This Little Piggy Went to Market...

Beginning your small business journey is tough, but it's also fun and rewarding when you know what you have to do and once you've begun checking off the items from your list. In this article, we'll help you prepare for this journey and let you know what you'll need to do in order for your business idea to actually flourish and help you roll in profit.

Researching your target market and developing your product

Say that you've already designed the product in your head and you've begun producing this product. Who are you selling it for? If you have no idea, the creation of your product may need to be put on hold. If you don't know who you're yelling out to, you may not know how to approach the person - this is the same when creating the product. Knowing your target market and demographic is absolutely key in the aesthetics department as well as the functionality of the product. Not having an ideal demographic in mind will also leave many questions unanswered and may leave your business to fail because you won't know who or how to market it.

For example, you won't sell anti-shake Alzheimer's spoons to young kids who are in college or wealthy party goers, would you? Just because they have money or a lot of friends to promote to, doesn't mean that your product is of any service to them.

How to hook the potential customer in

As mentioned above, it's absolutely crucial to have that target demographic. Without, it'll be a cry on deaf ears. When you pinpoint your target demographic and produce your product, you'll be able to get into the swing of marketing the product.

Use social media to garner fans with contests - everyone loves free stuff and when more and more people see others sharing your contest post, they'll be more inclined to check out this free item that people can win. If they like your product enough and know that their chances of winning may seem slim, they'll feel more inclined to buy and keep an eye on your brand. Through contests and posts, you can successfully market your product with barely any effort.

This leads us to our final point - create buzz! Act as your own PR firm to save yourself money and reach out to publications that are in the same market and reaching the same demographic you are. When you advertise or are able to grab an article write up or review on your product, you can receive (possibly free) buzz!

As others read the publications your product and business is featured in, they'll be more enthusiastic about checking out your product on the web. The more press you have, the more reputable your company will seem, depending on what they say of course. In the end, it's crucial that you maintain great relationships with customers and press in order to give yourself a reputable mark of approval from the target demographic you're seeking out.