However, knowing your market is often easier said than done. You start with a product that you want to sell, but you’re not sure who wants to buy it. How do you identify your target audience? We have a few crucial steps.

Evaluate current customers.

A simple way to start identifying your target audience is by evaluating your current customer base. Who are the people that already buy from you? What do they buy from you, and why? Collect as much data as you can on common demographics, characteristics and interests among your customers, and then evaluate it. Once you know who is already buying the products, you gain a better grasp on how to reach them and others.

Check on the competition.

You can learn a lot from your biggest competitors. If you’re not quite sure who your audience is, check on who the competition is targeting. Who are their current customers? While your idea, product or service might be somewhat unique, chances are you’re still part of an existing industry. There are others around you doing similar things. You just have to identify who they’re marketing to and discover a way to set your business apart.

Analyze the product.

If you have a product but no audience, start there. Make a list of all of the features your product offers and the benefits it provides. Then, work your way backwards to a list of people who have a need for those benefits. For instance, a print company could create business cards. Business cards set a company apart from the competition, identify their brand and get their name out there. So someone looking for a business card could be a small business owner.

Immerse yourself.

In today’s modern world, it’s not hard to get to know your audience members. Just go online. Immerse yourself with your customers and target market by engaging followers, interacting online and understanding what’s most important to them. You can even take things offline by hosting and attending events within the industry. The more you immerse yourself in the target culture, the more you will learn about potential customers.

Consider graphics.

And by “graphics,” we mean demographics and psychographics. Demographics refer to common trends among customers, while psychographics are more personal characteristics of individuals. For example, demographics include such things as age, location, gender, income level, education level, marital status, occupation and ethnic background. On the other hand, psychographics refer to a person’s personality, attitude, values, interests and hobbies, lifestyle and behavior. By considering the market’s common demographics and psychographics, you can create a general profile of your target audience member.

Knowing your market is critical to any successful business. However, it can sometimes present a challenge. As you navigate your company, keep these ideas in mind for how to identify your target audience, connect them with your product or service and grow the business.

Whether you’re in the business world, marketing or any other career field, it’s always a good idea to be on the lookout for the next big opportunity at the next big company. And knowing how to sell yourself in a job interview is a sure-fire way to make sure you land the perfect career of your dreams. 

Fortunately, there are some global insights that work well for everyone and every job. Here are six sure-fire tips for how to sell yourself in your next interview.

1. Research the company

Before you even step foot in the room, it’s important to know what you’re walking into. That means digging deep and researching the company and industry beforehand. Not only does this prep you for the interview, but it also shows the interviewer that you care about the business and position. Some employers might out-right ask you: “What do you know about us?” If not, try to work in bits and pieces about your company knowledge throughout the conversation.

2. Practice the questions

While every interview is unique, there are some general questions most will ask. You can’t prepare an answer for every question, but you can have anticipated answers in mind. Research common interview questions and consider your answers beforehand. If necessary, write your answers down (although, don’t read them off a sheet of paper during the interview). Commit them to memory, but allow for fluidity during the interview.

3. Connect with the interviewer

A key component to selling yourself is establishing a connection with the interviewer. Chances are, the business will interview quite a few people for the position, so you need to stand out from the crowd. For instance, know the interviewer’s name and use it throughout the interview. During the conversation, consider focal points that you can connect on. Smile, engage and build rapport wherever you can, to show you can fit into the company.

4. Prepare beforehand

Don’t wait until the last minute to prep for the interview. Instead, be sure to have everything you need ready to go well in advance. This means picking out your outfit the night before, printing extra copies of your resume, packing a notepad and pen…the whole shabang. Making sure all of the little details are ready the day before will help you stay calm and relaxed on the actual day of the interview, so you can focus on more important things.

5. Write your own questions

In most interviews, the employer will ask if you have any questions for them. While some people can think of questions on the spot, it’s probably best (and will look more professional) if you come prepared with your own questions already written out. Consider genuine questions you have about the company and the position that you can ask. Or, as the conversation flourishes, jot down other questions that come up to circle back to later.

6. Be on time (a.k.a. early)!

You know the old saying: If you’re on time, you’re late, and if you’re late, don’t bother showing up. This could not be more true for interviews. In fact, on time actually means five to ten minutes early. Plan your routine and route accordingly, so you can get to the interview location well-enough in advance. Getting there early also gives you time to catch your breath, relax and mentally prepare, rather than rushing in, looking flustered and unprofessional.

