your energies on marketing to the audiences that will provide the highest sales profit.
I. Finding the Right Markets:
Examine your list. You now must research and find markets that relate to your list of interests. Brainstorm a list of general, potential markets for each of your interests. Do not be concerned if your markets seem too broad or general. Utilize friends, family and the Internet – searching keywords related to your interests.
II. Research the Competition:
Now that you have your list of specific markets, it's time to examine the competition -both online and off. Research businesses that cater to the specific markets on your list.
For Example: Artists might be segmented into oil painters, watercolor artists, sculptors, advertising. Examine how existing businesses cater to these markets. What approach do they take to the ceramic artist? Are they offering fr*e advice, selling it, providing products?
Finally, take a look at how well these businesses are marketing themselves to the market segment. How organized and professional looking are their sites?
Two great tools to compare companies is Alexa and Marketleap. Alexa is comparatively accurate, and can give you details for a site including:
- Traffic Ranking
- Related Links
- Link Saturation
- Contact Information
- Site, User Reviews
While most of the information is accurate, it can be abused. I have found several Reviews coming from competitors with less than flattering remarks. The comments were unfounded and only used to try and reduce the credibility of the actual site. I also found Contact Information slow to be updated. On the whole it is a great tool and worth utilizing.
Marketleap will help you compare sites showing Link Popularity, Search Engine Saturation and Keyword Verification.
Their Link popularity check is one of the best ways to quantifiably and independently measure a website's online awareness and overall visibility. Simply put, link popularity refers to the total number of links or "votes" that a search engine has found for that website.Search Engine Saturation simply refers to the number of pages a given search engine has in its index for a website domain. Not all search engines report this information but enough of them do to create some meaningful benchmarks for search engine marketing campaigns.
The Keyword Verification Tool checks to see if a site is in the top three pages of a search engine result for a specific keyword.
III. Meet the Market Demand:
Now it's time to find the greatest need. There are several ways to research this:
1. Research Keywords
To narrow down your niche market utilize tools such as:
- WordTracker
- Overture Term Suggestion - gives a list of related searches and how many times those terms were searched in Overture during the previous month.
Search for terms that are frequently searched for by your target market - but are not being used effectively by your competition. This competitive analysis will expose untapped needs and help you avoid marketing to heavily saturated markets.
RULE: When competing in a saturated market, define and maintain a tightly focused niche market for your business.
If you find there are many web sites marketing a similar product and not enough people are actually buying to make your product idea profitable, it is better to find out before you launch your Marketing Campaign.
2. Newsgroups, Discussion Boards,Chat Rooms
Be still, and listen. People will TELL you what they like and don't like; what they're looking for. These forums are frequently visited by people seeking advice. By monitoring these discussions you will discover the "hurts" that need to be filled.
This is a great way to find potential products or service ideas. If the same question is repeated, there are probably hundreds and, perhaps, thousands of people wondering the same thing. Some good places to start:
A search in any of the major search engines will provide several good boards and chat rooms.
3. Customer Use
If you already have an established customer base, send out an email survey. 80% of your continual sales come from 20% of your client base. Statistics have shown that up to 36% of your current client base will purchase form you again if you have something similar to offer.
4. The Reviews Are In
These sites are used by people to either rave or complain. This makes it a gold-mine of information of how the public perceives the competition.
5. Competitive Analysis
What exactly is your competition offering? What solutions are they offering? Where are they vulnerable? To beat the competition, you need to understand the competition.
The purpose of Competitive Analysis is t to determine which business strengths are needed to be competitive in the market. You also need to determine how the competition wil
Despite widespread agreement that effective expense management is critical to business success, there's still one aspect of expense management that tends to be handled badly. And it's costing many businesses millions each year! Ironically, it's a cost that can be drastically reduced (all but eliminated) overnight.I'm talking about the processing costs associated with purchases. They're called "transactional processing costs"; they're not the cost of the purchase itself, but the cost of the transaction.The Dollar-Value of Transactional Processing CostsThe end-to-end cost of processing high volume, low value purchases (such as travel, entertainment, contract labor hire, training, employee claims, stationery, publications, books, kitchen supplies, etc.) can be exorbitant. In fact, in many cases, it's higher than the purchase cost itself (even with the efficiencies delivered by an ERP application). The reason for this is that the total cost-to-transact includes many associated activities such as processing, administration, and bank fees, to name just three. In a typical business, 90% of purchases are low value; they represent less than 10% of total company purchase spend. But because the cost of each transaction is normally much the same regardless of the purchase price, in reality, these low value purchases cost far more than the big purchases. Consequently, the majority of availabl
Many people make the mistake of developing a product first, then trying to find a market. That is backwards. You must first find the demand, and then fill it. This will guarantee the success of your product, as people are already looking for what you are about to develop. By filling this need, you can actively focus your energies on marketing to the audiences that will provide the highest sales profit.
