Find Accurate Values Of Used Books To Make More Profits Selling On Amazon Marketplace

When you are building your home-based used book store and you begin seeking out the current selling price of used books, it's a good idea to also review the sales rank of what those books are currently selling for online.
Every book for sale on Amazon is ranked as to how well it's selling. You can find the sales rank in the product description details of every book. You can also see the sales rank as you are in the process of listing a book for sale in your Seller Account, as it will appear along the righthand side of the page near a summary of the low new/used pricing.
A good rule of thumb to remember: the lower the sales rank, the more likely that that particular book is selling. Not selling fast. Just selling.
You will not be privy to the actual rate of sales. But you'll have clues if you are looking at a winner or a dud.
The twisted calculations that determine Amazon sales rankings tend to go off the tracks, though, when you start trying to interpret what a ranking of 250,000 really means, as opposed to a ranking of 1 million, 2 million or even higher.
Your best option: weigh the rank and the price point, but only assume that if the book has a ranking listed then that only means a person has placed an order for it. Period. Your only two relevant questions then remain: "Can I wait for a year or more for this book to sell?" and "Can I afford to hold onto this book that long?"
Used Book Inventory Return On Investment
Tying up $20 to buy a book and then warehouse it for several years, hoping for a sale someday, is one thing. But tying up 25 cents on a book is a no-brainer. If you can buy the hardcover or paperback for 25-50 cents, and the lowest used book selling price online is $8 or more, buy it. In due time you ought to get a nice return on investment (ROI) on your used book inventory. If the book never sells, well, you can always donate it, sell it at a garage sale, or bundle it with other books in a "lot" that you can sell on other websites.
My advice: If the selling price is high enough and your purchase price is low enough, you should buy it and list it. What you are looking for is a healthy spread between what you pay and what your book sells for.
Yes, that book may squat on your bookshelf just taking up space for a year or more, but think of it this way: if you bought the book cheap enough and it doesn't take up much room, then when it sells it will feel like you've made free money.
Sometimes you'll be making an educated guess to carry the book or not. Seasoned booksellers look at a book with a sales rank of five million, and knowing that book won't fly off the shelf, they then consider the profit margin between what they are paying and what their net profit will be if and when it sells.
That's the rub: inexperienced online sellers look at the sales rank and believe it's in high demand, when in fact, the sales rank is simply tracking a number important to the top brass at Amazon.
Warning: If the book in question is about a subject which could lose popularity or public interest within a year -- an example might be a fringe political candidate who is running for national office, or a book written by participants in a national disaster news story -- the book could likely lose value simply because public interest wanes and the novelty of the subject matter is gone. Most of these types of books can morph into 'Penny Books' in short order.
Depend On Rule Of Thumb When Buying Used Books
Some have suggested that a simpler, more reliable rule of thumb is to take the publication date and then consider what is that book's sales rank. Older books with low sales ranks are rare. Newer books with low sales ranks might simply be the book is a niche product that sells slowly. Even so, it might still offer up a good profit margin if you buy the book cheaply enough.
And that's what the used book business is all about: buy the best books you can for as little as you can, store them in a dry place, and have them organized so you can retrieve them quickly when Amazon emails you that a sale has taken place.
By then, perhaps that book had been around so long that you even forgot having purchased it.
That will be the day when you quit being a newbie and become an experienced used book seller for good!

