STEP 1: Who are you, the seller?

1. What’s your name, phone #, email address, address, web address:
2. What geographic region do you live in?
3. What geographic region do you serve customers in?
4. How long have you been in business?
5. Who are your main competitors? (or the ones you want to be like or beat?) LIST URL’S HERE:                                                                       
6. “Elevator Speech”: Please give a short (15-20 second) description of what service your business does for people (elevator speech)
7. What is this business best known for and why? (i.e. special service you offer, etc)
8. “What sets this business aside from others in the field?”
9. Why should a consumer choose this business?
10. What keeps customer’s coming back?
11. What about this business makes you the most proud to tell others about?
12. Complete the following sentences:
a. “When a customer walks into this business they can expect….”
b. “What really makes them unique is … ”
c. “What makes them stand out is…”

STEP 2: Answer these about your customers: do one of these for each target market

Demographics:
• Male, Female (or both)
• Age group
• Socio-economic group (or ethnic group) do they belong to
• Religious Preference (if relevant)
• Conservative or Liberal (political beliefs if relevant)
• Level of education completed
• Marital Status
• Children (Y/N or both)

Psychographics:
• What are their lifestyle preferences
• What kind of hobbies do they have?
• How do they spend their free time?
• Are they generally introverted or extroverted?

Financial
• How much do they make in a year?
• Can they easily afford your product or service?
• On what do they regularly spend money?

Industry:
• What types of occupations do they hold?
• What values do they hold dear?
• What is important to them in their life and work?

Location:
• Where do they hang out in real time (ie: at church, local coffee shop, hardware store, civic groups, or professional association meetings etc?
• Where do they hang out ONLINE (in discussion groups, blogs, forums, online networking sites?
• Do they attend conferences or trade shows regularly?
• Can you open the yellow pages of your phone book and find several listings that would encompass your target market?

Information Gathering.
• What magazines, newspapers, email newsletters, blogs, and professional trade publications do they read?
• What television programs do they regularly watch?
• What kind of movies do they see?
• What kind of online videos do they view?

Connections.
• With whom do they do business on a regular basis?
• Where do they network online and offline?
• Who are their “natural referral partners”, or other businesses who cater to the same target market but offer a different service?
• Whom do they trust and respect?

Communication.
• How do they prefer to interact — in person, by email, by videoconferencing?
• Are there buzzwords or industry-specific terms that they use frequently?
• What gets their attention?

Problems and Solutions.
• What are the key issues/problems/concerns keeping them awake at night?
• Are they in enough pain that they’re willing to pay you to solve their problem?
• Where are they seeking assistance to help solve the problem?
• What kinds of products and services might they purchase to help solve this problem — books, magazines, coaching, consulting, etc.?

Summary

Once you’ve completed several interviews, then compile the information you have received and create a profile of your target market. Based on the info in this profile, then answer these three questions:

1. Are there enough of them to make them viable as a group?

2. Would I enjoy working with this target market?

3. Do you offer ready solutions that would help this target market solve their problems?

4. What keywords do YOU think they type in to find sellers like you or what keywords do YOU think are important?