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Target Marketing for Service Professionals Let’s face it. Marketing can be expensive. It can be a wasted expense when we don’t take the time to figure out exactly who our market is and the best way to reach that market. When asking service professionals who their target markets are, many tend to think that everyone is their target. This is just not the case. The fastest way to waste your money is to think that everyone is a member of your target market. Understanding who your target market is a process that can be broken down into many small but important steps. You first must know exactly what services you have to offer. Make sure that the selection of services you offer is small enough to have a target, but large enough to hit the bulls-eye. So how do you begin. Let’s break this process down with an example. Christine is a freelance copywriter and marketing consultant. She decided to offer a full range of copywriting services and market planning. She has thought about the industries she has experience in, knowledge of or interest in learning about. Christine decides to target financial planners and financial service providers. Christine breaks down the process into the following four steps. Step 1 - Reading trade magazines and association websites to find out what problems the industry face when trying to reach potential customers. She also calls local financial service firms to find out what problems they face and how they currently market to potential customers. Step 2 - Christine understands what is the best way to reach and sell to her target markets is to know how their industry and profession operate. Through research she finds out how her potential clients market to their potential clients. Once she has a full understanding of what problems her potential customers are facing, she can create marketing material to address their needs and gain credibility by showing she knows and understands the problems they are facing. Don't try selling your services to them, sell solutions to their needs and how your services can help them solve their current and future problems. When you are creating your materials keep in mind that businesses want to either: Increase customers or all of the above. When you target your market, tell how you can help them gain customers, increase loyalty, retain customers or obtain referrals. Know up front what services you offer that will provide them the solutions to these problems and prove to them how you know how the services will help them. Step 3 - Once you have figured out what your markets’ needs are and how to reach this market. Create a marketing plan of attack for your business. Show your targets how investing in your services in an investment in their business, and how a long term investment in your service will be even more beneficial for them. Make sure that you are prepared for objections that they may have. If you are doing a direct mail piece, try to address those objects in your mailing. If you are cold calling, be prepared to address those objections on the phone. The more you know your business the better they will trust that you will understand theirs. Christine has decided that she will begin with activities that will put her in touch with potential customers right away. She decided to come up with an immediate plan of attack. A. Create a database of prospects B. Create a cold calling script C. Create direct mail follow-up materials (Postcards, newsletters, etc.) Christine has also created a long-term plan of attack. A. Writing articles for target markets trade publications B. Giving marketing seminars C. Creating a website for prospects to obtain information on her services D. Providing free useful information that can be downloaded on her website Step 4 - Create a twelve-month plan and show how you will market to your targets and how you will track the success of your marketing activities. Christine has decided to create a twelve-month schedule outlining activities to undertake for each month. She decides what the goals are for each activity and what will determine if the activity was successful. One of her goals is to create a marketing seminar with the goal of 60 people attending the seminar. She then decides the goal will be successful if at least 48 people attend the seminar. Her long term goal is to turn at a quarter of the attendees into clients. Once you have created your marketing plan, make sure that you work that plan to success. Many people try not to sell to hard, by not contacting a potential client afraid to scare them off or upset them. But think about it, Tide isn’t worried about contacting you too often, when they run their commercial 60 times a day for you to see. When you want detergent, they want you to think of Tide. You should feel the same way. When your potential market is looking for your services, you want your service to come to mind first. For instance, Christine could try a postcard mailing. She has determined that there are four services her prospects could use to help their improve business. She doesn’t send a post card once a month, she sends one every 10 days to two weeks, pointing out how one of her services could help their business. She uses one postcard to tell how newsletters can help increase customer loyalty and referrals, and provided proof by using an example of how a client used newsletters to increase customer loyalty, referrals and brand awareness. Keep you name in front of your prospects, your services as the solution and they will come looking for you in their time of need. Jennifer Woodard is a freelance Marketing Communications Consultant offering a full range of communication services including but not limited to marketing, public relations, and book marketing. She specializes in working with Professional Service Firms, Professionals, Authors and Publishers. Visit her website at http://www.jenniferwoodard.biz and her blog at http://jenniferwoodard.blogspot.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_Woodard
Men As Socks Some people say you can judge a man by the shoes on his feet. I like to take it one step further. I believe that you can tell a lot about a person's character and what type of husband he's going to be just by the style of socks he chooses to wear. Let's take a look at man who prefers crew socks. He is a man's man. He is passionate about maintaining his physique and playing or watching sports. While learning about art history or western civilization does not interest him, he still lends an attentive ear if that is what you're enthusiastic about. Most of the time he doesn't like to discuss emotional things, but when you're in need he'll be by your side. He has a macho way about him that makes you feel secure and protected. A romantic date planned by him is likely to consist of something catered. He might need a little help setting the mood, but once there, his mind and eyes are focused on you. Since he's not an artistic kind of guy, you can count on a Hallmark card for your anniversary. If a man is decked out in dress socks, he is business savvy and has a knowledge of exotic things. His ideas about romance are more of the classic sort, such as dinner at a fine restaurant and waltzing by candlelight. Though he doesn't wear his emotions on his sleeve, he isn't too shy to recite a poem to you. His compliments come from the heart and he never fails at making you feel like a lady. When he's off on a business venture somewhere, you can expect flowers to be delivered to you. He wants you to know that you're in his thoughts. A guy who dons thermal socks may be rough around the edges, but he's one with nature. He isn't afraid to show his softer side. He's likely to romance you by a campfire beneath the stars. He thrives on the idea of being able to take care of someone and nurture them by working diligently. His family is very important to him. The ultimate gift from him would be something he wrote or made for you. A good way to describe a man who opts for ankle socks is carefree and loving. He appreciates the simple things in life. He likes sports but will give up the football game to spend time with you. Fancy things are not a priority with him. He'd rather have a quiet night at home with you instead of being in a crowded area. If he has a game to go play, he wants you there cheering him on. A barefoot walk on the beach while holding your hand is ideal for him. What about mismatched socks? There's no other way to explain it: comedy is his drive! He believes that laughter is the best medicine. He is full of surprises and always searching for the perfect opportunity to pull a prank on you, or one of your friends. There's rarely a quiet moment when it comes to a romantic date. He is likely to make a joke in serious times, though it is always with good intentions. He opts for stand-up comedy tickets, an amusement park, or a weekend in Vegas. Don't be too surprised if he leaves you silly love notes around the house, or if he sends you on a wild goose chase in search of a date destination. Though it may seem like he's always trying to be the center of attention, really he cares about showing you a good time. Be cautious of a man who dresses in holey socks. At first it will feel nice to be needed by him. However, it becomes apparent rather quickly that he relies on you to make him happy. He has a lot of issues and you'll soon learn that he's wholly devoted to his own problems. When we search for a partner we look for someone with similar interests, morals, and ethics. We know that we will have a difference of opinion from time to time, but we can choose to be accepting of one another. Instead of trying to find the perfect mate, we should be looking for the person that suits us the best. My ideal pair of socks feels soft against my feet, but will still remain sturdy if I decide to do some running. Which type of sock would you be most comfortable with even through all the washing, wearing, and tearing? Next time you're out shopping hit the sock aisle. You may just snag yourself a great pair of socks. This article has been submitted in affiliation with http://www.Prye.Com/ which is a site for Wedding Invitations. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lexi_Jewlgia
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