A Necessity For Recurring Sales, To Get Your Old Buyers to Buy Again, and Again

Let me first began by telling you my brief journey of why "List Building" is so important for your success in internet marketing.
Doing internet marketing can be frustrating when you put all your "Eggs in One Basket." It's not Easter, it is internet marketing people. You have to learn to diversify your earnings to be a big player in this game, and Yes, I said game, if you don't play the game right it will be 'Game Over'.
Not learning more than one strategy is a dangerous risk, especially if you start to make money doing that one strategy and then for some reason, something changes with Google or your software that you were using. It's sad to think about, especially if you were making 5 to 10 thousand a month and quit your job and bought a new house, scary right?
You must continue your education and keep upgrading your online system to stay on the top at least mid way point if you are depending on your online business to pay your bills. You need more well-rounded marketing strategies with techniques. Every strategy has its own technique.
Sadly a lot of people don't think about this. There are "Game Overs" everywhere going on everyday. Don't be like the rest. One of my favorite quotes is, "Smart people learn from their mistakes, and wise people learn from other peoples' mistakes." Be wise!
I learned a whole lot of little strategies from a bunch of places that were pretty good but, the strategies were not complete winning techniques, drawn out step by step. I continued to learn like this for about six months and couldn't take it anymore.
I had to find a course that taught about everything. All the ways to make money online. So I could at least pick 3 and get good at those. After trying about seven online marketing courses, I finally found it. Lucky number 7 is what I call it.
This course taught me everything from marketing money with Google AdSense (5 to 10 cents for each click from your website). 'Tools and Softwares,' for 'Building Websites' extremely fast while being formatted correctly. CPA (Click Per Action) Example: Is getting paid $1 for each person that fills out a form that requires their email address and zip code. 'List Building,' involves getting a person that visits your site to join your List (Get their Email addresses), by giving away something FREE like; A free ebook, free mini course of helpful information or some type of free training.
It also covers being an affiliate, in great detail. Being an affiliate is when you are promoting lets say, "Amazon Products" on your website, or "eBay Products" or ANY products really, that has an affiliate program (Good news is that, most do).
Plus, you will learn three, of the biggest secrets about Online Marketing in more detail, they are "Keywords," "Meta Tags" and "Backlinks." If you don't have these three then you don't have anything, period. If you are in a course that's not talking about these three necessities, get your money back if you can and get away from their softwares and training courses as soon as possible.
After watching all of the tutorial videos and practicing with all of the FREE software and tools from "Lucky Number 7's" Website (Remember, that's what I call this winning training course) I began to take action! I started devising my plan of how much I wanted to make and in what realistic time period.
$3,000 in less than 1 year was my plan. So I started Testing different methods in the beginning for about 6 months. I see where the weak points were and where the strong points were because I didn't just try one strategy. Remember I told you, I tried my favorite 3 strategies and learned the techniques for each strategy.
Gradually improving every other day or so, every week and every month. Even when obstacles got in the way like my wife being pregnant and needing my attention, working 2 jobs and helping out around the house as much as I could. I did it, i reached my goal in 10 months instead of 12 months and have been going up every month since then. And you can too!

Would you like to learn how you can apply strategies like 'List Building' and others to make a nice chunk of change every month, and build it higher ever month? Go on vacations to Hawaii and go shopping without thinking too much of how much 10 pair of $100 jeans will set you back.

Sports and Games Apps in Modern World

Stuck in a traffic jam or getting bored in the office, mobile phones can come to our rescue. Mobile games have been one of the best additions to our lives. Today mobile game development is a multibillion-dollar industry. Game developers crack their brains to bring us newer apps with improved experience and features. Since the days of the snake games, mobile apps have come a long way. With improved handset features and processing capabilities, they are giving PC games a run for their money. Sports and games apps have become the fashion of the modern world.
The world of mobiles is changing a lot. Once regarded as a tool for interaction now has turned in to a massive body with a wide range of application ranging from business to movies and entertainment.Mobile games apps has changed the way people opinion towards games both on a professional as well as on a personal front. Now people are playing games like never before. With the help of apps not only we can play the latest version of the game we can also keep an eye on the latest happenings in the sporting world. We can check the scores and sometimes watch the sports match live on our mobile phone. Considering the huge popularity of mobile games, all the mobile manufacturers are giving better functionality to their devices to make their phones compatible with different types of games available in the gaming sector. Sports and games apps have changed the whole structure of the modern world mobile applications.
There is a tremendous demand of online sports and games apps among people of all age groups. So, even a business with limited budget is now stepping into the world of games online. It has become an instant hit among all types of business sectors.
The businesses are using specific themes and there are various categories of Smartphone games available such as sports, action, adventure, racing, table-top, puzzle, hidden-object, educational and simulation games. Moreover, there are multi-player games introduced in the industry that allows users to play with their social circle even from their mobiles. The aim is to attract the attention of users and engage them to become their regular visitors or customers.
Some of the Android apps which have been very popular among the masses have been
a) Sporting News Pro Football
b) CBS Sports Pro Football
c) NBA Game Time Lite 2009-10
d) F1 LIVE RACING
e) ESPN Score Center
f) Sports Radio Droid
So, since the preference of the people keeps on changing the recent boom in mobile gaming sector just seems to be the perfect medicine for the live full of stress and tension. Seeing all these things one thing is for sure that the market is going to be flooded with the latest apps and it will provide a very nice option for the consumers to choose according to their need and demand.

