Barbara Casey's
"Messages from the Soapbox"
Vol 8, No 8 -
March 4, 2009
In This Issue:
- Two Tough
Questions
- Hooked on Zazzle
~ Two Tough Questions ~
The marketing venues may have changed in this millennium, but
traditional marketing "rules" still apply - if you want to sell
products and services to make a good living.
Whether you're selling apples on a street corner or esoteric
education to spiritual seekers, these are the questions that want
answers whenever you launch a new product or program.
1. Who cares?
Identify your audience. Know what your audience wants and needs.
Selling apples outside a retirement center to folks with dentures
won't get you very far - unless you slice, stew or bake those apples
first. Do that... and the seniors are more likely to care about your
business offerings.
When you roll out something new, ask yourself that tough question,
"Who cares?"
2. What could I create that would be like a dream come true
for the audience I just identified?
If the apple slicer/stewer/baker made home deliveries of a
reasonably-priced quality product - and stayed to chat a few minutes
with house-bound elderly folks... now that might constitute a dream
come true.
These two questions - and their answers - can help you weed out
what's not essential to your business and point you toward a much
firmer business foundation.
Of course, as times change, your business will need to keep
adapting, too. But these two questions will keep you from spending
too much time and energy on your own ego's needs and instead
highlight those products and services that people want, need and
will pay for.
How do your current business offerings stack up in the light of
these questions?
Who cares about the products and services you provide?
Are you creating "dreams come true" services for your target
audience?
I'm posting this on my blog as well and welcome your comments or
questions there.
Here's the link to the New Radiance blog:
http://www.newradianceblog.com
~ Hooked
on Zazzle ~
If you're an artist, you may already know about Zazzle. If you're an
inspirational writer, you'll want to give Zazzle a look.
And if you're a business owner, a teacher, minister... anyone with
something to say or information that can be condensed onto a
mousepad, t-shirt, poster or coffee mug - take a trip over to Zazzle
and see if you can create a niche store there.
That's
what I did this past weekend, with samples of my inspirational
writing and photos taken with my very new digital camera.
But I also discovered that I could condense one of my longer
tutorials and create a "dream come true" product for other writers
and desktop designers.
So now I have a mini-tutorial of alt key shortcuts for copyright,
trademark, bullets, French accents, currency symbols and more - on a
mousepad (and a coffee mug), so these shortcuts are always at your
fingertips.
Zazzle is similar to CafePress, and it's free to set up your shop
there.
If you think it's a good venue to display your artistic materials,
your humorous or inspirational writings, or even a mini-tutorial or
"cheat sheet," please don't be intimidated by the technical aspects
of setting up your store. It's not that hard and there are support
forums and other aids. I also have a friend I can recommend to help
you set up shop.
Hope to see you there!
Here's the link to the New Radiance Zazzle store:
http://www.zazzle.com/newradiance
==========================================
Barbara Casey's Messages from the Soapbox:
Marketing in the Age of Aquarius
PO Box 86674, St. Petersburg, FL 33738 ~ 727-397-2702
Copyright 2009 Barbara Casey
