Connect With Your Target Market

If you are a home based business owner with an online store, you have probably learned some of the basics of mass communication on the web. Today’s article focuses on how to refine your marketing efforts to connect with your core group of potential customers: your niche.

My niche, for example, are people who could benefit from healthy chocolate and would be most likely to buy it from my home based business. Since this is a fairly broad group, I have broken down my target demographic into smaller sub-categories.

I have a category called ‘New customers who have never tried a similar product’ and a category called ‘Customers who have used inferior copycat products.’ I also have a category called ‘People who are interested in the the business opportunity for supplemental income’ and another called ‘People who are interested in the  business as a full time career.’
Anyway, you get the idea. Now let’s talk about connecting with your niche. Here are some suggestions from our helpful social media experts at businessbloggertips.com

Read
Subscribe to three other blogs in your target market industry and read them at least once a week. Remember, these businesses do not have to be home based businesses or network marketing businesses. They simply need to be business blogs sponsored by businesses in your industry. In other words, these guys are targeting your market also.

Quote
Quoting other blogs is a great way to establish yourself as a hub in your niche and demonstrate your connection to the industry.
Link
Link to other relevant sites. Don’t let your site become a dead end for visitors.

Comment
Make comments on other blogs in your niche. This establishes yourself as an active participant in your community and will help raise your site in the search engine rankings.

Any internet business owner can follow these simple steps to engage with their niche. I have been doing them for a while and am amazed at the results.
Are you looking for a way to become a new home based business owner? Call me today. I have the product, company, and business plan that will ensure your success.

How To Cite Sources On Your Home Business Blog

I mentor several entrepreneurs who have online home business blogs. Some of these home business owners are new to the online marketplace and are learning the principles of small business blogging. Today’s article explains how to cite third-party information in your home business blog.

Generally, it is permissible to include third-party information as long as you include a source reference. For example, if I wanted to include an excerpt from an article about a chocolate research study, I would cite the name of the article, the journal, the author, and the date. If I accessed it from a website, I would include that also.

Here is an example from webmd.com. The article: ‘Dark Chocolate Takes a Bite Out of Stress’ by Jennifer Warner is about a study conducted at the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne Switzerland. At the end of the article, the following paragraph is included: ‘The study appears in the Journal of Proteome Research and was conducted by researchers at the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland.’
Qualityhealth.com included an article by Tabby Biddle that also cites the Swiss study and several others. They cited their sources at the end of the article in the following format:
American Chemical Society. New evidence that dark chocolate helps ease emotional stress. ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com  /releases/2009/11/091111123612.htm. Accessed Dec. 7, 2009.

If you want to include material that is licensed, follow the appropriate procedure to obtain permission outlined by the owners of the content. Then be sure to let your readers know that you have permission by saying: ‘Reprinted by permission of so-and-so.’ Home business bloggers who reprint information without permission damage their credibility and run the risk of legal action.

I am  entrepreneur coach Pam Kalian. I own a healthy chocolate business based in my Bellevue home. I advise new  home business owners on sales, marketing, and recruiting.
If you want to own your own online business but need some guidance to get started, give me a call at 206-499-1461. I will make sure your home business hits the ground running.