The Best Advertising Idea for an Accounting Business

There are many advertising ideas for an accounting business in the advertising world but these are not always the best if you are an Accountant and want to start your own accounting practice. The reason for this is that you are perceived by the general public as a professional person and no doubt probably belong to a number of professional organizations.
Now if you are an active member of one or more of these professional organizations this is where you need to network. The best advertising you can have as an Accountant is a good network of like-minded and associated businesses.
The advantages of Networking
Networking is the best way for you to advertise your services but you don't do this overtly or through classified ads in newspapers or even AdWords on the internet. The best way for an Accountant to gain news clients is by recommendation.
A recommendation by a fellow member from a professional organization is one that carries a lot of 'kudos' for your business and for you personally. A recommendation is slightly different to a word-of-mouth suggestion because they are actually recommending you rather than just telling someone about your services.
When you joined your professional body of like-minded professionals, you would have most likely been asked what your business did and what your position was in the company or corporation. This is your opportunity to say what you did and what your specialty was (if any). After this, any time you talk about your accounting business needs to be done in more general terms because you will have given them a broad and comprehensive outline of your services in order to be invited into the organization.
Professional organizations are very 'picky' about those who they invite to join. After all, they are:
1) A professional body of educated and serious business people and
2) People will always be "labelled by the company they keep" so they need to be very particular.
What are some Professional Organizations for Accountants?
There is any number of professional organizations around the world today to service the Accounting Profession. However, these are good to belong to but they are not good for getting work from. These industry group organizations are good for recommendations and validation.
Some of these organizations are designed to do other works apart from acting as a body of professional people. Every industry has their own professional body like the Society of certified public accountants, Institute of Public Accountants, Certified Chartered Accountants, and they often support a charitable group in a community.
Service Clubs
Service clubs represent a good cross-section of a communities industry. Clubs like Rotary International and Lions clubs are two service clubs that are International Organizations and they are across all industries and Country borders. Both are now cross gender so there is no longer gender discrimination and any professional person can be invited to join.
Clubs like Rotary and Lions benefit their local community with charity work and support within their own communities as well as internationally.
It is from networking within these professional organizations that an accountant can advertise their accounting business simply by being in the organization and working for their local community.

