Until the readings this week I was unaware that a target market and a target audience were different. I thought they were words that were used interchangeably. This is an important factor as we start the next phase of our businesses. The Youtube video was a quick and simple way for me to understand the difference and the importance of fitting your product so it appeals to both the marketer and the consumer.

The INC article really broke down how to identify your market, and how being specific can work to our benefit especially as a small business. I know for our group we have been discussing whether we need to focus in more of a niche market. It explained not to just look at demographics such as age and location but to look at who is already using your product, and what are their similar characteristics when it comes to things such as attitude and lifestyle.

One of the things I found most important was knowing how your target audience consumes media. For a business like ours that is key in not only getting the word out but for the consumer but for them being able to use it as well.

I also found it helpful to know that you can focus on more than one market and that your strategies to market can be different.

This article also did a really nice job in tying in our previous readings about competitors and making sure our product solves a problem that our competitors overlooked, and not just trying to market the same product. It is also important to know that you can break down your market too far.

The TowKnight article broke all of these things down too and then took it a step further. It broke down how to get started and what needs to happen in each area before our idea can take the next step and ultimately how to hopefully turn it into a business. It gave specific examples of sites and how to go about surveying your target market and creating strategies for things such as content and marketing and how to start your business once we’ve identified our audience and market by demographics and psychographics.

What I really gained from this article was the best way to succeed is to set realistic goals and to be open to hiring other people in areas in which you don’t excel. It also gave a lot of good tips for getting started on a tight budget on only when hiring but when creating your product and designing your marketing tools. This is important for our businesses now and for creating our own businesses in the future.

This article gave us an order in which things need to be done to have our best shot at success. There was a structure to this article that gives me a better sense of direction moving forward because I now feel like I know where to start and where I hope our product ends up.