Presentation by author Johan Lehrer. I’ve mainly become intrigued by this young author (30) because his writing is compared to Malcolm Gladwell. Explaining grit, not forcing creativity, but getting insights from breaks. This is a debatable topic regarding fostering innovation. Interesting comparison of how a city of people is more resilient than a large company.
As a creative business man I’ve experienced similar events this book describes. King is right on many levels of working for yourself and breaks down his analysis into witty and understandable wisdom.
In a way it can be considered therapeutic for artists because King explains how it’s possible to go from depression and anxiety into a happy and profitable lifestyle. He claims you have to have a blend of creative and technical skills to succeed which is absolutely true. However he also suggests that you should do all tasks for a project which contradicts his later chapter on multi-tasking where you lose focus and time switching between tasks. This is actually not efficient as most entrepreneurs will tell you to delegate or outsource trivial tasks.
Screenwriting is briefly mentioned and used as a model to build stories for your art or product because it is the story that sells. Then King goes on to communication and learning from mentors but not how to get them. Freelance work ethics are described well and I would hire him just based on how he explains his workflow. As there are fakers, takers, and makers, it is best to be the maker to create substance and be results-oriented. Unfortunately there are many irrational people which don’t know better which is ridiculously accurate.
He describes Los Angeles creative industry, the types of people in it, and what to expect or actually not to expect. What surprised me the most was his refusal to accept and harness his startup fame as a musician but didn’t explain why. As described in the book, his accomplishments were creating videos, albums, and including popular musicians. Two things however were not as ethical such as his massive internet trolling and setting up a booth at a conference for a fake product to get investors. I could only guess that King may have felt unworthy of his temporary fame or felt rebuffed from his trolling.
I enjoyed reading the part about dealing with difficult clients. The funny mantra written for freelancers: “I work in a mental hospital. When he doesn’t like green snake, I hide green snake.”
Paying attention to consumer demand is a very important aspect in identifying a potential niche in the market. In fact, finding an idea directly from your target market can lead to success in business. You will want to interact with your potential customers in order to inquire about any problems or concerns they are currently encountering. Many times, providing a solution to their problems may be the perfect business model for your business.
“If you build it, they will come” is a mindset that no longer works in today’s business environment. Consumers are too resourceful and often have many companies in which to choose from to find a product or service they need or want.
The Best Target Market Strategy
The best target market strategies follow this simple three step process:
Now that we have identified the steps to properly implement a target market strategy, let’s discuss each one in detail to provide further clarification.
Identify The Target Market
This first step may appear commonsensical, but is actually very important and involves a great deal of research. It is very easy to assume who the target market will be based on the product or service you provide, but is not a very good strategy. This approach can actually be very dangerous and detrimental to the success of your business. A few years ago, a business could get away with selling a product or service without having a clear understanding of the role in which the product or service plays in the consumers’ lives. Today, consumers are spending their money a lot more cautiously and it is imperative to determine if your product or service fills that need or want the consumer desires. Your product or service that plays more of a major role in certain consumers’ lives will help you identify your target market.
Identify Any Problems Encountered by The Audience
This is often the part where implementing a target market strategy breaks down. Too many times an entrepreneur or business will unnecessarily try to create a market that does not exist. It is wise to identify a market based off problems that currently exist in that market. Everybody wants a solution to a problem and if you can provide this, you are most likely off to a good start in having a successful business model.
Furthermore, you can save a lot of time and money if you simply interview your target market to determine exactly what they are looking for in a product or service. This will help you decide which business features are more important to focus on initially and which ones to entertain at a later date.
Express The Solution Your Product or Service Provides for The Problem The Audience Encounters
It is very vital that you express to your consumers the solution your product or service offers to address their problem. Consumers have a plethora of products and services from which to choose, so you have to ensure their concerns are being met. With the emergence of social media, companies have no excuse to connect and interact with their consumers to determine if their needs and wants are being met in real time. Learn how to get ideas directly from your target market. Leave a comment, Tweet this Post or Email me to get a 50% off the course.
