I can’t count the number of times we’ve heard an author or information marketer say words to the effect of “Everybody needs to read my book or buy my course. Everyone would benefit from it.” Those, my friend, are words that point to a product that is, in all likelihood, going to fail in the marketplace.
Why? There’s a common marketing phrase that says “If you try to sell to everybody you sell to nobody.” If you think everyone needs your fantastic new gizmo you’re kidding yourself because it makes it so hard to craft a message that really resonates with any particular group of people.
The same is true for your book or information product. If you try to position it in your marketing message as something that everyone needs it makes it hard for people to jump on board because they don’t consider themselves everyone. You need to figure out what subset of everyone you can most positively impact with your message and focus your marketing efforts to that group.
What is your ideal niche?
- Are your customers most likely to be male or female?
- What age range are they in? What is their ethnicity?
- Do they have specific geographical ties?
- Do they have a specific health issue they associate them- selves with?
- Do they have a particular hobby they’re involved with?
There is a common phrase in marketing these days called the “Marketing Avatar.” A marketing avatar is a process of hon- ing in on exactly who your perfect cus- tomer is. In your case, the perfect reader or listener. This process entails detailing everything about this perfect reader, in- cluding gender, age, job, hobbies, trends, fears, desires, everything!
Very few info product developers make the effort to truly understand their ideal market in depth. Where do they hang out online? Are there forums or discussion boards online related to their interests and/or concerns that people hang out in? What keyword or keyword phrase are they using online to search for answers to their questions?
Go to your favorite search engine and type in a keyword phrase that would re- late to the book you want to write and add the word “forum”. It’s pretty easy online to find groups talking about the things you want to write about. Look for recur- ring problems that people are looking for which people are looking for solutions.
The late, great copywriter Gary Halbert was once asked what competitive advantage he’d want if he had hamburgers to sell. Was it the best location? Was it the best tasting burger? Was it the freshest buns? “None of the above,” said Gary. What he’d want is a “starving crowd.”
So where is your “starving crowd”?
