Make Your Own Market

I often receive questions from entrepreneurs in distress. They are doing everything they can think of to promote their business online, but nothing seems to be working. My response to each one is always the same, “Instead of trying to market to ALL the people online, why don’t you try marketing to the RIGHT people online. And by Right People, I mean the ones who might actually be interested in your product or service.”

If you seriously want to be successful online, you will have to learn how to make your own market. For many years I operated my web business like I was a small fish in a big pond. I limited myself only to those marketing strategies that I could afford. I never believed I could gain as much traffic or make as much money as the big fish, because I just never felt very big. The one positive thing that I had going for me is that my small size never affected my big appetite for success. I invested the past eight years of my life into learning how to be a better web entrepreneur and I learned one BIG piece of valuable information. Unlike most of the struggling entrepreneurs out there, the successful ones don’t focus on being the big fish in the big pond because they understand that it’s more important to be a big fish in your own pond; even if it’s a small one.

I know, you might be asking yourself what is all this crazy talk about fish and ponds. Underneath the fish talk what I am really trying to say is that I became a successful entrepreneur by my own standards when I created my own market and in essence, built my own pond. As an entrepreneur functioning as a very very small business, I often felt like I was always limited by my small size and budget. I couldn’t afford to get the premium advertising like the big boys. I couldn’t afford the marketing consultants and PR reps, but what I could afford was to spend all my time and brain power trying to figure out a solution that worked for me.

The solution that worked best for me is one that can work for you too. If you want to find your own pond of success you have to make your own market. When I say this I mean that you have to create your own pool of web viewers and readers who are interested in what you have to say and want to sell. As a space that you create, it becomes a space that you can dominate. You will have your own following, you can set prices, and you can send out promotions and make profit without ever having to compete with big fish or work by their standards. You can essentially create your own success story without trying to desperately duplicate someone else’s success, which is what so many entrepreneurs try to do.

I can honestly say that this strategy works because it continues to work for me and many other successful web entrepreneurs. Having spent years cultivating my market, I now spend little to know money on internet marketing. There is no need to spend half your budget to advertise on other people’s sites when you already have access to your target audience. Granted, you will have to pay or continue to promote, on some level, which is something I talk about in my internet marketing guide. However, you don’t have to be completely dependent on the sites and services of others to make your business grow.

I want to guide you through the process of creating your own market, which will be built on your unique brand (the products and services that you sell), the target audience you are trying to reach, and outside resources that you can promote to your target for additional streams of income. The key to creating your own market is starting with a solid plan, learning how to please people online, and then tapping into multiple streams of income. What I am talking about? I am referring to my 3 P’s of Internet Marketing Success: Plan, Please, and then profit. I suggest reading my eBook Plan to Profit, Lashanda’s Blueprint to Online Business Success, which you can download when you take my Plan to Profit Course. For 30 days I want to show you how to find your target, make your market, and get on the right path to profit and success. Click here for more details.

If you are an advanced business owner with an existing customer base and you are looking for new ways to build your business, I suggest taking the online Marketing Course offered by myself and Richelle Shaw on Business Women of Color. Click here for details.