This is a tutorial I wrote to demonstrate how you can add a custom PayPal button to your WordPress blog by integrating it with a contact form especially the plug-in Contact 7 Form.
It works by allowing the visitor to fill out and submit a form followed by a Pay button to appear. I’ve seen too many websites that offer a service but the first thing they ask for is a payment. That’s understandable that you want to get paid for your services, however I believe the sequence could be improved. So if that’s what you currently offer please take a few extra minutes to integrate your PayPal button with your order form.
What comes to your mind when you think of marketing? Spending money to advertise? During my education of marketing I can tell you that you can leverage the cost with time. If you have more free time you can get free or very cheap marketing.
I do spend wisely and pay up when I recognize value even if it’s to educate myself. Although a recent investment frustrated me beyond my normal threshold of average human frustration. I’ve paid an entrepreneur handsomely (over a thousand dollars) only to receive 30% practical advice and 70% suppositional stuff (praise, bragging, demos). This guy sold me with his tactical copywriting and supremely positive attitude but left me hanging in the end or literally not responding to my questions. Also he proposed critiquing my progress yet has not done so. (Comment if I should reveal this entrepreneur’s identity or if it’s a bad idea).
Your alternative method is to take the time to seek out people you want to learn more instead of following an ad or promo. It’s the better route for those who have more time on their hands. I actually hired a virtual assistant to seek out entrepreneurs for me to compiled a list, so it’s in between the two routes. Boy am I glad at the results because it wasn’t my first virtual assistant, but definitely one who followed my instructions and communicated frequently. (Two key things to establish with virtual assistants).
The other prospective assistant didn’t pass my qualification question. I politely informed her that her answer was not applicable by pointing out a source of what I expected. She refuted that her answer was more than appropriately enough because my the source (wikipedia) is inaccurate. This is coming from a person who’s online resume states years of “assistant” experience including web HTML/CSS, yet her resume was published online on a free ad-filled domain with unformatted text spanning from edge-to-edge of the browser window. Not to get off-topic but please do qualify any virtual assistants you might hire.
I wasn’t expecting to get responses from every entrepreneur and that’s normal, but I learned a tactic that increased my response rate to 30%. The quickest responses were very pleasant and from wealthy entrepreneurs. I became interested in 47hats.com because of Bob Walsh’s book on Micro-ISVs and involvement in The Micropreneur Academy. Not only that but he has an awesome live chat tool called Snap Engage. I took up Bob’s consultation offer and he fired away answering all my questions.
I showed him my online service to get his opinion. First he questions the integrity, where I am the matchmaker of producer to most-fitting user. He also critiqued the design and the content as well. All sound advice. Even by reading many books, there are somethings you psychologically can’t harness on your own work. That’s why I recommend getting consulting or at least an opinion from expert leaders. Just remember, initially you want to offer value first otherwise you may not get a response.
MOTIVATION
This is the important word that comes to mind when thinking of sales. I’m writing this article on my journey of really getting to know the sales approach. The “Go Getters” are good people. People change their state of mind frequently but there is always hunger for more. If the product is just right and I can find a market to desire it, I can sell it.
Focusing on the positive things determines the outcome of your sales calls. You truly want and should have the desire to help people. Feeling this way you and your voice will be congruent thus improving your chances of a sale. Do not think you will sale just to make money. This will come through your conversation as a sign of desperation. Make all your calls with this frame of mind to build integrity and momentum. Even though your energy might drop, the next sale will come just at the right moment to feel refreshed.
If you feel queasy from initiating contact with strangers then it’s going to take practice. Say to yourself “I will find the right people to hear me out and they will like talking to me.” That’s the first step to get your mind focused and DO SAY it out LOUD. Write your pitch before your calls and make notes between pauses to listen to the prospect on their reaction. Think of selling as problem solving. I have been told my voice is monotone, but nonetheless the information I present gets heard and sticks when I mention what it’s worth.