Brain Aging Prevention

More news on the brain aging prevention. Eating a diet that's full of omega-3 fatty acids might just help to prevent memory troubles, as well as slowing down the effects of aging on the brain as the years pass. This comes from a new study that examines the link between levels of omega-3s in the blood and brain health.
The work has found that those with low omega-3 fatty acid levels have more risk of aging related memory problems.
Diets without docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and omega-3s that are a natural part of fish and other foods might lead to the brain aging more quickly. The lower brain volume observed in those with lower levels of omega-3s was equal to around two years of aging of the brain.
Earlier research has shown that those who follow a diet with lots of fatty fish, salmon and tuna are good examples, have a reduced risk of dementia, heart disease and stroke. The results from this most recent work appear to explain why.
The team tested omega-3 fatty acids inside red blood cells for 1,575 seniors (average age was 67) who were dementia free at the time and participating in the Framingham Offspring Study. Subjects were tested for mental ability and had MRI scans of their brains to look at size and blood supply.
Those whose had DHA levels in the lowest 25% showed reduced brain volumes compared to those with higher levels of DHA. What's more, those who had low DHA and were also lacking the other omega-3 fatty acids didn't score as high on visual memory tests, abstract thinking and processing. Brain scans showed that these subjects also had less blood supply in their brain.
The results, the researchers say, demonstrate that low omega-3 fatty acid levels, including DHA, are linked to memory and cognitive function issues even in those who have not been diagnosed with dementia.
The team accounted for different lifestyle and health factors... things like age, education level and body weight, to see if other differences in those with insufficient levels of omega-3 could be found to help understand their rapid brain aging. Yet the difference remained, making it appear even more likely that omega-3 fatty acids are the explanation for the better brain health.
This is not to say that consuming omega-3 fatty acids prevents age related mental decline. It shows only that there could be an association between eating these foods and a healthier brain. There could be other factors, such as fruit and vegetable intake or activity levels responsible for a healthy brain.
Foods known to naturally have lots of this nutrient include oily fish, walnuts, flaxseed and canola oils. You can also get omega-fatty acids from some shellfish and spinach. From this list you can see why fish has earned a reputation as a brain food... omega fatty acids can not be produced by the human body and therefore must be taken in as part of the diet.
Many choose to take docosahexaenoic (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in supplement form, but until we know more, this may not be the best option for everyone. Adding a serving (or two) of some of the foods we've mentioned here is a more natural approach. And be sure to talk with your healthcare team if you're concerned about your personal risks and are looking for brain aging prevention techniques to keep your brain healthy as the years pass.

Effectively Market Your Pain Management Practice on the Internet

Marketing for a pain management practice can be a very competitive situation. Pain management as a medical practice can be a highly profitable venture, however, a lot of pain practices have figured this out so it can be a competitive marketing problem to acquire new patients.
Here are 5 Internet marketing tips that can help you acquire new patients to your pain practice.
1. Write a lot of articles. The main thing is that this takes an investment of time. As long as you know the material such as information on the various injections for pain control and pain medications, then you already have the knowledge base. What you then need to do is take the time to produce content for blogging and submitting the articles to directories. This should not be done once a month, but rather a few times a week in order to increase your exposure. Ezines.com is great along with other article marketing softwares.
2. Publish press releases on a regular basis. Make sure to use one of the very good press release services. Sometimes the ones that are cheaper are not very good and the distribution is poor. So stick with the well-known ones even though they may cost a little bit more such as PRWeb. Make sure to place appropriate calls to action into these press releases such as potentially offering a special for new patients if it is allowed in your state and insurance contracts.
3. Submit your practice to all of the free directories on the Internet that you can. These are not going to yield hundreds of new patients a month. But people do look at them such as YellowPages.com, Yelp, Citysearch, and others. So making sure that you submit your pain practice to any one that you can find including the local directories may help you acquire business that once again only cost you some time.
4. Request internet reviews from your patients. Over two thirds of individuals read reviews prior to making a purchase. Medical practices are no different so reviews from your patience should be sought. This will serve two purposes. One is that prospective new patients may see these reviews on internet, and also when the patient puts a bad review on internet all the good ones will over shadow it.
5. One of the most important highlights of your practice is your website. Make sure that it is attractive and functional, which means that you have optimized content for search engines and enough pages to keep viewers on your site long enough to have them pick up the phone and call. Make sure your phone number is very visible and also you should have a news section or a blog so that people see you offer education.
Utilize these Internet marketing tips and over time you will see that you do acquire patients in a cost-effective manner over the Internet.

David Greene, MD, is President of Go Crazy SEO. The SEO company specializes in Website Design, e-commerce sites, reputation mgmt, Social Media, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Marketing (SEM), and SEO consulting.