Whether you’re on the hunt for a new job or simply keeping your options open, it’s always important to know how to sell yourself. Keep these tips in mind for your next interview, so you can land your dream job and grow your professional career.

We put together a quick list of our favorite summer marketing ideas to help you get ready for the hot sales season coming up. Here’s how to prepare for summer marketing.

1. Embrace the heat.

If you haven’t noticed, the summertime can get a little toasty. When it comes to marketing for your small business, consider this an advantage. Embrace the heat by tying your sales, promotions and marketing to the temperature outside. For instance, “Pay the temperature! Every time the temp outside goes over 100, take an extra 10% off these select items.”

2. Get outside.

With the heat comes the perfect opportunity to get outside and promote the business at outdoor events. After all, if consumers are outside, then you should be, too. Take your storefront or online store outside by participating in events like street fairs, block parties or festivals. You could even give pop-ups a try, and pop up with promotions at places you know customers will be during the long summer days.

3. Hit the holidays.

There are plenty of holidays to celebrate and embrace over the upcoming summer months. Whether it’s Flag Day, Father’s Day, the Fourth of July or Back to School season, be sure to hit the holidays with your summer marketing tactics. Use email marketing beforehand, social media marketing on the holiday and follow up with print marketing to tell your customers about special holiday deals and promotions.

4. Snap some pics.

When it comes to summer, the grass is green, the sky is blue and people are happy. What better time is there to snap pictures you can use for promoting your small business? Summer is the ideal time to engage with social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, because of all the beautiful photos you can share. Share pictures from your business, from the community or from customers to reach out to clients and engage with them on their level.

5. Enjoy local events.

While you’re out and about enjoying the sunshine, be sure your business gets involved with local events in the community. Use fairs, concerts and other community events to get your business in front of a large, captive audience. Or, see how your business can show support in the community—such as sponsoring a sports team—to bring exposure to the brand and demonstrate how much you care.

6. Promote summer sales.

Of course, summer is the perfect time to embrace those sizzling summer sales. People will be on the lookout for sales throughout the summertime, so be sure to keep your business top of mind by having a fresh sale ready to go at any given moment.

Summer will soon be here, as will summer marketing. Make sure you’re prepared with these tip top ideas for summer marketing. Embrace the heat and give these ideas a try to see how your business can grow this summer.

When it comes to managing, working with or marketing for a business, a professional image is everything. You want customers to see the brand and identify it with a company they can trust, rather than think of it as suspicious or sketchy.

One way to present the business brand in a positive light with clients and potential customers is through the photos shared in various marketing avenues. Whether you choose to take photos with a quality camera or a simple smartphone, there are specific ways to ensure pictures turn out clean, crisp and professional. Here’s how to take professional business photos.

1. Invest in quality pictures.

First and foremost, consider your goals for the professional business photos. Do you want to use them in a marketing campaign? Maybe just for a social media post. Or, perhaps on the website. No matter how you decide to use them, consider the investment you want to make. If these pictures will help gain a significant return, then it’s probably worth it to invest in a quality camera for the business. Even if you choose to use a smartphone to take the pictures, it could be worthwhile to invest in editing software, a photography light or even a nice backdrop for headshots. Whatever your goals are for the photos, the investment should align with the expected return.

2. Take advantage of natural lighting.

Natural lighting is almost always better than the lighting indoors or with a flash, particularly for amateur photographers. Whenever possible, shoot outdoors when developing any stock photography for the business’s marketing efforts. If you must take pictures indoors, try to avoid using flash whenever possible. Instead, use a steady light, such as a light ring or a professional photography light. Whatever the source of light, always make sure subjects are facing it rather than having it behind them, to brighten up their faces and avoid dark pictures with low contrast.

3. Remember the rule of thirds.

Every good photographer knows the rule of thirds. This simple principle will help photos look more professional without much adjustments. Photos tend to look best—and less amateur—when subjects are just slightly off-center. For instance, visualize two horizontal lines and two vertical lines crossing the image area of the photo. When taking a photo of a person or an object, place it where the lines cross. Consider the picture of a sunset. You wouldn’t want the horizon in the exact middle of the picture; instead, the land should cover the bottom third of the picture, the sunset in the middle third and the rest of the sky in the top third. These areas are the best spots for subjects because it gives the photo a stronger sense of movement, urgency and interest.

