You can’t sell a steak to a vegetarian

I was just watching a small video from Mike Dillard on how important it is to find your target market and I thought this quote was right on.  Most people involved in network marketing incorrectly assume (or are told) that EVERYONE is in their target market, but this is not the case.  Mike mentions that most leaders in network marketing teach the "shotgun approach" to marketing because most people involved in network marketing have no prior business experience.  I agree with this completely, and from my prior business experience know that it is very difficult to identify a target market.

As humans we tend to assume that we know what other humans will like.  Unfortunately, this is not always the case and we should do a little more research before jumping into anything. Here are a few ideas to help you with defining your target market:

1. Who is typically going to buy your product (age, gender, qualifications, interests)?
2. Why are they going to buy it (what functional, financial and emotional needs are they looking to meet)?
3. How many customers are there?
4. What's special about your solution (is it better, easier, faster or cheaper than the competition)?
5. How could you talk to them (what associations, conferences, magazines, websites)?
6. What are the customers currently using and how much effort would it be for them to change?
7. Are they aware of your product and, if so, what do they think of it?
8. How can you gather this data?

Because of the nature of network marketing you should be able to get the answers to some of these questions directly from your company or upline.  Once you have it I would recommend that you work to refine it so that you have a good feel for the types of customers you should be targeting.

Keep in mind that this is intended to help you define a solid starting point and you will most likely encounter potential customers outside your core audience.  You should devote the majority of time marketing to your core audience and any remaining time to folks outside the core.