The number #1 mistake I see businesses make with their marketing – the vital step the often skip – is failing to properly research and define their ideal target market.  They often launch a product or service offering without actually seeing if their customer values what they are offering.  Doing your due diligence can mean the difference between success and failure, and it doesn’t have to cost a penny. Networking, online research, informal focus groups and other do-it-yourself methods can do the trick.

Here are the 7 steps you need to take to define your ideal target market:

Step 1: Acquire a Thorough Understanding of the Affluent Mindset, Attitudes, Beliefs and Values

Step 2: Research the Market

Step 3: Define Your Ideal Client

Step 4: Segment Your Market

Step 5: Conduct a Competitive Analysis

Step 6: Identify Powerful Niche

Step 7: Create Your Ideal Client Profile

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The first step to putting together a strategic marketing plan is to thoroughly understand your market space and your ideal target client.  This includes acquiring a thorough understanding of the affluent mindset (Attitudes, Beliefs and Values), defining the demographic and psychographic qualities of your ideal client and understanding who else is serving your clients.

Whether you are starting a business or launching a new product line, it is a little like buying a car:

You need to do some research before taking the plunge. First, figure out if there’s demand for your product or service. Do a competitive analysis. And ultimately, create a plan to differentiate your offering.

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There was a teenage boy on the corner near my favorite grocery store.  He had a sign that asked for money so he could go to his prom. Now, my head told me he should really try getting a minimum-wage job at that grocery store right around the corner instead of asking for handouts. My gut told me otherwise. When I asked him why he was doing this he said that he was already working two jobs and that his parents were both laid off and he had taken his money he had saved and put it toward his SATs.   I have to tell you; I gave him $20.  Is it possible he was making it up..yes, but my gut told me otherwise.  And frankly, I thought it was brilliant that he had the courage to go out and ask for what he wanted.    I appreciate that he was “working” toward an end goal and his story had emotionality to it, which appealed to me.  You’ll see a lot of the panhandlers who communicate their story in a similar such way.  It’s these folks that you may be able to relate to because their story touches you in some way.  Importantly, you’ll notice that their story ISN’T based on price.

In business, this story is your brand and in order to relate to your potential clients, you need a compelling and relatable hook with emotionality that connects them to you. Just like in the story above, the brand of your company should reflect the personality and character of the product or service it provides, both physically and emotionally. The image you are aiming for makes your product or service more desirable than your competitors’.  Your brand image should be trying to meet your affluent target customer’s expectations, needs and aspirations, it is important to try and reflect exactly what they are looking for.

Now is the time to take these lessons to heart.  Do NOT settle for less than what you want and deserve. Decide now to create the results you desire, design your plan accordingly and then focus your passion and aspirations on success!

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Would you believe it if I told you that many clients come to me earning incomes less than $50K?  Here is what baffles me…passionate and brilliant entrepreneurs who are putting everything they have into their businesses are choosing to settle for earnings less than a panhandler.

As I previously mentioned, a recent article* indicates that an active panhandler in the city can earn $50,000 on average (tax-free). Here is an important take-away we might all want to consider in our business and in our lives:  You must ask for money.

Do you think the people on the street are embarrassed or scared to ask for money?  Well maybe they were the first few times they did it.  But now they clearly understand that the only to get what they desire is to ask for it.  So, why would clients pay you premium prices for your services unless you felt you DESERVED and ASKED for it?

In fact, asking the RIGHT price for you services is key, especially for the affluent. When your work costs more, people value it more highly. There are many “bottom feeders” scurrying around to get the cheapest work. If your work costs more (and you deliver more value) it will be worth more to the buyer.

Research shows that many times the affluent buy on prestige.   Prestigious products and services are bought for the image as much as the product itself — and a key component of the image is the price. They are too expensive for most people, ergo the one who can buy them is rich, successful, upper class, elite — or all of the above.

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Would you believe it if I told you that many clients come to me earning incomes less than $50K?  Here is what baffles me…passionate and brilliant entrepreneurs who are putting everything they have into their businesses are choosing to settle for earnings less than a panhandler. According to a recent article*, an active panhandler in the city can earn $50,000 on average (tax-free). It was calculated using survey results which gauged how much and how often the population gives to panhandlers projected across the known panhandling population in the city. Now, I’ll admit, this number may be soft.  Most researchers will agree that respondents often exaggerate how much they contribute to charity. That aside, confidential interviews with panhandlers even back up this number indicating that they make between $35,000 and $100,000 tax free per year and view panhandling as the equivalent of a job or a profession. Clearly, there is something to be learned from results-oriented panhandlers.

