Right on the Target.

Note: This post is merely to share my thought lately on this subject. I’m personally not business-trained (but luckily was lightly trained in PR!) and this is something that I’ve been thinking a lot lately.

I noticed that when I talk to others on business and stuff lately, I tend to stress the importance of identifying target market. During a recent conversation with my boyfriend a.k.a business partner, I had the opportunity to analyse my thought in a more detailed manner. We’ve always heard people saying how important it is to identify your target market. But how exactly it is?

I remember at the very beginning of starting our business, I had the dream of ‘I WANT EVERYONE IN THE WORLD TO BUY AND LOVE MY CREATIONS‘. Of course, I’ve put a lot of time, effort, and thought into creating and making my products, so what is there not to love about – in fact, I truly believed that there is every reason for people to love my work! But the truth is, it’s impossible to cater to every single person in the world, because everyone is different – needs, styles, interests, lifestyles, backgrounds, occupations, gender, etc. All these are factors that will affect and mold a person into who he/she is, and what he/she is attracted to.

When I asked this question on the Team’s Yahoo group, Michelle of kindersoaps responded with very detailed experiences of hers, including her initial ventures and the ups and downs. I won’t be repeating it here, but will take out a few points that I personally feel very true. After 1.5 years into her business, she finds that being able to define and identify her target market helps her to know what kind of soap to create, in terms of ingredients and product positioning. It also influences the content of her blog, which in turn helps directing traffic to her way.

Clarity Soap by kindersoaps.

So what should you put into consideration when identifying your target market? And how can you do it?

Zurien of nadabanana shared a guest post on Crafting an MBA by Rob Fortier with us: Finding Your Place – 9 Questions to Ask When Determining Your Target Market. In short, these are the 9 questions to ask yourself as suggested in the post:

1. How old and what gender are your customers?

2. What do your customers do for living?

3. What is your customers’ income level?

4. Where do your customers shop?

5. Who do your products appeal to?

6. For what occasions would people be willing to purchase your product?

7. How much are my customers willing to spend?

8. How often do my customers buy products like mine?

9. Where do my customers live?

You could possibly ask yourself more questions (eg: marital status, etc) to go into details but I think these 9 questions are enough to get one start thinking. I once took a piece of paper and pen and started asking some of these questions and others, and got myself some surprising answers!

Green and Yellow Bejeweled Cuff by nadabanana.

Michelle also thinks that identifying her target market has helped her generating more sales, and most importantly, engaging with customers who are on the same wavelength as she is. I fully agree with her about the importance to feel comfortable both with the crafts or business that we engage in, and also the results that we reap. During my conversation with my boyfriend, I found myself stressing exactly the same thing while he nodding with full agreement. It’s probably because of my background in Fine Arts, but I’ve always believed that my life, passion, and work are linked together – hence projecting through the things that I create.

So if you are like me, creating because of the ‘necessities’ and ‘dreams’ in you, perhaps another question that you can ask yourself is: What is the life that I want? Who knows, you could probably get some answers too.

P/S: We are looking for blog contributor for the team blog. If you think you can contribute in a consistent manner (eg: once a week, once a fortnight), please drop me an email at huey[!at]nottypooch.com. It doesn’t have to be all business or Etsy related – anyone wants to blog about famous Malaysian/local food? ;)