We start off in business by creating the prefect product, assuming everyone will buy it.
Sure, we might have an idea of who this product is for. This certainly gets easier if our product has a very specific audience. For example, if you are building courses for single moms that need to learn to cook healthy. But not all products are that easy.
Take a single product in our other business, the soap bar. We all need soap if we don’t plan to go around stinky all day. Does that mean our soap bars are for everyone?
While everyone would be a valid market, it’s a losing game. Now our small handmade soaps are directly competing with Dove and Irish Spring. We certainly don’t have the marketing budget or reach for that one.
Instead, let’s drill down a little further. What makes our product different from the big names? Off the top, ingredients are one way that comes to mind. And production also comes to mind.
Now we know we are looking for customers who want soap bars with clean, natural ingredients that they can pronounce, that are produced ethically, and handmade so they can support the artisan rather than big business. We just went from an audience of billions to an audience of a few hundred or maybe a thousand.
But how do we talk to these people? We have a slightly less fuzzy picture of who the audience for this product is, but where do they hang out?
In this example, they are wanting natural ingredients so a good starting place would be similar minded Facebook groups. Not to jump in and sell, sell, sell. But to jump in and LISTEN!
Learn more about the wants, desires, and needs of this newfound target audience. Listen to the complaints. Read the questions. Participate in the group. Give advice.
From listening, you might learn that Maddie, a 28 year old female, is struggling to find soap that does not cause her to break out and itch. In friendly conversation, leaving the sales out, you message her and discuss the problem at length. You might even offer a few bars for free to see if your product helps her.
This happens again and again as you continue to listen. Listen without the need to sell.
Now you have found the niche. From unknown to knowing your customer deeply. Not only do you have a niche, but you have the words to speak when attempting to talk to your customer.
Using their words, you can formulate perfect descriptions on your website. And do deeper research using tools like Google Trends to see how best to continue forward reaching the key customers. You can even run ads using their words to speak to the right people.
Finding the right words is critical to selling. Anyone can sell with brute force. But that is not a sustainable business model. Having the right words helps you sell the right product to the right audience, so everyone walks away happy. It’s about knowing your audience rather than hiding in the unknowing darkness.
And just in case you are wondering, NO, ChatGPT will not replace real research. It loves to feed you the answer you are looking for, no matter if it’s true. Do the leg work and thrive because you took the time when your competition was too lazy.
Real success comes from knowing the audience for your products or services rather than being unknowing.