I. Finding the Right Markets:
Examine your list. You now must research and find markets that relate to your list of interests. Brainstorm a list of general, potential markets for each of your interests. Do not be concerned if your markets seem too broad or general. Utilize friends, family and the Internet – searching keywords related to your interests.
II. Research the Competition:
Now that you have your list of specific markets, it's time to examine the competition -both online and off. Research businesses that cater to the specific markets on your list.
For Example: Artists might be segmented into oil painters, watercolor artists, sculptors, advertising. Examine how existing businesses cater to these markets. What approach do they take to the ceramic artist? Are they offering fr*e advice, selling it, providing products?
Finally, take a look at how well these businesses are marketing themselves to the market segment. How organized and professional looking are their sites?
Two great tools to compare companies is Alexa and Marketleap. Alexa is comparatively accurate, and can give you details for a site including:
- Traffic Ranking
- Related Links
- Link Saturation
- Contact Information
- Site, User Reviews
While most of the information is accurate, it can be abused. I have found several Reviews coming from competitors with less than flattering remarks. The comments were unfounded and only used to try and reduce the credibility of the actual site. I also found Contact Information slow to be updated. On the whole it is a great tool and worth utilizing.
Marketleap will help you compare sites showing Link Popularity, Search Engine Saturation and Keyword Verification.
Their Link popularity check is one of the best ways to quantifiably and independently measure a website's online awareness and overall visibility. Simply put, link popularity refers to the total number of links or "votes" that a search engine has found for that website.Search Engine Saturation simply refers to the number of pages a given search engine has in its index for a website domain. Not all search engines report this information but enough of them do to create some meaningful benchmarks for search engine marketing campaigns.
The Keyword Verification Tool checks to see if a site is in the top three pages of a search engine result for a specific keyword.
III. Meet the Market Demand:
Now it's time to find the greatest need. There are several ways to research this:
1. Research Keywords
To narrow down your niche market utilize tools such as:
- WordTracker
- Overture Term Suggestion - gives a list of related searches and how many times those terms were searched in Overture during the previous month.
Search for terms that are frequently searched for by your target market - but are not being used effectively by your competition. This competitive analysis will expose untapped needs and help you avoid marketing to heavily saturated markets.
RULE: When competing in a saturated market, define and maintain a tightly focused niche market for your business.
If you find there are many web sites marketing a similar product and not enough people are actually buying to make your product idea profitable, it is better to find out before you launch your Marketing Campaign.
2. Newsgroups, Discussion Boards,Chat Rooms
Be still, and listen. People will TELL you what they like and don't like; what they're looking for. These forums are frequently visited by people seeking advice. By monitoring these discussions you will discover the "hurts" that need to be filled.
This is a great way to find potential products or service ideas. If the same question is repeated, there are probably hundreds and, perhaps, thousands of people wondering the same thing. Some good places to start:
A search in any of the major search engines will provide several good boards and chat rooms.
3. Customer Use
If you already have an established customer base, send out an email survey. 80% of your continual sales come from 20% of your client base. Statistics have shown that up to 36% of your current client base will purchase form you again if you have something similar to offer.
4. The Reviews Are In
These sites are used by people to either rave or complain. This makes it a gold-mine of information of how the public perceives the competition.
5. Competitive Analysis
What exactly is your competition offering? What solutions are they offering? Where are they vulnerable? To beat the competition, you need to understand the competition.
The purpose of Competitive Analysis is t to determine which business strengths are needed to be competitive in the market. You also need to determine how the competition wi
Finding The Right FranchiseWhether it’s hamburgers, pizza, telecom, coffee, Internet, muffler parts, or seniors’ services, there are Franchise opportunities available to evaluate. There are great Franchise systems, good Franchise systems, and bad Franchise systems. The challenge is to ask the right questions to find the right system that will fit your goals and dreams. The key is to ask the questions – and listen closely to the responses. Only then can you determine if the Franchise opportunity is the right fit for you. So whether it’s food services like burgers or coffee, professional services like telecom or IT, or manual services like cleaning or oil changes, ask the questions and record the answers.Control Your Own DestinyThe degree of priority that this particular criterion holds for an individual is probably the single most important factor to consider before making the decision to strike out on your own. Just how important is it that you control day-to-day decisions about what you do, and where you do it. How important is it to you to know that you have ultimate control over whether you stay or whether you go at some point.The reality is that it’s not really possible to control your own destiny with a job. Even the most important CEO’s must answer to the Board of Directors. In more traditional circumstances, when and where you travel, when you get promoted, how much you ea
- Traffic Ranking
- Related Links
- Link Saturation
- Contact Information
- Site, User Reviews
While most of the information is accurate, it can be abused. I have found several Reviews coming from competitors with less than flattering remarks. The comments were unfounded and only used to try and reduce the credibility of the actual site. I also found Contact Information slow to be updated. On the whole it is a great tool and worth utilizing.
