I’m going to share a very large number with you…
7,753,000,000
Unfortunately, that number is not my net worth. In fact, it has nothing to do with money. That big number is the current world population. That’s the approximate number of humans now living on planet Earth.
The thought of marketing or selling a product or service to all 7.75 billion people is a staggering thought, but fortunately, we get to focus on niches, narrow slices of the population. The trick is to identify the appropriate slice.
The same thing applies when marketing your personal brand (yourself), for you are a product. You are a brand.
In order to promote yourself effectively, you need to become a celebrity in your own “sphere of interest.” Every professional has a sphere of interest. It’s your own narrow slice of the population. You could also call it a “personal target audience.” It’s comprised of those people, who in any way, can help you reach your goals – clients, prospective clients, those who refer clients, someone who could hire you, someone who could get you on a coveted committee or board.
Among these people, you need to be famous. When someone in your personal target audience needs the services or products you provide, your name and face should pop into their minds. When someone is looking for people to invite to a special occasion, your name needs to be at the top of the list. You are a highly desired person in your market or industry when a large number of people in your personal target audience have heard of you.
But before you can become a celebrity, you need to determine who is in your personal target audience. This is determined by your business, career, life mission, goals and personality.
Once you know who’s in your personal target audience, manage it carefully. Just like a company managing its prospective clients, you as an individual must diligently manage your personal target audience and lavish attention upon it. The people in your personal target audience are precious, critical to your success.
If you tend to your personal target audience, it will yield positive results and help you achieve greater personal and professional success.
Now that we have established this, it’s time to think about your personal target audience. What types of people need to know about you? Where are they? How do you reach them?
There may be billions of people in today’s loud and crowded marketplace, but it’s liberating to know that you can become famous enough by chasing only a minuscule percentage of them. In order to get your message to connect with the right niche, think about what you do and who is in your personal target audience.