4. Have a clear subject.

When it comes to developing marketing photos in particular, it can be easy to take “busy” photos—images with lots of people, lots of products and lots of stuff going on. These pictures can be overwhelming for customers, and definitely appear unprofessional. Instead, identify a clear subject for the photo and focus it on one object, interaction or person in the shot. This draws viewers’ eyes into one specific spot, so they can quickly and easily grasp the concept of the photo and connect with it.

5. Keep editing simple.

Finally, editing. In addition to taking quality photos, you will also want to use quality editing software. This editing software might be the built-in filters which come with the smartphone; they could be a free online editing program like PicMonkey; they could even be the industry standard, Photoshop. Whatever you decide to use, keep editing decisions simple and clear. Use software to crop, adjust brightness and color, but don’t go overboard with extreme filters, extra frames or text. Editing should enhance the photos, not completely overpower them.

If you want to enhance business marketing, don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and experiment with photography. Take advantage of these tips to learn how to take professional business photos which can enhance your marketing efforts and grow the business.

Social media tends to be a double-edged sword for companies: if you do things right, you can find major success; do things wrong, and you might struggle. If you’re in small business marketing, chances are social media might feel a bit intimidating. You’re not alone.

Between the various platforms, tools and programs, there’s a lot to learn if you want to grow the business through social media marketing. However, there are still tried and true plans that can benefit your social networking. To get started, check out these strategies for successful social media marketing.

 

1. Start with an audit.

If you’re just now diving into social media, a great first step is to start with an audit. What do you have going on already? What platforms is the company on? How many followers do you have? And so on, and so forth. Take notes about how your social media accounts currently look. Even for companies who do have a social media presence, a general audit every now and then is an excellent way to reevaluate where the business is at and where it wants to go.

2. Write down goals.

Once you know where you’re at, you can clearly define where you want to go by setting goals for your social media. For example, maybe you want to double your current Twitter following by next quarter. Or, perhaps you want a specific number of leads to come in exclusively through social media links. Whatever your social media goals are, write them down so you can constantly refer back to them.

3. Develop an audience.

Just like any other marketing campaign, your social media needs a target audience in mind. Your audience influences everything. For instance, if you cater primarily to millennials, you might want to emphasize YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat. Or, for a broader audience, Facebook has a great presence. Evaluate who your audience is and then research which platforms they’re primarily on, and how you can create a presence.

4. Set a schedule.

Then, come up with a calendar for your posts across the different platforms. A content calendar helps you post the right content to the right channels at the right time. Put together a general timeline of when you want to schedule posts on which network. Many social media tools like Sprout Social or Buffer even let you schedule posts in advance. However, embrace flexibility, too. While having a schedule is important, arbitrary posts also show brand authenticity.

5. Build a team.

While you might be able to start your social media campaign with one person, chances are they’ll have a hard time maintaining solo. Social networking can be deceptively easy; it actually requires a significant amount of work. Whenever possible, be sure to build a team of experts to help you scale the company’s social media to where it should be. Bring in a writer, graphics and video designers, analytics person…anyone to join the team.

6. Mix up the content.

Finally, as you share content on your pages, remember to mix things up. People don’t want to follow your account just to be constantly bombarded by the same boring, salesy posts. Create a combination of elements, including your own original content alongside content curated from other sites. Hootsuite recommends starting with the 80-20 rule: use 80% of your content to inform, educate or entertain the audience, and 20% to promote your brand or products.

 

Social media marketing can be a daunting task to take on, but it doesn’t have to be. With a few simple strategies, your business can conquer social media and use it to grow your bottom line. Keep these tips in mind as you develop your social presence and expand the business.

If you’re in the marketing world, you’ve probably heard of SEO by this point. If not, then hang on tight; you’re about to experience a crash course. SEO stands for search engine optimization. This refers to the process of increasing your website’s visibility to other Internet users through a search engine. When someone types in a word or phrase, search engines like Google scour the Internet for relevant websites. 

By optimizing your website, search engines can find the business more easily and push your link closer to the top of the list—the coveted first page results. Needless to say, ensuring your  small business website is search engine optimized should be high on the list of marketing to-dos. To get started, we came up with a list of our own: five simple small business SEO tips. Keep these tips in mind to optimize your website for search engines.

