Ryan Allis, CEO of the marketing and online communications firm iContact Corp., in his book “Zero to One Million: How I Built a Company to 1 Million in Sales … And How You Can Do” has a great section on what makes a product great. According to Allis, the perfect product has the following attributes: […]
niche marketing
How to Market a Graphic Design Business
One of my closest friends is a freelance graphic artist. She specializes in designing book covers, and has designed the covers of several publications. But right now, she is branching out to web design given the myriad opportunities of the Web. Seeing her navigate the difficulties of self-employment gave me some perspective that I am […]
Rachel Ray: Finding the Needs of Your Target Market
In my last post, I raised the question of how do you determine the needs of your target market. In the November 2007 issue of Business 2.0, they featured four “One Man Brands” — or entrepreneurs who have become business icons whose names have become huge brands. One of those featured is Rachel Ray, the […]
How Do You Determine the Needs of Your Target Market?
When determining what business to start, the rule is to find out what the market needs and wants, and then address those needs in that kind of business. But how exactly do you find out what your target market wants? Let’s use as an example one of the questions asked at Yahoo Answers — “What […]
Is There a Demand for Your Product?
One of the cardinal rules of starting a business is to first determine whether there exists a market for your product. Then you can determine how big the market is, and if it is worth all the investment that you will put into the business. I came across this article on MIT’s Technology Review where […]
How to Get Your Product in the TV Shopping Channels
TV shopping channels such as QVC has become a highly effective way for small business owners to sell products. Even if you are an unknown seller offering an unknown product, getting a slot in QVC can assure you of huge sales numbers. Imagine this: in less than 5 minutes, you can sell more than a […]
How to Get Your Products to the Market: Dealing with Buyers
Whether you are an inventor or a clothing designer, you need an outlet for your products whether it is the retail store across the street or Bloomingdale’s. Of course, the bigger the store, the greater the chances for success. But the problem is: how do you get your products into the shelves of these retailers? […]
A Lesson in Finding a Profitable New Target Market: Case of Western Union
I was leafing through my old issues of Business 2.0 magazine and I came across a 2004 article on Western Union and how it has successfully reinvented itself by going after a new market: the foreign-born workers. Western Union was at one time the monopoly national communications company, especially in the 19th century up until […]
Shotgun vs Rifle Approach to Marketing Your Home Business
One of the long standing arguments in business is whether to use the shotgun or rifle approach in marketing. Shotgun approach typically involves reaching as many people as you can, such as mass marketing through TV, Cable and radio. On the Web, it means doing a lot of advertising from banners to text ads in […]
Using Both Catalog and Internet to Boost Sales
Catalogs are now emerging as a viable strategy to work hand-in-hand with the Internet. In fact, some of the biggest retailers and e-commerce sites nowadays are integrating catalogs into their successful Internet-based retail strategies. Learn why marketers are rediscovering the power of the catalogs.