Don’t talk to people who are not looking for improvement, because they will only criticize you. Your outcome should be the result you’re trying to achieve. Just remember the formula because anything can happen during a sale that can interrupt your thought process.
Here’s the formula: Quick Self Intro > Acknowledge The Challenge > Identity with Your Prospect > Offer the Solution
In this order you will built rapport with your prospect to understand him/her. It places your communication on the same page so the prospect opens up to a free flowing conversation.
When thinking about commerce the World Can Be Flat such as the book by Thomas Friedman. However in sales I recommend starting to reach out for prospects locally than reach further out. I say this because it’s likely you believe “word of mouth” is the best type of marketing. It’s is the social proof that people follow.
Newspapers and media are the second most powerful driver of commerce at the local level. Even though tactics work to makes sales by numbers, you as the producer will want to focus on strategy. This is long-term thinking but if you are the “sell-and-bail” type forget about strategy. The majority of people also think in the present for that quick and easy satisfaction. Remember that you create rapport and loyalty with strategy which increases your customer retention. Read more »
Years ago I’ve actually thought that marketing was lame and useless because whenever you had the desire to find something just search for it (google it). A great product (or service) should sell itself, right? But what if nobody hears about it? And how is your target audience going to find it in a massively competitive market? So marketing is actually crucial.
Many people go about marketing the wrong way and that’s why 80% of new businesses fail. The ones that cold call and direct mail asking people directly to buy their product/service have the lowest conversion rate and put us (consumers) in a defensive and resistant mindset even though we may benefit from what they actually have to offer. These are tactics used by sales people only to achieve a short-term goal (buy the product). However, at any given time only 3% of potential buyers are buying right now.
A strategy is much more important for success, because your line of communication is more effective in reaching your target buyers. It involves the 7% of people open to the idea of buying and possibly the 30% of people not thinking about it. Imagine the your services is present, set up and marketed ideally (let’s take the example of Improv training in this scenario). The 30% of people who are interested but not thinking about it, become interested because they heard about your service from a satisfied friend or saw an ad in business magazine to become a better presenter.
They decide to research your service to find a fantastic up-to-date website with students’ testimonials cheering about how they laughed more in one class than they have all week at their stressful [insert occupation here] job. Not ready to buy they decide to sign-up for your newsletters which you send out descriptively stating anecdotes how your student Daniel Tosh moved to LA and got a TV job after taking your course. Another letter explains how Harry became the office manager after improving his speaking skills in your class.
However, that 30% crowd is still unconvinced they should enroll yet, so you put up some video clips of class doing the Sensei game where everyone breaks up in laughter. Okay, now that crowd wants to buy because they saw that video during their half-hour lunch break, but they don’t have time to drive to the stage and pay because of their busy schedule. Neither do they know if the class is full, but scrolling down the website, they notice a big “register” and pay button. So they pay online and are thrilled to experience the benefits which await them.
In the end you’ve achieved success by tripling your 3% of “buy now” people to 9% or even greater.
Definition:
in·san·i·ty [in sánnətee]
[NOUN]
When you realize it’s time to make a change because something is not working it may be too late!!! Or is it better later than never. How about I just tell you?
Policies at a startup business may sound trivial but they will get people to comply and are not as strict as rules . You want results. Period. Especially if you are working with people or managing them. Heck, you can be running solo but eventually you’ll outsource some of the workload. If some task gets questioned I certainly encourage receiving suggestions, but you’ll be glad when you have polices set in place once your business is up-and-running.
Here are the steps to implement a new policy or change an existing one: Read more »
After taking copywriting courses. I realized the true potential of marketing through copywriting. I was kind of against it because I believed it was fake and full of lies (sometimes it is). There’s even a popular book called “Marketers are Liars” by Seth Godin.
Like the 80/20 principle, the sell of a product consists of 80% marketing and 20% is the product. Think about it, when was the last time you purchased a non-necessity item, without reading about it first? I remember strictly reading the technical specifications of products and ignoring all other text during a purchase. However these were non-necessary products which didn’t satisfy the basic human desires.