 

1. Conduct keyword research.

The first step towards search engine optimization is researching relevant keywords for the business. These are popular words or phrases that Internet users are searching for, and are related to your business topic. For instance, a printing company keyword could be “printer.” One of the easiest ways to research keywords is through Google AdWords. The application can tell you how often a keyword is searched for, where it is searched from (regionally or nationally) and other related keywords or phrases to consider as you begin your next SEO phase.

2. Know where to place keywords.

Once you have some keywords in mind, it’s time to start integrating them throughout your website. The goal should be approximately one to four keywords per 100 words of copy. Generally, you should include a keyword in the title of every article or blog post, at least one in a subtitle or bulleted list and the rest spread naturally throughout the copy. This shows search engine algorithms that the website content is highly relevant to the keywords being searched, and should be included in the compiled list of results.

3. Include hyperlinks.

Search engines also determine relevance by seeing if your content includes hyperlinks, which can help users elaborate on the information searched for. The best way to do this is by turning incorporated keywords into hyperlinks. Hyperlinks can direct users to another page within your own website (click to see more info about our marketing materials), or another website where a topic is expanded upon (click to see this company’s guerrilla marketing). Team up with other sites to incorporate hyperlinks to each other’s websites within your content.

4. Update fresh content.

Not only do search engines want to know that your website is relevant; they want to see if it is updated. Keeping fresh, current articles on your website is a great way to boost search engine rankings. For example, consider starting a blog and posting weekly updates on it. Include articles about your product or service, but feel free to branch out a bit, too. Articles on thought leadership, business and entrepreneurship are always popular. This lets search engines know that your info is up to date and worth clicking on.

5. Improve social media profiles.

Finally, never doubt the significance of social media. First, be sure all of your profiles have links to the website, and vice versa. Then, optimize the profiles themselves. The key is to be as descriptive as possible. Fill out the “About” or “Information” sections using keywords or phrases you researched earlier. Include the business address on the profile, and incorporate as much content as possible when posting. It’s also a great opportunity to share content from your website or blog onto your social media pages for an extra SEO boost.

 

You’ve heard of marketing a brand, a business or even an image, but what about marketing yourself? In today’s professional world, employers are on the lookout for employees who know themselves so they can sell themselves—just like they would sell a product.

The job market is a tough place to be, but with the right tactics, you don’t have to be there for long. With today’s competition, how can you land your dream job? Check out some of these useful tips for marketing and selling yourself to potential employers in the market.

 

1. Know yourself.

If you want to sell yourself to potential employers, you first have to know your product—the product being you. Before any interviews or employer interactions, take some time to ask yourself tough questions, and really get to know yourself. 

What are your goals in life, short-term and long-term? What are your core values? What successes or failures have shaped you? Knowing the answers to questions like these will show employers you’re professional, prepared and know who you are.

2. Be specific.

Recruiters have already heard all the answers: “I’m a hard worker”; “I have a positive attitude”; “I’m a team player,” etc. If you want to stand out from other recruits, avoid empty clichés like these. Be specific in what you say, choose unique words which truly exemplify your point. 

Give examples. For instance, you’re not just a hard worker; you’re a dedicated worker because the last position you held was completely new and you developed it from the ground up. Be intentional with your words and examples, and say what you mean rather than just droning on.

3. Find what sets you apart.

This is an age-old marketing tactic: beat out competition by telling buyers why your product is different. What sets you apart from all other job-seekers? Is it your years of experience, your unique management style, your new ideas? 

Find a story or example that shows something unique you have to offer. In the end, employers aren’t going to remember the person who simply went through the motions and said the right thing—they’re going to remember the person who said the right thing in a distinctive way and stood out from the crowd. 

4. Watch nonverbals.

In his research, Professor Albert Mehrabian, PhD, found communication is 93% nonverbal—55% body language and 38% tone of voice. This means only 7% of what you communicate with employers is the words actually coming out of your mouth. So if you want to sell yourself in the job market, be aware of your nonverbal communication and what it is saying.

For instance, watch your posture, facial expressions, appendages and eye contact. Practicing interviews with friends or family beforehand can be a great way to recognize what nonverbal communication you’re doing well or not-so-well, and then improving from there.

5. Stay positive.

Finally, be sure to keep all your potential employer interactions positive. Bringing negative energy or stories into an interview situation can make you seem difficult to work with or even disloyal. No matter how your last job experience went, focus on turning the situation into a positive example for the hiring manager.

The job market can be a tough place to be, but if you know how to market yourself correctly, you’ll come out on the other side unscathed. Try out some of these selling tactics to impress your future employer and nail that dream job.