Deep Thoughts about Your Target Audience
Transforming your business means looking at all aspects of it, even those pieces you think are sacrosanct, like your target audience. I know you spent a lot of time defining your perfect customer and even more time building relationships with the customers you have.
Here are some “what if” questions to ponder that might open your eyes to new ideas:
- WHAT IF you could serve the people who also serve your customers? For instance, I’m a small business coach. What if I could serve the financial advisors, accountants, virtual assistants, human resource and training companies who serve my customers?
- WHAT IF you could serve a different target audience? Let’s just pretend for a moment that you didn’t want to offer one-on-one private services anymore, but you didn’t want to throw away all that knowledge and experience either. Could you create a training program to teach people how to become what you are? Then they could serve your original target audience.
- WHAT IF you could narrow your target audience to one from a specific demographic? For instance, let’s say you are a graphic artist and you’ve been working with local companies to design their marketing materials. What if you focused solely on service firms, or solely on manufacturing firms? What if you focused only on businesses which make more than $1 million a year? Or focused only on women-owned businesses? Or focused solely on businesses with a strong socially-responsible stand?
- WHAT IF you could ponder all the past customers you’ve had and choose the ones that you most enjoyed working with? What do they have in common?
You don’t have to make a major shift to a brand new target audience, though that is one viable business reinvention strategy. You can re-define who you most enjoy working with and which clients are the most profitable, transforming your business to align more with your goals and values.
8 Responses to “Deep Thoughts about Your Target Audience”
Category: The Reinvention Process
Tags: reinventing your business , target audience
[...] took her six months to find clarity on the services she’d offer and her exact target audience. Now she’s positioning herself as a workshop and seminar leader, offering workshops within [...]
20 Jul 2010 at 1:03 pm
Your Self Employed Newsletter is the second one I have read this morning that have provided me with much inspiration, there’s on a personal level and your on a professional level.
I currently have 3640 un-read emails in my inbox- lifestyle choice not to read any emails unless they are urgent.
So to read two that caught my eye and get value is a bonus!
The Deep Thoughts About Your Target Audience triggered off thoughts about an angle I have been thinking about going for, so thanks.
Be blessed in your purpose
Iona Woodmore -The Vision Coach
17 Aug 2010 at 3:47 am
Hi, Iona,
I’m glad this article provided inspiration out of the 3,000+ emails in your inbox! We all need to shake up our thinking from time to time, lift our heads, and get a fresh perspective.
17 Aug 2010 at 4:42 am
Hi Karyn,
These are the questions I’m pondering as I go about the hard job of reinventing my business. I know this, the more focused I can be on both who I want my customer to be and what services I offer to those customers the happier I’ll be and the more success I’ll achieve. I always enjoy your views.
17 Aug 2010 at 7:47 am
Sounds like you’re on target (no pun intended) with your reinvention, Tom. We must think about the customers we enjoy working with the most and a series of other factors, when making strategic business transformations.
17 Aug 2010 at 8:03 am
These ideas really get me thinking outside the box. I have definitely given thought to who I most like to work with, yet I haven’t thought about it in this way. I like the what-if questions…energizing!
19 Aug 2010 at 11:36 am
I’m glad they got you thinking, Marci!
The thing I love about transforming your business is that you get to think deeply about things you may have been taking for granted, taking a fresh look at all the foundational pieces.
19 Aug 2010 at 4:41 pm
[...] are lots of places where you can transform your business: your marketing, your target audience, the services and products you sell, the way back-office administration happens, your technology, [...]
20 Oct 2011 at 2:51 am