Becoming market ready

Before you can venture into the world of business, and market a product effectively, you need to ask yourself a few vital questions. The following four questions will help you determine if you are really market ready, and if your efforts to market your product, and make a difference will matter, or fall short:

Are you new, or the same and only slightly cheaper? You won't cut it if you do not add something to their lives, or pocketbooks. Being slightly less expensive, but essentially the same thing won't help you stay in a market. Make sure your product or service is really new, or at the very least, substantially improved over existing items. If you aren't you will have to be substantially cheaper, and this is difficult to do without sacrificing quality.

Do you appeal to customer values? The best way to gain a following and really engage customers is to appeal to beliefs that are widely shared (aka, getting out of debt is a good thing). If you are too niche oriented in the values you won't have a wide customer base. You have to have the find a way to appeal to customers, and their values is the best way to make a real impact. When someone aligns with your values, it is far easier for you to become more fully engaged in what they have to offer.

Are you willing to challenge tradition and industry assumptions? There is always going to be risk when you do something that has been untried previously.However, if the old way or traditional methods are no longer producing the results you want, you have to find a way to change things. The companies that fear change, or resist it, often fail. You have to be ready and willing to take some risks and challenge some of the industry norms in order to find a better way and a more profitable way. Thinking outside the box is a must in the competitive markets today, especially when you face a depressed economy, and more careful spenders. If you want to gain customer attention, and keep it, you may have to break the mold, and find an improved method for gaining notice and loyalty.

Are you persistent? If you want to build a business that works, that lasts, and that competes in the market, you have to be willing to give it time, months, or even years. Even if you have instant success to some degree, it can take time to achieve real customer loyalty. Business owners who give up, or abandon a marketing scheme because it did not instantly make them into a power house, are never going to find the success they want. It takes time and consistent effort, with an upholding of your values and integrity, and a building of a relationship with customers in order to gain them, keep them, and reach the level of success in your market that you desire. Time and effort are required.