|
|
|
5 Ways To Earn A Few Extra Cash - Without Spending Much
Having an extra amount of money to add to your pocket is a very nice feeling but regardless of what other people might say, it involves some kind determination, creativity and work especially if you do not have a big capital to start with. At these...
Adult ADD - A “Disorder” Or A Secret Of Success?
According to the new book The DaVinci Method, the symptoms of Adult ADD are really the symptoms of abundant energy and creativity. The author, Garret LoPorto, points out that the vast majority of wildly successful entrepreneurs, great leaders,...
Creativity - The Value Of Being Prolific
When asked his secret to success, the author Graham Green said that it was down to his always writing 500 words a day. There are real reasons why this philosophy rings true:
a) The single best creative product tends to appear at that point in...
Home Business Ideas for Writers
Who wouldn't love to make money in a profitable home business? The advantages are right in front of you - set your own hours, work as much as you want, make money without having to fight traffic or leave your home. The question is - what's a good...
Leverage Your Way to Profits With Joint Ventures
You can't conduct business on the internet for very long without hearing the term "Joint Venture", but do you really understand them or how and why a Joint Venture works?
In broad, simple terms -- a Joint Venture is partnering with others to...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 Reasons Why You Better Know Your Customers...Or Else
Which statement sums up how you define your customers?
1) I have a very specific customer in mind -- very specific and very narrow. I only want to sell to this specific customer, I'm not interested in attracting anyone else.
Or
2) If they have a pulse, they're a potential customer.
Okay, in case you were wondering, number 1 is good and number 2 isn't.
Yet I can't tell you how many business owners I run into who are closer to number 2 than number 1.
I know, it's difficult to think you might be turning away potential business. But trust me, your life will be much easier once you've carefully defined your potential customer (also known as your target market). And to further convince you, here are 3 reasons.
1. You'll be able to find your target market more easily. If you know exactly who you're looking for, you'll have a much easier time tracking down where they're hanging out (i.e. publications they read, Web sites they visit, radio stations they listen to). Then you'll know exactly where you should be spending your advertising dollars and/or which editors you should be courting for potential PR stories. Best yet, you'll probably be spending less money/time and yielding far better results.
2. You'll be able to persuade your target market more easily. If you know exactly who you're talking to, and what their challenges and problems are, you'll be able to craft far more targeted marketing materials. You can use language and images they respond to (which will make them feel like you understand them) plus you'll be able provide a specific solution to their challenges.
You can't do this if you're trying to please "everyone." "Everyone" is a tricky fellow. He's tough to pin down. After all, "everyone" buys a product for different reasons. Take cell phones, for instance.
Senior citizens, teenagers and parents buy cell phones, but they buy the, for different reasons. Teenagers buy them so they can chat with their friends all the time. Parents buy them for their teens in order to keep track of them (the teens, not the cell phones). My 90-year-old grandfather bought one for emergency use only. Each one of those reasons is a different benefit. The ad that appeals to parents knowing where their teenagers are is certainly NOT going to work for teenagers, and neither of those ads will be terribly persuasive to my grandfather.
So if you're trying to sell to "everyone" just imagine how complicated it's going
to be to try and cover all those different reasons in a single marketing piece. Not really possible, is it?
3. You'll have an easier time with your business. If you're busy running around providing different products or services to different customers, chances are you're not as efficient as you could be. This is especially true for business owners who are service providers. If you're constantly learning new skills for each client who walks in the door, how efficient will you be? Wouldn't it be better to stick with what you're good at and just sell that?
Creativity Exercise -- Discover your target market
Here's an exercise you can try if you're still unsure of your target market or if you want to make sure you aren't missing any potential customers.
Get a sheet of paper. Write down all the features of your product. Features are descriptions of your product. Take cell phones, for example. Features of cell phones are they're small and wireless.
Now change those features to benefits. For a cell phone, you can carry it anywhere and use it anywhere (anywhere there's a signal, that is.)
Now make a list of who needs those benefits. Think broadly here. Maybe parents or people in certain industries or people with certain jobs. Try to come up with at least 50 markets. Be silly. That's when you're most likely to hear your muse (or genius) speaking to you.
Another technique is to ask your subconscious for help. Do a meditation where you ask your subconscious to show you someone from your target market. Ask questions and see what the answers are.
