Five Ways to Get in Front of Your Target Audience

Copyright (c) 2006 Kelly Robbins

It's worth the effort spending some time and energy
figuring out who you work best with. Once you've figured
that out, then what? You feel good, you've chosen a niche.
How do you find the people in your niche and get your
message across to them? And how can you do that without
feeling like you are selling to them?

Here are a few things for you to think about...

1. Does this group of people, this niche, have any outside
interests in common? For example, you may find there is a
large group of engineers in the Midwest that enjoy hunting
in their spare time. Or know some graphic designers in the
Rocky Mountains that are avid rock climbers. Is there a
better way to share a common interest and get to know each
other in a relaxed environment than to join them on their
excursions? Establish trust, build new friendships - it all
leads to enjoyable work opportunities for you.

2. Do you help out with your kid's soccer team or are you
on the PTA at school? Doing things that YOU enjoy will
naturally lend yourself to meeting new people with like
interests. Your co-volunteers could work in the niche
you've chosen or may have friends that do. Doing things
that you enjoy doing, especially if it is involves getting
out and meeting other people, will help YOU meet new people
and make new contacts. Don't like the people you've been
hanging around with? Try something new and totally
different. Put yourself in a very different environment and
you'll meet totally different people and have a very
different experience.

3. Get involved in local networking associations. I'm not
necessarily talking about the chamber of commerce. If you
can, get more targeted than that. If you would like to meet
more people involved in naturopathic medicine, find out
what they do. I bet they attend trade shows on maybe
natural health or are interested in yoga, or vitamins, or
the natural food stores in your area. How can you have a
presence there? Are there groups that meet that are rock
climbing enthusiasts? Roller blading groups?

4. Are there any small, local publications that your target
market may read? For example, there are a few free
magazines and newspapers in my area and they are often
looking for content for their readers. Classified ads are
very inexpensive because the publications are small, and
I've also found that these smaller publications are very
open to bartering to keep their pages full. One publisher
offered to run ads for me for free if I delivered the free
papers to 20 or so places around town once a month. I am
too busy to do that of course, but the point is to be
creative.

5. Look at where your strengths and weaknesses are. If
you're comfortable writing and doing marketing related
tasks on the internet, you may be doing enough of that
already. Get away from your computer and meet some people.
The same can be said if you are an extrovert. You need to
balance your marketing efforts both online and off. I do
get a lot of business from my online marketing efforts, but
I also know that it compliments anything I do outside my
office. Meeting people and having them experience you and
your energy can't be beat.

Have you seen a common thread here? All of the tips I gave
you involved you getting out and meeting people. As a
writer I admit I like to stay home and do stuff on my
computer. I have an awesome system in place for marketing
myself online and publishing articles and even coaching and
working with people on the phone.

Getting out and meeting people means taking off my favorite
slippers and actually moving - not what I always want to
do. Looking over the successes I've had the past few years,
there's no doubt in my mind that when I do get out and
speak to a group or get involved in an organization my
business gets busier. And the people that I meet in person
and have felt my energy and enthusiasm give me more
referrals, and bring me more word of mouth marketing than
the clients I have online. And we are more likely to become
friends.

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About the Author: Author of Healthcare Copywriting Secrets
Revealed, Kelly Robbins is a healthcare copywriter and
marketing coach/consultant. She also publishes The
Healthcare Marketing Connection
(http://www.healthcaremarketingconnection.com), a free
e-zine on healthcare marketing tips. Contact Kelly to
receive her free report, "5 critical things you must know
when writing for the healthcare industry" -
info@KellyRobbinsLLC.com or 303-460-0285.