The folks earning a sizeable amount of money in this article are consistent in their actions.  They get out there day-in and day-out.  If a location isn’t working, they adjust.  Similarly, you must dedicate yourself to consistent marketing and sales efforts. Jay Conrad Levinson once told me, “It is unfortunate but true that bad marketing done consistently is better than good marketing done inconsistently.” Create consistency in your marketing program and you will create over time, a steady stream of incoming leads, as well as stabilize your revenue generation.

*”Brother Can You Spare $4.6 Million?” by Dave Navelle as published on the BC, Blogcrtics.com

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Do you allow obstacles to stand in your way?  I love the Walt Disney quote “It is kinda fun to do the impossible.”

Here are 4 simple steps to learn how to manifest your desires:

1. Decide on the object you want to receive, or obtain.
2. Clear your mind. To do this simply try to let all thoughts drift away out of your conscious or concentrate on an object until you lose focus on thoughts and surroundings. I have found that listening to music can help as well.
3. Think of what it would be like if you already had whatever you wanted. Visualize having that object. What does it look like? How does it make you feel? What do you do with it? Make as complete a picture as possible and feel the feelings of having the object in your possession.
4. Understand that your brain cannot perceive thought and reality differently. This means that if your desire is to have a bank account with 1 million dollars in it, your brain wouldn’t be able to tell the difference if you actually have it, or if you are only visualizing that you have it it. If you want something that you do not yet physically possess, but you’re visualizing that you have it, your brain must create this thing. Thoughts create things, as inventions were only ideas until they were brought to life by those who thought about them.

Thanks and let us know your thoughts. I encourage you to leave your comments or questions below.

Be Sure to sign up for the Marketing to Millionaires Retreat this October, to learn more on Marketing to the Affluent

Article by Kelly K. O’Neil, Million Dollar Marketing to the Affluent Coach and Creator of the Marketing to Millionaires™ Programs

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A positive mindset is the foundation for attracting abundance. How do you ensure your mindset is centered and focused on what it is you want to create? Please click on my video and listen as I share my quick tip.

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Successful Entrepreneurs know how important it is to stand responsible for their own actions. As I teach my kids…you are in charge of your own thoughts, feelings and actions.  No one else.   It is all on you.  And every action has a result.  Some results you like and some results you don’t.

Here is what I know to be true.  We have all created our environments to be perfectly designed to deliver the results we are currently getting.  If we want new results, we need to realign our strategies to create those results.

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Those who live at Cause, get results and those in Effect, get Reasons. When people don’t succeed and they give justifications to themselves why they didn’t, they must be aware that that is a form of self deceit. To justify is to give reasons (or excuses).

To be at Cause means that you take responsibility for decisively creating what you want in your life and then from that, what you achieve or will achieve as a result. You view the world as a place of opportunities and move towards what you want. If things don’t pan out as you would like, you take action and explore other possibilities.

Here is an example:

Effect Based Thinking (Reason/Excuse)

Entrepreneur A:

“I would really like to sign up for that coaching program, but I can’t afford it because my business isn’t doing so hot right now because of the economy.”

Now think about this for a moment. What is the first thing that you noticed?  By blaming her business woes on the economy, Entrepreneur A has left herself completely powerless to do anything about it because it really isn’t her fault, it is the economy. She has an opportunity right in front of her that she believes will help her create a better business and yet, she is going to allow something like lack of current funds to limit her from taking the next step to ultimately help her create the funds she needs?  When put in that perspective it sounds pretty silly right?  Is it possible that this kind of thinking keeps people stuck, sick and broke?  You better believe it!

Those people who continually live their lives at the Effect frequently see themselves or live their lives as victims, with no choices whatsoever. The irony is that they do have choice and they have chosen not to choose but to be responsive to whatever is given to them.

Cause Based Thinking (Result)

Entrepreneur B:

“I saw the economy having an effect on businesses and I made the choice to not alter my strategy and as a result of my choice, I don’t currently have the money to sign up for that coaching program.  I believe it can really help me take my business to the next level.  So, how can I create revenue right now that would allow me to take advantage of the opportunity?  What action do I need to take to create the result I desire?”

Do you see the power in that kind of thinking?  What results do you think this person creates in life and in business?

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Life constantly throws choices at you everyday and whatever choices you make are seeds that will shape your future. Make no mistake, you are your choices. The law of gravity says, whatever goes up, must come down. This is also true, for every cause, there is an effect. To every action, there is a reaction. Whatever you sow, you will reap. If you sow negative thoughts everyday, and speak pessimistically over your situation, you will experience negative outcomes.

If you consistently choose to focus on lack of money and lack of time, you will continue to create more lack of money and lack of time. Your mind will not be open to all of the possibilities of opportunities coming your way because you are so focused on your lack of time and lack of money.   It is a self fulfilling prophecy that will keep you sick, stuck and broke.

So…what do you choose to focus on?  Your lack or your abundance?

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