Once you come up with your list, then it's time to critique and judge. Try and narrow it to no more than five target markets. One or two are better yet. The more target markets, the harder it gets. You can always start with one, and once you've made yourself known in that market, you can move to a second and a third and so on.
About the author:
Michele Pariza Wacek is the author of "Got Ideas? Unleash Your Creativity and Make More Money." She offers two free e-zines that help subscribers combine their creativity with hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. She can be reached at http://www.TheArtistSoul.comCopyright 2005 Michele Pariza Wacek
|
|
|
|
|
| Creativity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Creativity (or creativeness) is a mental process involving the generation of ... Wallas considered creativity to be a legacy of the evolutionary process, ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Creativity For Life |
| An exploration of creativity in everyday life, with articles, quotes, reviews and other creative resources to awaken creativity in daily life. |
| www.creativityforlife.com |
|
| AdCritic.com: Commercial Ads |
| FROM CREATIVITY: Emerging Directors, Unite In the time it took to write this, three new directors popped up. Here are twenty to get acquainted with. ... |
| www.adcritic.com |
|
| National Curriculum in Action - Creativity - |
| Ordering Creativity packs: print and video materials. This website gives practical ideas on how to promote pupils' creative thinking and behaviour. ... |
| www.ncaction.org.uk |
|
| Ten Steps for Boosting Your Creativity |
| Experiments performed by the JPB Creative Laboratory show that watching TV causes your ... a weekly report on creativity, ideas, innovation and invention ... |
| www.jpb.com |
|
| Category:Creativity Techniques - Mycoted |
| This is a general category of Creativity and Innovation Techniques, ... I like to think of these creativity techniques as tools in a toolbox in much the ... |
| www.mycoted.com |
|
| Creativity at Work: The interplay of business, art and science |
| A resource for training and development in creativity and innovation in organizations. Has a newsletter, and some articles and essays by 'Corporate ... |
| www.creativityatwork.com |
|
| Crayola Creativity Central |
| Crayola Creativity Central offers kids arts and crafts ideas for rainy day fun. We also have coloring books and pages, art and craft projects, games, ... |
| www.crayola.com |
|
| Pages tagged with "creativity" on del.icio.us |
| All items tagged creativity ??? view popular ... Perspective for Creative Leaders · save this. by aromay to creativity business management ... 1 hour ago ... |
| del.icio.us |
|
| Creativity Web - Resources for Creativity and Innovation |
| Creativity Web Home Page Resources for Creativity and Innovation ... The Creative Process · Multiple Intelligences · Idea Recording · Your Creative Space ... |
| members.optusnet.com.au |
|
| gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards": how to ... |
| So you want to be more creative, in art, in business, whatever. ... Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion ... |
| www.gapingvoid.com |
|
| Creativity Quotes | Creativity Quotations | Creativity Sayings ... |
| Quotes on Creativity - part of a larger collection of Wisdom Quotes to challenge and inspire. Find Creativity quotations and links to quotes on other ... |
| www.wisdomquotes.com |
|
| Ideas by Creativity Pool |
| A free database with new ideas and possible inventions. Add your own, or bring an existing idea to life. |
| www.creativitypool.com |
|
| CREATIVITY |
| Creative problem solving depends on using the right tools, tricks, ... Search for the latest books on Creativity (or anything else) in the Quantum Books ... |
| www.quantumbooks.com |
|
| Creativity Tools, Creative Solutions & Creative Problem Solving ... |
| This page explains a wide range of techniques which can help you generate creative solutions to your problems. |
| www.mindtools.com |
|
| The 6 Myths Of Creativity |
| A new study will change how you generate ideas and decide who's really creative in your company. |
| www.fastcompany.com |
|
| CreativeClass.org |
| Richard Florida's "The Rise of the Creative Class" examines creativity and its effects on economic development. |
| www.creativeclass.org |
|
| TIP: Concepts |
| The relationship between creativity and intelligence has been always been a central concern of psychology ( Guilford , 1950). Much effort has been devoted ... |
| tip.psychology.org |
|
| American Creativity Association (ACA) |
| An incorporated non-profit organization promoting personal and professional creativity. Association membership is represented by four multidisciplinary ... |
| www.amcreativityassoc.org |
|
| CREAX - Portal for creativity and innovation |
| A resource for links on creativity and innovation on the web. A selection of 690 links is divided into 67 categories for the visitors convenience. |
| www.creax.net |
|
|