So you had a great brainstorm of what is going to be (or already is) a new product. You know that others like you will be so relieved once they see how you have solved that annoying problem. You developed the prototype. You found a manufacturer. He borrowed money to build a website (and it wasn’t easy to get) He got his dba and opened a merchant account. You even have a lawyer. Better yet, you are the first to market, no one has done this before. woof woof

You are proud of yourself and feel that you have a new future ahead of you. Health!

Suddenly, your email inbox is flooded with salespeople selling you super expensive infomercials for “just $60,000.” The call from the holdover publisher offering her space in a national magazine for just $15,000 was tempting. Have you started to wonder where the hell am I going to get this kind of money? Do you know how profitable one option would be over the other?

Can you tell what type of marketing would be the best use of your money? Panic sets in when you realize you didn’t really think about marketing; perhaps you? You may have been dreaming about how different your product is and how it will make you an industry hero, but now the reality of reaching your customer can be overwhelming. I’ve always said that developing any product or service without knowing who wants it and where it can be found is a terrible waste of money.

Without a doubt, the most important question that any entrepreneur can ask is the following: How do I get my client to buy my product? And speaking of my clients, where the heck can I find them? After 20 years in the public relations business launching new products, I’ve seen this path of thought many times. I’ve met so many enthusiastic entrepreneurs, all of whom have really great ideas that solve real problems.

The truly rare entrepreneur, the one with the greatest potential for success, is not the one with the coolest mousetrap, but the one who has figured out how to get their product to the people who need it.
Are you a rare bird—or are you not so sure?

Do not panic.

You’re not alone.

Many entrepreneurs get to the point of having a product ready for sale and then fall into a debilitating case of overwhelm. He may be saying to himself, “I know my industry. I know why it’s important. My product is great! But I don’t know anything about marketing.”

This is so common.

The author of “The E Myth”, Michael Gerber, predicts that 85% of American businesses are developed by “artisans”; mechanics starting auto repair businesses or chefs starting restaurants. He says that these artisans spend 100% of their time doing the part of the business they know, but ignore the division of their time into business development and building operating systems.

So, are you spending 100% of your time making your product really cool, your packaging great, or your retail space irresistibly beautiful? When you start thinking about getting the word out to the people who will actually buy your product or visit your store, do you draw a blank? Is panic taking hold of your stomach at the very words you just read? Are you flushed thinking about how much money you just spent and realized that you spend 100% of your time on your product alone?

Does your mind spin thinking about how long you’ve committed to this dream?

Well, now that I have you in a hesitant. Take it easy. Take a break. Just get to the bottom of this and I promise you will walk away with a renewed sense of joy. The overwhelming will be subsidized; I promise. The good news is that the answers to the above questions are quite simple and will not require a much larger investment of time or money, but simply perform this simple exercise:

The following is a 5-step exercise that will erase any overwhelm you may be feeling, putting you in the driver’s seat with a specific roadmap to the Emerald City of success. This exercise will set the course for your future. Truly, without going through this exercise, there is no way you will be successful, it is that important.

First of all, take a pen and a piece of paper. Do it now. Read each of these questions below first. Then go back to the first one, read it again, and start writing down the answers as they come to you. Don’t edit your thoughts. Let the ideas go into his skull, flow through his shoulder, flow down his arm and straight onto the sheet of paper, without judgment or change.

This is important.

Let the ideas come out on paper first, then you can look at them later, change your mind if you want, but the key is to get them out of your brain first and edit them later; are here:

1.Who is my client?

2. Why is my product so perfect for them?

3. Where does my client meet?

4. What publications, TV shows, radio shows do they read/watch/listen to? Where on the Internet does my client congregate?

5. What commonalities do my clients share with each other?

So, now let’s see what to do with the answers.

Knowing a profile about your customer, even if you’re making educated guesses, is CRITICAL to giving them what they want and need. Most likely, you developed this product because you needed it. Come on, make some guesses about them:

How old are they?

What business are they in?

What are your interests?

What kind of communities do they live in?

What do they do for fun?

Who are your friends?

What professional associations are they members of?

It must be clearly stated why your product is perfect for your customer; especially before you spend another dime. People buy products because they solve a problem for them. Whether it’s a bra that eliminates visible bra lines on a slender past 18 girl, or a clip-on cup holder for cars like my Porsche that were somehow built without that fabulous little service, you need to know. And what you need to know now.