Market to Boomers Without Making Blunders

Marketing to baby boomers is not exactly the same as marketing to other generations. They are the wealthiest, most educated and most sophisticated of consumers. Reports indicate that they are outspending younger generations on technology products and about 83% say they regularly access the internet. Not surprisingly, boomers are much more loyal to traditional and new media. And these differences require a different approach especially when using mobile marketing to reach boomers. Let's explore some specific strategies that can help gain advantage with this population segment.
1. Avoid mass marketing. The desire to keep up with the Joneses is not as strong in this generation as it is in the younger generation. They will acquire possessions to achieve life's experiences and individual preferences, but not necessarily to be in sync. However, from a marketing perspective, endorsement of your product or service with a young celebrity may not work well when marketing to boomers.
2. Make unique individual offers. Unlike the Y generation, boomers prefer to talk on phone than to text. They also use social media to catch on what's happening. In addition, they watch more TV than the younger generation who like getting connected. This means that your campaign should take cognizant of these facts. Make campaigns that appeal to an individual and not a group.
3. Never refer them as old. Boomers are turn off when you refer to them as old. Make them feel young sexy or sophisticated. Avoid talking about the past. Instead talk about the future, their goals and aspirations in your campaigns. Speak of their passions and values and make it a justification for spending on luxury items.
4. Make use of referrals. The generation like the rest of society puts more value on word-of-mouth recommendations in their buying decisions than on advertising. Naturally, to scoop more dollars from the pockets of this generation, referrals should take centre stage. A daughter's word about a product or service is far more trusted than ads in national TV, Radio and Newspapers. Take the step of asking current customers to bring along their friends, relatives or neighbors. You can give an incentive or a payout for anyone who helps you reach more people.
5. Integrate your campaigns with social media. A link from a friend on Facebook or a mention of a product will have a bigger impact than advertising. In addition to disseminating news, a marketer should use social media to bring more seniors to the loop. Once in the loop and a long as the experience is pleasant, boomers are more consistent and loyal than the average population.

New Survey Results by Google

(Internet, USA) -- Can you answer this question definitively - Do you know what SEO is? Turns out - 1 in 5 Americans - have heard of Search Engine Optimization, according to Matt Cutts, Google's head of web spam. In other words, that means 4 in 5 people do not know what SEO means. Cutts' surveyed 1576 people, using Google's Consumer Surveys, a new paid research service. The survey indicates there are gender differences, too. Interestingly, Cutts found that nearly 25% of men heard of SEO, with 16% of women aware of the same. Still, just because people have heard of SEO, does not indicate they know what it means to a business. In fact, it's doubtful that those surveyed can actually define SEO. The research did not delve deep into that topic.
Definition. SEO is the professional process of achieving 1st page Google, Bing & Yahoo ranking for your website.
What does that tell us internet marketers? We need to inform the businesses we represent about the absolute necessity of having a regular SEO plan of action in place to build and maintain top search engine placement rank. That is, where your website or online directory listing appears on Google, Bing & Yahoo.
Companies seem to be in the dark about SEO. You can't just have a website coded correctly to appear on the 1st page of Google. You have to constantly refresh the website content writing, the graphics (coupons), keywords, and take extra measures like write industry articles on your business blog, add website coupons or a news feed and have your SEO professional promote your online video commercial in mass monthly. On the latter note, Forbes Insight published in December 2010 did a study and found that 59% of senior executives prefer to watch video instead of reading text, if both are available on the same page.
The fact that only 1 in 5 people, an estimated 20.4% of Americans have heard of SEO based on the Google study is astonishing. 'Cause it's something that every business needs to achieve website search engine success.
Additional Statistics. Website business owners must understand that SEO is a high stakes game that you must win. After all, if your company website sits in the top tier of search results, you may experience a big traffic and sales increase.
Another study was released in September 2011 by the Pew Internet & American Life Project that found that 58% of those surveyed search the internet for information before buying products and services, with most users only viewing the first page: Google, Bing and Yahoo search engines.
How do search engines determine which websites go where? A site's position on Google, Bing & Yahoo is based on a mathematical formula, an algorithm, which give high rankings to sites coded correctly, packed with viable keywords and more. In terms of outsourcing your SEO, here are suggestions.
The SEO professional you hire needs to regularly make updates:
**Write Industry-related journalism/PR articles on Business Blog
**Swap out & re-design online website coupons
**Write Social Media updates: Twitter and/or Facebook
**Website Keyword analysis, competition analysis, keyword implementation & reports
With 4 out of 5 people unaware of what SEO is, that is a tell-tale sign that website business owners need to get educated on SEO, at least learn the basics, before you outsource these tasks to an internet marketing expert. When all is said and done, in today's internet-driven technology age, regular, i.e. monthly search engine optimization is as essential as having a company website.

