It’s fun to focus on the new and different, but it’s important not to forget the tried and true. Small businesses have established themselves and grown in the marketplace since the dawn of capitalism, not just since the birth of Facebook. Along the way, what works and what doesn’t work has been studied and written about. Effective marketing has been dissected and diagrammed. It’s true that HOW we get the job done has changed, but the timeless principles relating to market, message and media are still the foundation for success.

With that in mind, today’s post begins a new series. We’re going to look at those timeless principles and relate them to how we market today. What nuggets of wisdom can we glean from the advertising giants of the past? What can we learn from today’s experts? Note that I didn’t say “from today’s self-proclaimed Internet marketing ‘gurus’ who like to brag about working from home in their pajamas.”

We have real-world businesses, whether they be home-based or brick and mortar. We have families, employees or independent contractors who count on us, and customers who depend on us to get the job done right the first time. Somewhere along the line, we know that to grow we HAVE to make time to market our businesses. In other words, we don’t need hype. We need to spend our limited time doing those things that have been proven to work. Even as a virtual marketing firm, where our specialty is to help YOU market your business, we struggle to find time to market ourselves consistently.

Today’s question strips away any assumptions. It’s as basic as you can get.

Have you identified your target market? You may feel that everyone has a need for your product or service, but that’s not the same thing. To market effectively and be COST effective, we need to know exactly who’s attention we’re trying to gain. Take a few moments to write down everything you can think of about your target customer group, including: age, gender, location, health, profession, interests and affiliations. Seriously, do this little exercise today. Next Monday, we’ll start with that very important data and move onto our next timeless marketing tip.

What is your biggest marketing challenge? We’d love to hear from you in the comments, below:

Photo Credit: Lin Pernille on flickr