When it comes to making money on the Internet, your first thought should be to identify exactly who will be most interested in what your home business has to offer. This is the difference between 'blanket' marketing and 'target' marketing and for a home business with a small budget, it can make mean the difference between effective internet marketing and wasting your money.
Large corporations, like AOL, for example, can afford to blanket market their services to the general population without regard for the individual on the receiving end. How many AOL trial CDs have you gotten in your mailbox, unsolicited and unwanted, that have ended up in the trash? Each of these represents marketing dollars spent. Together, they have probably filled a landfill all their own.
For your home business, you most likely cannot afford to send out billions of advertising circulars or even post hundreds of ads all over the internet. Ask yourself a few questions about your potential customer before you begin:
* Who NEEDS what I have to offer? For example, if your home business sells sewing supplies, then your primary target marketing should be directed to those who make their living by sewing.
* Who WANTS what I have to offer? In the same example, those who sew as a hobby won't need but certainly may want your home business to serve them.
Next, look at your current customers. Who are they? Where do they live? Are they primarily male of female? How did they find out about you? Do they spend a lot of time surfing the web? By asking your current customers these questions and more for example, what they like about your home business and what they think would benefit from change you will more easily narrow down your target marketing audience, find them online, and market your home business to them.