We were going to visit the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History that day and were really quite looking forward to it. I love science and always enjoy natural history museums … I’ve even visited a small one in Suceava, Romania and the one in Madrid, Spain.

Anyway, we stopped for breakfast at a diner near our hotel before heading out on the Metro and met a man and his young son. At some point in the conversation, he recommended that we be sure to see the gemstone and minerals exhibit because, “women love sparkling rocks.”

My mother and I just smiled …. while we cringed on the inside.

You see, neither of us are all that impressed by or interested in sparkling rocks. In fact, I’ve never much been into diamonds, favoring the deep blue of lapis lazuli.

Now why am I telling you all this? Because, as a business owner, you can’t make broad based assumptions about your target market. For example, do all women think that diamonds are their best friend? Do we all love shopping for handbags and shoes? Unless I’m not a woman (and I’m pretty sure I am), they do not.

If you want to connect with your target market on a level that gets them to “know, like and trust” you … or simply just buy from you … you need to understand them. You need to think of them as more than just stereotypes.

Do your research. Find out what your target market really wants … and give it to them, communicating with them using their own words.

Are Diamonds Really a Girl’s Best Friend? is a post from Women's Business Gallery

Here is the 5-step process Daniel suggests you take to create a continuity program that will not only provide regular income, but support a lifestyle you actually want to live.

Step 1: Examine your interests.

A continuity program is not something you create lightly. You’ll be more successful and able to keep it going for the long haul if it is based on something you are actually interested in and passionate about. Also, if it is based on something you are good at, that helps.

Step 2: Find a hungry audience.

Now take your list of interests, passions and expertise and do the research to find out if there is a hungry audience for what you have to offer. Do some key word research. Search phrases that are three or more words long and are searched for between 50 and 100 times a day are more likely to have buyers searching than just researchers.

Step 3: Determine the model you want to use.

There are several different types of continuity programs you can have:

• membership site
• fixed-term membership site
• coaching program
• association or club

And several other variations on the theme. Which one will work best for what you want to offer and the audience you want to offer it to?

Step 4: Set up the platform to make it work.

You can use protected directories, a membership plugin for Wordpress, and autoresponder service, or just a monthly mailing list. What ever systems and/or technology you need to make your model work, set that up.

Step 5: Market, market, market.

No one will join your program if they don’t know it exists. So you’ll have to continuously market the program to keep up membership.

NOTE: I was so impressed with his presentation, I joined his coaching program on creating continuity programs. Keep your eyes peeled for what I end up producing!

5 Steps to a Winning Continuity Program is a post from Women's Business Gallery

1. Have you defined your niche?
If you try to market to everyone, you’re gonna end up marketing to no one. Choose a target market. Focus in on it and you’ll see your business grow. I know it sounds counter intuitive, but it does work.

2. Have you defined your niche specifically enough?
You don’t want your niche to be too broad or too narrow. You want it to be narrow enough that you can communicate your message effectively to your chosen market, but not so narrow that there aren’t enough members of the group to be profitable.

3. Are you passionate about your niche?
If you are marketing dog-related products and you’re really a cat person, your message will always be a bit off. You need to love what you do so you can devote the kind of time and effort needed to create a meaningful, fulfilling business.

4. Are you knowledgeable in your niche?
Again, if you know more about cats than dogs, why would you market to the dog lovers? They’ll see right through you!

5. Have you made doubly sure that you’ve addressed the first four questions?
Be honest now. If you skip these steps or do them in a half-assed manner, you’re just hurting yourself and your business.

I found this cool Niche Checklist that I thought you’d find useful. Download it here .

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If you need help defining and qualifying your niche, you’ll want to check out Turbo-Charge Your Marketing, Volume 1.

Re-Furbish Your Niche is a post from Women's Business Gallery

What could be simpler?

If you want more personalized content, you can also hire a copywriter (post a “Writer wanted” ad on job boards like elance.com, Craig’s List or guru.com) who will pen your articles according to your specifications.

You could also invest in PLR (Private Label Rights) articles and personalize them. You can find PLR content at sites such a Niche Conent, Yes, Content Is King and Mike Steup’s site.

Actually, writing content is not really all that hard once you master the basics.

FAQ: What If I’m Not a Writer? is a post from Women's Business Gallery

Hit the Bull’s Eye With Niche Marketing

How To Identify Your Target Market

You know how a target looks, with outer rings that get smaller and smaller as they get closer to the middle, towards the bull’s eye? Identifying your niche, your target market, is like aiming for the bull’s eye. When you can narrow down the common traits your customers share, the closer you’ll get to “hitting the mark” with your promotional efforts.

The key then, is to figure out what characteristics your potential customers share that make them more likely to buy your particular product or service. It isn’t enough to simply identify “women” as your customers because not every woman on the planet is going to need or want what you’re selling. To find your target customers, you need to look at which segment of the marketplace they’re coming from.

Types of Market Segments

There are five basic types of market segments which define the shared characteristics of the people in that segment:

1. Demographic Segment.
This population is defined by measurable statistics such as: age, gender, income, occupation, etc. An example of a demographic segment would be work-at-home moms between the ages of 25 and 40 who earn less than $30,000 annually.

2. Psychographic Segment.
These are people who share lifestyle preferences such as: city dwellers, opera lovers, bicyclists, etc.

3. Use-Based Segment.
The people who make up this segment can be identified by frequency of usage such as: travelers, video game fanatics, movie buffs, etc.

4. Benefit Segment.
These are people who desire to obtain the same benefit such as: fitness, budget-minded, vegetarian, weight loss, luxury, etc.

5. Geographic Segment.
Their location, such as: home address or business address, identifies the people in a geographic area.

By identifying the people within your target segment, you can plan the most cost-effective marketing strategies that aim your efforts only at them. For example, if you’re a real estate appraiser or a roofer, you’ll want to focus your direct mail efforts on home owners, not apartment dwellers.

Likewise, if you’ve identified the people in your target market as young couples with small children, you can direct your advertising toward mainly family-friendly venues such as TV programs for children, or bulletin boards at day care centers and elementary schools.

You’ll score much higher with your niche marketing efforts when you keep the target customer in sight.

Finding Your Niche is a post from Women's Business Gallery