Think of this in terms of solving your client’s pain and make a list:

What is killing them right now?

What makes them tremble?

What makes them angry?

What frustrates them?

What do they complain about with their friends?

How can they save time and money?

What would make them smile with happiness if they only knew about it?

Those attributes become your “Unique Selling Proposition” and the foundation of all your marketing to your customers. Your job as an entrepreneur is to provide a solution to someone else’s problem. Try to get your list down to less than 5 words that you can use on packaging, press releases, and as an “elevator pitch” when someone asks about your product. So now that you know who your customer is, where do they hang out? What do they read/see/hear? What associations could they be connected to?

Where do they spend their time and money?

What do they read?

You can get creative here, and you don’t need to know a particular industry to answer this question. Make some educated guesses. For example, I’d say fashion designers probably read Vogue and WWD religiously. They probably subscribe to Daily Candy online and are alumni of the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. They probably buy a lot and can be found in malls on weekends and at night to see what else is out there. They are passionate about fashion and most likely you can find them in any situation that has to do with it.

If you’re having trouble figuring out where they are, make a list of where they aren’t.

Using our fashion designer example, I would say that fashion designers are probably not skiing in the winter and riding bikes in the summer. They probably spend many hours at the mall and make it a hobby, rather than a chore. They probably aren’t at football games or gardening on the weekends. Chances are they don’t eat at McDonald’s and they don’t watch The History Channel.

Makes sense?

So why is it important? Because these are the associations where you can make presentations, the magazines where you ask for reports on your product, and the organizations whose websites you sponsor. For example, the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising probably has speakers coming to speak to their students. They probably have a magazine aimed at their students. They might even have an internal program. Clever; instant access.

Now the last question really helps dig deeper into who your customer really is. The value of knowing the commonalities your customers share will help you determine where they spend their time and money, and in what order. Knowing the commonalities that your customers share will shape your marketing program. You’ll find out who your real targets are and if you have other customers who are potential buyers, but aren’t worth spending your increased dollars and time on.

Going back to the example of the fashion designer, ask yourself the things you guessed about her, what are the most common things they share? From the examples we discussed, I’d say the most common thing they would share is a subscription to Vogue. Second, I would say that they are likely to have graduated from a fashion school like the Fashion Institute of Merchandising or the Fashion Institute of Technology.

So now that you have all these questions answered, make a list of those customers and divide them into groups of those most likely to buy your product.

Sort them into a priority of three categories.

1. The first are the most likely customers;
2. seconds are somewhat likely;
3. and the third is a hundred possibilities.

Then match the commonalities with your target customers.

Now make a list of professional associations where your clients might be members. Get their websites. Call them and see if they have internal newsletters. Ask if they sell their mailing lists. Find out if they have any special events where you can come talk to their members. List the magazines your customers subscribe to and read. Go buy them. Flip through magazines and find sections where they might report on your product. Write down the names of the journalists who wrote those articles.

Make a list of your customers’ “loaves.”

Next to the “pains,” list the attributes of your product that ease your customer’s pain.

Now here’s how this all comes together:

Write a sentence about your product that includes the customer’s pain and how your product solves it. Play with it. Write it over and over again. Use different words to say the same thing. Eliminate all superfluous words. Above all, make it rich and very simple.

Federal Express’s USP was: “When it definitely has to arrive overnight.”

Domino’s Pizza said “hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less.”

This becomes your “Unique Selling Proposition” and the phrase you start with when you call the professional associations and media outlets you listed above.

There are THOUSANDS of other marketing things you can do to get your product to your customers, but if you start here, I promise you’ll never be overwhelmed again. When you know who your customer is, you will never be in doubt about how to attract them. Now you know what your customers love, hate and where they hang out; they will never elude you again.

As time goes by, you’ll refine your customer attributes, where-to-find lists, and continue to diversify your marketing programs, but for now, pat yourself on the back and put one foot in front of the other. You have lists, a roadmap, just start at the beginning and travel down the road. Success lies in educated effort, not necessarily innate talent. One of my favorite Winston Churchill quotes says, “Education won’t do it. Privilege won’t. Experience may not do it. Tenacity will.”

So how do you feel now?

Has the stomach pain subsided?

Are you excited for Monday?

Good.

Go get them Tiger!