Raise your hand if you spent an inordinate amount of time last year trying to figure out what products and services would most resonate with your clients? Did you succeed?
Here’s a thought. Instead of marketing to the masses and getting lost in the noise, instead of guessing, why not just ask them what they want/need?
Here are three ways to get the answers you’re looking for:
1. Post a question — A simple question like “What is your biggest challenge as an entrepreneur?” can yield a lot of great information. Posting the question to your social networks has another benefit as well in that you can use the answers in a blog post. Send it to everyone you featured and they’ll share it with their social networks, which can drive additional traffic to your site.
2. Listen — Have you ever been searching for something in a store, and thought you were going to lose your mind because nothing was quite right? And, then, just when you’re about to give up, the perfect item appears, seemingly out of nowhere.
When you engage with your ideal customer, you don’t just appear. You’ve been there all along, listening and asking questions. Your ideal customer trusts you because you’re not like the others who are just out to make a sale.
3. Survey — If you’re trying to determine what to charge, or if there’s even a market for a specific product or service, the best way to get honest feedback is with a survey. Make it short (5-7 questions max) and offer the respondents something of value for free as a thank you gift.
Here’s the survey I sent out to my clients. Feel free to fill it out, too. You’ll be entered to win a $100 giftcard from Amazon.com. Can you say shopping?!