Marketleap will help you compare sites showing Link Popularity, Search Engine Saturation and Keyword Verification.
Their Link popularity check is one of the best ways to quantifiably and independently measure a website's online awareness and overall visibility. Simply put, link popularity refers to the total number of links or "votes" that a search engine has found for that website.Search Engine Saturation simply refers to the number of pages a given search engine has in its index for a website domain. Not all search engines report this information but enough of them do to create some meaningful benchmarks for search engine marketing campaigns.
The Keyword Verification Tool checks to see if a site is in the top three pages of a search engine result for a specific keyword.
III. Meet the Market Demand:
Now it's time to find the greatest need. There are several ways to research this:
1. Research Keywords
To narrow down your niche market utilize tools such as:
- WordTracker
- Overture Term Suggestion - gives a list of related searches and how many times those terms were searched in Overture during the previous month.
Search for terms that are frequently searched for by your target market - but are not being used effectively by your competition. This competitive analysis will expose untapped needs and help you avoid marketing to heavily saturated markets.
RULE: When competing in a saturated market, define and maintain a tightly focused niche market for your business.
If you find there are many web sites marketing a similar product and not enough people are actually buying to make your product idea profitable, it is better to find out before you launch your Marketing Campaign.
2. Newsgroups, Discussion Boards,Chat Rooms
Be still, and listen. People will TELL you what they like and don't like; what they're looking for. These forums are frequently visited by people seeking advice. By monitoring these discussions you will discover the "hurts" that need to be filled.
This is a great way to find potential products or service ideas. If the same question is repeated, there are probably hundreds and, perhaps, thousands of people wondering the same thing. Some good places to start:
A search in any of the major search engines will provide several good boards and chat rooms.
3. Customer Use
If you already have an established customer base, send out an email survey. 80% of your continual sales come from 20% of your client base. Statistics have shown that up to 36% of your current client base will purchase form you again if you have something similar to offer.
4. The Reviews Are In
These sites are used by people to either rave or complain. This makes it a gold-mine of information of how the public perceives the competition.
5. Competitive Analysis
What exactly is your competition offering? What solutions are they offering? Where are they vulnerable? To beat the competition, you need to understand the competition.
The purpose of Competitive Analysis is t to determine which business strengths are needed to be competitive in the market. You also need to determine how the competition wi
They want to own their own business and move from their jobs and be self-employed. The main reasons for this is control and flexibility, opportunity, and independence.The tea industry lends itself to women-owned businesses. There are many opportunities in the tea industry where a woman can own a business and still have control and flexibility. Women want to gain control of their time, their futures, and their finances.Since women are generally the caregivers they need flexibility over their varied responsibilities. Owning their own business gives then this flexibility over their hours and schedules even though it often requires longer work hours.Opportunities in the tea industry include tea party catering, in-home parties, retailing tea and tea accouterments from your home, web sites, and tea lectures and education. Women can create their business from home via fax and computers and ship products directly to their customers.Owning your own business gives a woman independence. With all the down-sizing going on in corporate America, the tea industry lends itself to women who want to turn to self-employment. A woman can run a business as she sees fit and can control the course the business will run. There is no "glass ceiling" and talented women can become entrepreneurs.One of the biggest challenges for women to own her own tea business is financing. The National Wom
1. Research Keywords
To narrow down your niche market utilize tools such as:
- WordTracker
- Overture Term Suggestion - gives a list of related searches and how many times those terms were searched in Overture during the previous month.
Search for terms that are frequently searched for by your target market - but are not being used effectively by your competition. This competitive analysis will expose untapped needs and help you avoid marketing to heavily saturated markets.
RULE: When competing in a saturated market, define and maintain a tightly focused niche market for your business.
If you find there are many web sites marketing a similar product and not enough people are actually buying to make your product idea profitable, it is better to find out before you launch your Marketing Campaign.
