I have owned Webmaster For Hire for going on 9 years now. Over those years, we have had many small businesses come to us to either build a website, redesign an existing site or to do internet marketing for them. Whether prospect or client, I can 99% of the time see whether their path will lead to success or failure after 20 minutes of talking with them.
The new business owners who cannot answer all three of the following questions will either have a tough road to semi-success or their businesses will no longer be in less than a year. What are those three questions? Who’s your target audience? What’s your purpose? What are your goals?
Target Audience. My favorite responses are:
- Everyone is my audience and can use my products/services
- Anyone who travels
- People with money
If you are not a multi-multi-millionaire (or billionaire), then you do not have a marketing budget to reach “everyone”, “anyone who travels” or “all people with money”. If you want your money to deliver a great return then you need to define your target audience.
- Male/Female
- Income level
- Needs
- Lifestyle
Defining the audience – defines your marketing strategies.
Once you define the target audience down to the smallest details, you can begin creating your marketing strategy plans. Why? Well simply because you’ll start brainstorming where this defined audience is hanging out, what magazines/websites are they reading/visiting, what are the key messages that speak to them directly and what motivates them. Without it, you’re shooting in the dark and hoping to get your bird.
Purpose. Your purpose can never be money. Your purpose in reaching your audience, your purpose for being in business and your purpose in life can never, never, never be money, power and fame. Why? Well simply put, when the going gets tough money, power and fame will not be the motivation to give you staying power. Look at the real estate agents who jumped the “money bandwagon”. Where are they now when the bubble popped? Gone.
I have owned and operated Webmaster For Hire for going on 9 years now. I have seen famine and feast in this industry many times over. Why am I still running my web service and marketing firm? Simply because my purpose for my business is to see others succeed. That driving purpose helps me to keep going no matter what is happening financially. My reason for running Twitter Training Seminars is to educate the recipients so they can succeed on their own without me or anyone else doing anything else for them. My goal remains: to help other succeed. So my purpose for business, my purpose for my services and my purposes in life are the same. So what is your purpose?
Goals. Now here’s where you can place money, power and fame if you choose. The goals are not the “how” – they are the end results you desire. My goal is to financially sustain my desired lifestyle (that includes society fundraisers, yacht weekends, theater shows, watching Polo, and other joys that aren’t necessarily cheap). Therefore, I need to keep my goals in mind while I work with purpose and market directly to my target audience.
Are you going to be one of the success stories? Or are you subconsciously saying “don’t wanna succeed”? Start with a strong foundation and you will reach those goals.