3 Reasons Entrepreneurs Need to Target Their Audience

Being an entrepreneur is by far one of the most rewarding, fun, and challenging careers anyone can choose. One of the hardest urges you have to continually fight is the desire to target EVERYONE as a potential client. But by targeting everyone, you ultimately target NO ONE.

In my early days of becoming a consultant and coach, I told myself “Nat, you need to go after this particular prospect. They have X dollars and X desire to grow and change. They are in charge of X employees and are in these X industries.”

Now that was good. I was clear.

And then I asked myself this question, “But what if someone who doesn’t match that description asks for my services. What would you do?”

“Take the business! I need to eat,” was my response.

This mindset held me back. By devaluing my target audience, my marketing efforts become shotgun. My time commitment to trial and error became weak. My business was average.

But then I did some soul searching and some external digging. Through this process I rediscovered my target audience.

If you want to be a rock star entrepreneur, you’ll need to narrow your target audience. Here’s why:

You increase your prospects. Now this at first can seem counterintuitive. But think about it. What happens when you are shouting your message out in the open air, no one responds. But when you say, “Hey if you are 20 to 30 something female and want the edge in fashion, listen to me!” Each 20 something that wants the edge in fashion is chomping at the bit.

You know where to market. If you know your niche market, you’ll know where to find them. It will no longer by social media, traditional print, any conference, TV, radio, etc. No, if you are targeting a 20 something female who wants to look good. Look distinct. And feel great, you’ll know each place they play and connect.

You know what to create. First, this will this help you refine what you are selling. Too often we are selling something to people who don’t want it or need it.

Second, it will help you know what your message is. If you are fashion boutique who wants to be standout, you may want to be edgy. You’d want to be yourself and distinct, rather than traditional and unauthentic.

A great example is Hello Holiday. HH is a online fashion boutique in Omaha, NE that has done this very well. (Gotta give as shout out to our Nebraska Entrepreneurs.)

When I identified my niche market and talked to them directly, my influence exploded. My brand was known. My business increased. Yours will too!

Question: What’s your target audience or niche market? I’d love to hear about it and what you’ve done to standout in the crowd.