A member of a forum I frequent ask how to go about finding her target market online.

She received some advice from people telling her that the forum in which she posted was a great place. Other posters suggested that she network with her potential customers at other forums and on some specific networking sites.

I think that this advice is generally good — but doesn’t give her the specifics she needs.

In order to find your target market, there are some things you need to know.

1. Who is your target market? And don’t just tell me that they’re moms, or parents or women. You need to be specific. Your target market is plus-size women who wear their babies. Or environmentally conscious parents who want all-natural and organic products for their baby.

2. What products is your market specifically interested in? If you’re trying to sell cloth diapers to parents of tweens, you’re probably not going to get anywhere fast. Find out what products your target market is interested in.

Forums are a great place to go to find your target market and get to know them a little bit. Informational sites and blogs that cater to your target market are other great places to do some preliminary research.

If you’d like help in figuring out where to find your target market, join the Product Seller’s Club. We’re more than happy to help answer your questions and point you in the right direction.

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If you don’t know the answer to this question, you need to stop what you’re doing right now and find out.

This information is critical to the success of your business. It’s even more important than having great products, a unique selling proposition (USP) and cash. After all, none of the first things are going to matter if no one can find your website to buy from you.

So that brings us back to the original question: Where do your customers find you?

A survey released this week by iCrossing, called “How America Searches: Consumer Packaged Goods” revealed that a growing number of adult Internet users in the United States are searching for packaged goods online, such as clothing, food and personal care products.

In terms of the frequency of search activity among online adults in the U.S., 39 percent confirmed they have performed a search for CPGs online. This puts CPGs in the same rank as real estate and financial products and services.

And of those 39 percent who use the internet to search for packaged goods, 67 percent use search engines to shop for the products they want or search for information. Sixty-one percent searched retailer sites while 60 percent searched product and company sites.

Twenty-six percent of the searchers go to shopping comparison sites while just 19 percent go to product ratings sites.

What does this mean for the average WAHM product seller?

It means that you need to concentrate your efforts on getting the pages of your site high rankings in the search engines for the keyword phrases that your target market uses to find your products.

Does that mean you can abandon other methods of marketing or advertising, such as word of mouth, or advertising on community forum sites?

Perhaps not. Or maybe so… the correct answer depends on your market. If your target market of handmade jewelry connoisseurs prefers to gather in community forums and is responsive to banner ads on the forum, advertising products made by members, then you should most definitely take advantage of that opportunity. If it ain’t broke…

On the other hand, if your target market is made of women that an article in Entrepreneur.com refers to as “yoga mamas,” this might not be the way to go. Yoga mamas are typically highly educated, health and eco-conscious, affluent and want the best for their kids. They will search high and low, from one end of the Internet to the next for information about products. And when they’re done, they report their findings (and experiences with the product or company) with friends in online forums, chat rooms and weblogs and community sites.

Word-of-mouth marketing is key: The Yoga Mama trusts other moms’ recommendations above anything else, according to the article in Entrepreneur.

The moral of the story?

Research your target market and be where they are. If your target market uses an active and widely known message board to research products, you need to be there with them, both advertising and as an active member, an expert in your field.

If your target market uses weblogs and their related search engines to create their communities and product information networks, you need to get involved. Start your own business weblog.

In any case, do your homework. Let your target market tell you where they want to find you and make sure you are right there with them.

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What is a website?

Well, according to some leading Internet Marketing Gurus, a website is just an advertisement, a tool that a business uses to reach out to its market — either to sell or to inform.

So, what does that mean for your business?

That means that if you have just setup a website, and are creating a few products for it, or running a few affiliate programs — you really don’t have a business. You have an ad.

So then — what is a business?

Search Google, and you will find these definitions, among others:

• An organization operated with the objective of making a profit from the sale of goods or services.
• An enterprise, commercial entity, or firm in either the private or public sector, concerned with providing products or services to satisfy customer requirements.

In a nutshell, your business is what you do.

If you just wait for people to visit your website, then you don’t have a business.

If you play the Google Adwords game, or post on message boards or send out spam or do anything that does not involve providing a product or service to your customers, then you do not have a business.

Food for thought, eh?

A little homework: Sit down and think about what you’ve got going? Do you have a business? What does your business do?

Once you’ve figure that out, ask yourself this: Who are the people that you provide your products and services to? What do they come to you for? What else could they need besides the item(s) or service(s) you currently provide?

Find ways to meet more of their needs, related to what you’re already providing. Setup partnerships with complementary companies. Join affiliate programs that offer products or services that will benefit your target market.

Develop a strategy (a system) for finding out what it is people need from your business. And give it to them.

Then you’ll have a business.

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