Marketing a New Product or Service? Don't Ask Your Friends

I spend a lot of time communicating with others online in forums and on social network sites like Twitter. Plus I get a ton of questions from small business owners like you (keep sending them, just click the contact or email link above).

One question I get consistently follows the same theme. Here are some examples of the question variation:

• What day should I send my email newsletter?
• What days should I post to my blog?
• How often do I post to my blog?
• Does this product sound like a good idea?
• What's the best day and time for a teleseminar?
• Should I use postal mail for marketing?

Frankly, these are all very good questions. But you're asking the wrong person. I can most certainly give you my answer to each of them, and it may be right. Or it could be wrong.

The people you need to be asking are those you have identified who are in your target market. Any small business owner can give you their opinion from their frame of reference, but unless they are your target market or their target market is identical to yours the answer will most likely be wrong.

Don't take short cuts when marketing your business. Take the time to identify all of the characteristics associated with the people you want to buy and you'll save a lot of money, headaches and time in the long run.