2. Newsgroups, Discussion Boards,Chat Rooms
Be still, and listen. People will TELL you what they like and don't like; what they're looking for. These forums are frequently visited by people seeking advice. By monitoring these discussions you will discover the "hurts" that need to be filled.
This is a great way to find potential products or service ideas. If the same question is repeated, there are probably hundreds and, perhaps, thousands of people wondering the same thing. Some good places to start:
A search in any of the major search engines will provide several good boards and chat rooms.
3. Customer Use
If you already have an established customer base, send out an email survey. 80% of your continual sales come from 20% of your client base. Statistics have shown that up to 36% of your current client base will purchase form you again if you have something similar to offer.
4. The Reviews Are In
These sites are used by people to either rave or complain. This makes it a gold-mine of information of how the public perceives the competition.
5. Competitive Analysis
What exactly is your competition offering? What solutions are they offering? Where are they vulnerable? To beat the competition, you need to understand the competition.
The purpose of Competitive Analysis is t to determine which business strengths are needed to be competitive in the market. You also need to determine how the competition wi
Mao Tse-tung is quoted as saying, "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. In business, the political power wielded in change is manifested most clearly in revolutionary change.In revolutionary change, one person orchestrates change, from the top. The change is often about cutting costs or regaining control over an organisation that has lost its way by taking inappropriate risks or perhaps by developing a myopic inability to look externally and becoming inwardly driven.Revolutionary change tends to continue to be driven by one individual surrounded by a small group of trusted "lieutenants". The change process itself becomes reliant on the individual.In evolutionary change, a leader still orchestrates the change. However, the leader tends to empower people all through the organisation to take on the change. The leader provides the resources, training and authority for people to engage in the change and become leaders of the change in their own right.Which method of change is right? Whilst most people have an intuitive preference for evolutionary change, it is not always appropriate.If an organisation has a "burning platform", then a revolutionary approach is often the only method applicable. Much of the oil industry in the mid to late nineties was forced to slash costs to survive as margins declined sharply due to increases in supply from previously unavailable so
A search in any of the major search engines will provide several good boards and chat rooms.
3. Customer Use
If you already have an established customer base, send out an email survey. 80% of your continual sales come from 20% of your client base. Statistics have shown that up to 36% of your current client base will purchase form you again if you have something similar to offer.
4. The Reviews Are In
These sites are used by people to either rave or complain. This makes it a gold-mine of information of how the public perceives the competition.
5. Competitive Analysis
What exactly is your competition offering? What solutions are they offering? Where are they vulnerable? To beat the competition, you need to understand the competition.
The purpose of Competitive Analysis is t to determine which business strengths are needed to be competitive in the market. You also need to determine how the competition will react to your strategies BEFORE you implement them.
Your competitors could be your greatest source of inspiration. Once you have chosen your area of interest - start a thorough market research.
To analyze the competition, gather information on:
- Their Competitive Market Share
- Their Current Strategies
- Future Goals
- Where they are vulnerable
- What will provoke retaliation
- copies of all their marketing materials
The more you find out, the better you'll be able to find a weakness, and then develop a strong Unique Selling Proposition. Make your product better, faster, easier, safer, and more cost-effective. Do whatever it takes to entice customers to buy your product or service over your competitions.
IV. Customer Analysis : : How Accurate Is Your Research?
At this point, determine if your research is accurate? Talk to members of the market and confirm it.
- How big of a problem is it for them?
- Is it a minor nuisance, or is it something they would pay to obtain a solution for?
- How much is that solution worth to them?
1. Validate your information; get on the phone, run surveys, chat in newsgroups. Do research to see if anyone else is currently offering a solution to this problem. If they are, what are they charging and how good is the service?2. Customer Interest: Find out if customers are interested in the product or service. It may be that there is already enough products in that niche, but it lacks in services to help use the products.
3. Determine the general price range. Can you offer a price advantage? Determine the price-sensitivity of your future, potential customers. If the competition is constantly cutting costs to gain new customers, this is a warning flag.
4. What gender is your potential market? What is their income level? What level of education do they have? Their geographic location? These are important factors in order to determine how lucrative your market will be, as well as how to best approach and advertise.
5. Most importantly, What motivates the market to buy? Do they react to a price drop? When you understand your audiences’ motivation, you'll be able to appeal to what motivates them to buy.
Conclusion:
Remember to find the problem before you try to develop a solution. It is much more lucrative to find out what your potential market is searching for and then filling that need.
- Choose a niche market from your interests
- Research keywords to find what the market is already searching for
- Research existing niches and improve on existing products
- Survey current customers for potential products
Your business success hinges directly on choosing a product that the public already wants and then providing it.
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