Posted on Monday, 15th March 2010 by CopywritingCat
When you’re building an online business, you will most likely be advised to find a hungry niche: a target market consisting of prospects who are able and willing buy what you offer. Most marketers soon realize that customers buy what they want, not what they need. They will often find a way to buy if their desire is strong enough.
I identify two types of a hungry market: the cookbook and the tire store. One market always wants “just one more” and the other wants “just one - right now.” When I teach the Online Client Attraction Blueprint
, this topic is one of my faves.
The Cookbook Market
Remember the potato chip commercials that teased us about eating just one — and stopping? This business model targets customers who will always want “just one more.”
People who are into cooking rarely own just one cookbook. They have dozens and they’re always buying more. They also buy cooking accessories. Their friends give them cooking gadgets for birthdays.
You know you have a cookbook business when your market keeps buying more and more products in the same category. Cookbook businesses include quilting, knitting, teddy bears, dogs (ever meet a dog with just 1 toy? Either zero or too many - and I have 4 dog beds for 1 dog), golf, and yes, Internet marketers.
The Tire Store
When was the last time you visited a tire store? I bet you weren’t “just looking.”
Customers buy tires to replace flat or worn out tires. They rarely browse around a tire store on a lazy Sunday afternoon. They rarely comparison shop. They buy because they’re, well, desperate.
Tire store businesses target customers who think their business is failing, seek solutions to embarrassing personal problems, can’t seem to lose weight, want to save a failing relationship and/or just received a diagnosis of cancer or diabetes.
One of the biggest differences I’ve found is that “tire store” customers don’t need the freebies to promote the product. They just want to grab solutions and the freebie gets in the way.
Comments (1)
Tags: client attraction, copywriting
Posted in Internet Markting for Newbies, Professional Services Marketing, copywriting
March 16th, 2010 at 05:52
What a great post! It helps to clarify whether your passion has a great target market…:) I feel a blog post coming on!