5 Reasons To Start Your Career Search Early

Employers are looking for college talent earlier than ever.

Each year Dr. Phil Gardner at Michigan State University Collegiate Employment Research Institute surveys thousands of companies to scope the employment landscape for college grads.

In this year's results, it's a mixed bag, but mostly favorable: college hiring is up overall by 4%.

The interesting thing that jumped out at me about this year's report, is the need for college students to begin their career prep experience from the first day on campus.

Here's what the survey said, and what you can do to get ready from your first days on campus.

1. Survey said: Many schools have "partner companies" who recruit for talent from the school.

What you need to do: Identify your school's employer partnerships, and who's at the table when they talk.

The primary reasons for these partnerships are to:

• get access to talent early in a student's career
• create visibility for their brand
• gain access to diverse talent

Hmmm, gain access to talent early in a student's career? That means the timeline is moving up. Companies may be looking for specific skill sets, academic attributes or areas of expertise earlier in the academic cycle. They may talk to your professors, deans, or career center to scout future top talent.

• 60% of these relationships involve career centers so ensure the career center is part of your strategy.
• Nearly 40% of companies want to see faculty or college deans involved in the relationships. That means your faculty team can be a critical component of your career search process.

Watch this news video for a textbook example of how TechSmith is leveraging their partnership - and hiring grads - at Michigan State.

2. Survey said: Campus oriented internships and career fairs are the top two recruiting strategies for companies.

What you need to do: Plug in to the career services your school offers.

Know what's available to you in terms of resources, education, internship opportunities. Get to know the staff, attend events. Be proactive to let them know who you are, what you offer, and what you are interested in.

One student told me, "The career center is a great resource, but only if you go to them. They won't come looking for you!"

3. Survey said: Faculty and alumni referrals are two other top recruiting strategies.

What you need to do: Build your network: on campus and off.

Build relationships with your college faculty, other students, other students' parents. Alumni groups, fraternity/sorority organizations, college clubs, college business partners, and your internship or work connections also count in your relationship map.

Create and nurture your online presence. I'm always surprised when I meet college students without a LinkedIn profile. Make this a priority immediately, and build on it throughout your academic career. (And yes, it's OK to link your parents in.)

4. Survey said: internships are now the hiring source of choice.

What you need to do: Get an internship. Or two. Or three.

The MSU study shows that 71% of employers indicated they would be seeking interns and co-ops during the school year. Up to half of these internships convert into full-time offers of employment.

In fact, an internship each summer isn't a bad idea if you can make that happen. Start looking in your freshman year for the work experiences that will position you to compete.

5. Survey said: 41% of employers want to wrap up their hiring during the first term of your senior year.

What you need to do: Don't wait until your senior year to get started.

A recent survey said the number 1 thing recent grads would have done differently, was "start earlier."

It sounds to me that the career preparation process is as much a part of being a college student as going to class and writing papers. In a way, we always knew that. But these are competitive times, and today's college student needs to be much more savvy about preparing for that transition from academics to career.

Start early, capitalize on the opportunities your campus offers, build relationships, and network. It's much easier to do that than to play "catch up" when you are three or four years into college.

