This post is by Michael Pollock, the original owner of Small Business Branding. Yaro Starak now owns and produces the latest content for this blog.
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You’ve got to be easily accessible to your target market . . .
I love Starbucks. For a lot of reasons. The problem, of course, is the nearest location is 45 minutes away from me, so I get there maybe only 3-4 times each month.
Recently, a new coffee shop opened a few miles north of me. Keep in mind, I live in a very rural area of northeast Connecticut. So this new coffee shop, it’s phenomenal. Very Starbuckian. The interior design is cool – nice tables, big, comfy couch, eclectic feel, etc. The coffee is great, and they even have a Dell set up in the corner for customers’ use. All in all, very unique for this rather Hickvillian area.
Again, I don’t go there often. True, it’s only a couple miles north of me, but it’s out of my neighborhood. Whenever I go anywhere, it’s usually in the opposite direction. If I do happen to go north, I take the interstate, and the coffee shop is located on a back road.
In retail, they say the three most important factors for success are location, location and location. And it makes sense. It’s about accessibility. A strong brand is important, but not nearly as important as accessibility.
Starbucks has a much stronger brand than the 7-eleven where I usually buy my morning coffee. And the new, trendy coffee shop a few miles north of me appeals much more to my aesthetic sense. But the 7-eleven beats them both because it’s right here in front of me. The coffee’s not bad, and I don’t have to go out of my way. It’s easy.
Solopreneurs have an advantage over larger businesses like the ones I’ve been talking about. We’re more nimble. More personal. We can pick up our business and go right to our target market. And we have to capitalize on that advantage. How? Here are ten of the most common ideas:
- Pick up the phone, and call prospects.
- Publish a weekly, electronic newsletter.
- Publish a blog for your target market.
- Hang out in the online communities frequented by your prospects.
- Speaking engagements to your target market.
- Attend the same seminars and conferences as your target market.
- Mail out article reprints to your target market.
- Post articles to websites/newsletters that cater to your target market.
- Build a content-rich website that your target market would find valuable.
- Spin a wide web of collaborative comrades, and feed off each other.
Naturally, this all assumes you’ve designed a high quality product or service that’s compelling and valuable to your target market. The little coffee shop that’s even closer than 7-eleven has good coffee . . . sometimes. Other times, it’s horrendously bitter. So, despite the fact that they’re closer AND have a drive through window, their inconsistency keeps me from buying their product. The 7-eleven, however, has coffee that’s always the same . . . not bad, not great, but good enough for me. And it’s close – not out of the way.
Starbucks, pleeeeeease come to my hood.