Who is Your Best Customer?

When I first entered the gig economy in network marketing, I asked my upline, "Who is our best customer to talk to?" His answer was, "Who do you know that eats?" While this advice was well-intentioned, it hurt me because I ended up approaching everyone the exact same way. I had no clue what it even meant to have a target market.

Let me give you this concept of a target market. Imagine you and I are walking through a busy marketplace with tons of customers and shoppers moving up and down the aisles. There are numerous vendors, and we go there for different purposes. Let's say we're in a Chinese marketplace, and I'm looking for Italian food while you are looking to buy some Asian slippers.

As we walk through the marketplace, all these vendors are shouting, "Get your Chinese thing here!" But we're not listening because we're not looking for that. These vendors have to shout to everyone because they don't know what we're looking for.

That's exactly what happens when you don't narrow down your niche and target market.

Target Market Is the Missing Key for Network Marketing

When I first considered my target market, I had no idea what it meant. I spent 18 years in network marketing with a huge rejection rate because I was approaching everyone the same way. I had no clue about their pain points, behaviors, or how my product could help them.

One day, I looked down at my shoes and realized I was wearing a pair of Altra shoes. As a triathlete, I had developed a bunion and foot pain. A sports injury chiropractor told me that runners from the USA and Europe have more foot injuries compared to Kenyans, who run barefoot. He explained that barefoot running allows toes to spread and keeps the heel flat, unlike American shoes.

I sought out a shoe company that mimicked barefoot running and found Altra. They only marketed to runners who wanted to run fast and injury-free. They didn't send me spammy messages or look for everyone who could benefit from their shoes. They targeted my specific problem, and I found them.

Prospects generally fall into one of three categories: health, wealth, or relationships. In network marketing, my niche usually falls into health or wealth. I have a unique intersection where health and wealth meet, and that's my narrow target niche.

As I learned about target markets, I read marketing books by Dan Kennedy, Brian Tracy, and Mike Dillard. I applied these concepts to my Instagram channel, where I niched down my content. Before, I had 6,000-7,000 posts and only 2,200 followers. When I started giving content directly related to my niche, my following exploded to over 180,000. This proved to me that having a narrow target market is crucial.

Target Market Will Broadcast to The Right People

Before, I was broadcasting to everyone, and my message didn't resonate. When I niched down and targeted a small market, people started to listen and follow me. Niches are smaller areas within a target market. For example, in the health space, there are submarkets like weight loss, stress reduction, better sleep, and more energy. Within weight loss, there are even more sub-niches, such as women versus men, those who have tried diets before and failed, and those with limited time.
Narrowing down your niche is where you'll find the most leads to talk to. Broadcasting to everyone wastes a lot of time. In our busy world, we only want to talk to people who want what we have. When you target a narrow niche, your rejection rate will decrease, and you'll start closing more deals.
Understanding the needs, preferences, and pain points of your target market is key. Develop a specialized message or framework to meet those needs. Concentrate on the people who are most likely to convert, and you'll find your efforts are much more efficient. You won't struggle to find the right people to talk to because when you focus on a small niche, those are the people you'll find.
​I hope this helps you guys rock your network marketing journey!