Identify Your Target Audience

What's your mark?
Your business - and every business - has a singular driving goal: capturing more customers and, ultimately, owning your market.
Today, owning your market doesn't require you to spend more on marketing and promoting your business than your competitors. However, it does require you to have a more efficient marketing and promotion engine in place that yields maximum return for every dollar and every hour you invest.
The process of building this engine doesn't begin with tactics; rather, it begins with identifying your target.
No business - yours included - can afford to market to everyone. Of course, it's tempting to try to reach as broad an audience as possible in the hopes that no potential customer will slip through your fingers.
However, in actuality, this approach will cost you much more money and deliver far less satisfactory results because you'll have greatly diluted your chances of reaching those whose needs you truly serve.
It's important to understand that your target audience does not encompass anyone who might possibly ever buy your products or services. Rather, your target audience is comprised of those who are most likely to buy and, therefore, become the primary focus of your marketing efforts.
Identifying the right niche provides the foundation for success in all aspects of marketing and promoting your business:
It allows you to focus your efforts on those tactics and mediums that are most effective in reaching this particular group.
It allows you to tailor your sales message to focus on the needs and concerns that are of greatest relevancy and urgency.
Most importantly in today's marketplace, it allows you to build a strong community around your brand comprised of people who love what you do and happily serve as your fans and evangelists.
And in real dollars and cents, it's the difference between sending thousands and hundreds of thousands of postcards to achieve the same end result.
Here are the steps you should take to ensure that you're targeting the right audience:
Segment your customer base.
Who are your customers? Of course, there are many different ways to answer this question.
Often it's easiest to begin by examining your sales data and segmenting your customers into groups based on demographic factors, including age, gender, income level, education level, marital and family status, industry and geographic location.
In working though this process, you'll likely find that a particular group or groups emerge as those who buy from you most often.
This simple step can also help you identify how best to market the same product or service to different groups. Some market segments may be better reached at trade shows while others can be reached at home with a direct mail campaign.
Dig deeper.
Breaking your customer base down into groups based on basic common characteristics like gender and income is only step one. To reach and engage with these groups effectively, you'll need to develop a deeper understanding of both their lifestyle and their motivations.
Start with one of your products or services and evaluate it through the eyes of the customers that exist within each group you've identified. Make a list that includes every possible reason this type of customer might want this particular product or service. Maybe they are trying to solve a problem, maybe they just want to feel good about themselves or to satisfy a basic need. Going through this process will help you drill down to the specific benefits and outcomes that should be the core focus of all your future communication with this group.
Secondly, think about the routines of their day-to-day lives and how this communication will be best received. Do they frequently read the paper? Do they spend a lot of time in the car listening to the radio? When searching for news and entertainment, do they turn on the television or pick up their iPad? Are they likely to be active on social media platforms and, if so, which ones? This type of analysis is essential to ensuring that you choose the right vehicles and mediums to capture their attention.
Keep digging.
At this point, you've established a solid foundation of knowledge about your target audience. But if you dig a little deeper, you might uncover additional information that will allow you to sharpen your approach even more.
Now that you've segmented your market and gained an understanding of what drives your customers, see if you can identify which group or groups offer the most marketing bang for your buck.
For example, of all those who are most likely to buy your products or services, which groups represent the most profitable? In the B2B world, these are usually the clients with the greatest longevity or those who utilize services with the greatest profit margin.
Also, who are the customers or clients that send you the most referrals? These are your very best customers because they do the work of selling for you, so make sure you are not only reaching your existing customers who fall into this category but also others like them because they represent a group whose needs you are particularly good at serving.
Finally, it would be a mistake not to examine who your competitors are targeting. This is not so that you can just copy their strategy and run with it. To the contrary, what you're really looking for is any gaps in the market that they might be overlooking so you can swoop in and grab these underserved segments.
Put your target to the test.
Now that you've identified your audience, it's time for the rubber of your marketing plan to hit the road of execution, right? Not so fast.
You need to put your construct of your target audience to the test to ensure that it's one that can sustain and grow your business. This process is often called a SWOTT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunity, threats and trends) analysis.
Ask yourself the following questions:
Are there enough people within the audience you've identified to support your business?
Can they afford your product?
Will they see a legitimate need for it?
Where do your prices fall in regard to their expectations? Too low? Too high?
Are there opportunities to upsell other related products or services to this group?
How much competition already exists in the marketplace for this group?
Are there any trends you can identify of which you should be taking advantage?
While the process of identifying your target audience may seem complex, these steps hold the keys to competing effectively in today's marketplace. When you clearly understand who buys from you and why, only then can you find the channels they frequent and become one with your tribe.
And wouldn't you rather own your target market than merely shoot arrows into the dark, hoping one will land?