Choosing Your Target Market: Can Your Passion Really Be Your Business?

There’s a myth being passed around regarding starting a business and it’s been passed around for ages. That myth is:

 “You can turn your passion into a business.”

 Unfortunately, not all passions can become profitable businesses, so you always need to do your research. You may find out:

         • Yes, your passion can be a profitable business

 • Maybe there’s no demand for what you want to offer

 • Maybe there is demand, but no money in it

But don’t be discouraged. I think the best thing you can do is to choose something you are interested in for your first venture…otherwise, you will likely lose interest. So, keep digging and you will find something that will keep you excited. There’s a ton of ways to do market research, but if you forget everything, please remember these things: 

• You must reach a target market that is passionate about their interest or desperately need to solve a problem.
• Possibly more important than the passion is a willingness to spend a LOT of money to fulfill that passion or solve that problem.

If your market is neither passionate nor spends a lot of money, I’d recommend you move onto a new idea. Here’s a few tools you can use to guide you in your research:

• Magazines: If there’s a magazine dedicated to a certain subject or target market, there is likely a market to sell products here. Magazines are fueled by advertising sales and if people are buying advertising, they are likely selling well to this market.
• WordTracker: This is a powerful keyword tool that show you how often people search for certain terms on the Internet. You can find out more at WordTracker.
• SRDS Book: This is a great resource with snail mail lists in the United States. It shows details such as:

           • The demographics and characteristics of the mailing list

            • What products they bought.

            • How many they bought.

            • How much they spent.

Overall, be smart in your choice. If you love collecting purple polka-dotted pet rocks and nobody else seems to buy those, that doesn’t mean you can’t keep your passion for that hobby. You’ll just have to search elsewhere for a viable market to sell products too.

So, what happens if you've already started your business and you fear you've chosen a poor target market? Click here for part 2 of this article.

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Alice Seba thrives helping other moms build profitable online business. This article is an excerpt from the course, “Market Research: Can Your Passion Be Your Business?” which is freely available to members of www.MomMasterminds.com