Are you business owner or independent professional who needs more customers? You don't need a large marketing budget to generate sales for your product or service. But you will need to take some actions in order to “position” yourself in the marketplace. Here are 7 steps you won't want to skip:



1. Identify your ideal client and claim your niche. Hone in on the type of person or business you can get the best results for. Get really clear on the market segment you want to go after. Be specific, don't be afraid that you might be eliminating 90% of the population; the more specific you get, the easier it will be for your prospects to recognize themselves in your message and know that you are the right choice to help them solve their problems.

2. Pinpoint their pain. What are the things that your ideal clients worry about that your product or service can help them resolve? People buy when there is a need. The more urgent the need, the faster and easier it is to make the sale. Identify their pain, hit a emotional nerve, help them remember that they need to solve it and you're on your way to closing a sale.

3. Understand what their customers really want. What are the results that your ideal clients are looking for? What are the REAL reasons they'll want to buy from you? I'm not talking about features here; concentrate on the results they'll get from working with you and the things that will motivate them to buy (make money, save time, feel better, etc.)

4. Get clear about what makes you different from your competition. Define your unique selling proposition or USP which tells them what makes you different (and better). As Marty Neumeier says in his book "Zag" be "radically different". This gives your prospective customers a reason to say YES by helping them understand why they should buy from you rather than your competition.

5. Create a compelling values proposition which explains who your customers are, what they struggle with and want to achieve, how you can help and what results they will get. Use this as part of your marketing message.

6. Develop a powerful message. Use this in all of your marketing communications - your website, business card, sales letters, brochures, sound-bites etc. Make sure that your message matches your target market and customer, and your market matches the medium (the vehicle you're using to reach your customer.) This way your message will hit the people who need you the most.

7. Position yourself as an expert problem-solver. Write articles, do workshops and seminars, publish a newsletter, post to a blog, anything that gets you out there in front of your target audience and lets them that you're the person or company who will best help them solve their problems.

Once you've taken these 7 critical steps, you'll have a compelling marketing message that will help you attract the customers your business needs.

© 2004-2007, Susan Martin, Business Sanity.