6 Questions To Ask Yourself About Your Marketing Mindset
Everyone likes the idea of living financially free. Pictures of fancy sports cars, yachts, a mansion, private jets, oodles of cash, and glamorous people at your side make you believe that entrepreneurs make money very easily.
That is definitely not the case. “Living the dream” requires a specific mindset and lots of hard work and dedication on a continuous basis. The money won’t flow into your bank account without the necessary amount of effort and motivation.
Being debt-free, wanting to spend time with your spouse and children, or traveling the world is all good and dandy, but what happens after you’ve done all of that? Will the business you began fulfill you and continue supporting your new lifestyle?
Money shouldn’t be the only reason why you want to start an online business. Your chosen niche should be fun and something you are interested in already. It should also be something that benefits your customer base.
Knowing your customers’ pain points wants, and needs will help you provide them with better products and services. In addition, this will help you become known as a reputable vendor who cares about his customers.
In order to achieve that, here are six questions you should ask yourself.
- Why do you want to start your own business?
- Where do I find a market for my product?
- How much time will you allot to building your business?
- What kind of financial investment are you willing to make in your business?
- What experience or knowledge can you draw from?
- Do you have the drive to finish what you started?
1. Why do you want to start your own business?
When starting a new business, you should set a goal for what you want to achieve and why. Unfortunately, most people make the mistake of starting their business journey trying to figure out the how, yet experience has proven that knowing your own why is more important.
Having a clear goal in front of you will help you stay focused on the tasks necessary to achieve success. Ideally, you should be able to envision the outcome of achieving your goal as a clear picture within your mind. Everything created started by using this process, be it a business, a kitchen chair, a painting, or an exquisite piece of architecture. It all starts with the picture of the achieved goal within your mind.
2. Where do I find a market for my product?
Wanting to build an online business can be relatively easy when you produce a product or service that you love or have experience in doing. The key question is; how big is the market of other people interested in that same product or service? As the saying goes, Antarctica probably does not have a big market for ice cube makers.
Research that niche on Google or Google Trends and find out if the current interest is high or how many search queries there are for your product or service idea. Before you begin production, you can narrow the parameters of these searches down into sub-niches to find your ideal market.
If you’re developing an online business, you can check with the marketplaces like JVZoo, Clickbank, and WarriorPlus to see what is successfully selling. A glance at the Muncheye website will also give you an idea of how many products are being launched within a specific niche.
There’s nothing worse than spending lots of time and money producing something for which there is little or no demand. This will only lead to disappointments, discouragement, and frustrations that will affect your mindset about your own business.
3. How much time are you willing to invest in your business?
Every worthwhile endeavor will require a certain amount of time to build. The planning of your project will require the most time. It is where you establish the foundation of your new venture. Next, you’ll determine what needs scheduling and actual action time to complete your task.
You will also need to set aside time to review each step in the process as you go along. These reviews will give you valuable insights as to which changes might be necessary to refine the different aspects of your business. These could be production factors, marketing promotions, or the eventual need for outsourcing various parts of your business.
4. What financial investment are you willing to make in your business?
As we all know, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Nothing comes from nothing. Although there are ways of beginning your business with low or no costs, you will eventually need to invest something to expedite growth for future profits. Therefore, you need an investment mindset and not just an expense mindset.
The expenses of running a business will depend on how extensive you plan on building your business. To achieve this, you’ll need to set up a realistic financial plan that will work with your operating budget. Whether you’re paying for things out of pocket or obtaining financing, this budget will be necessary.
Much like taking a road trip in your car, it will be important to reflect on your goals to assess what is necessary. What is your destination goal, what stops will you make along the way, how much fuel will you use, and will you need overnight stays and or meals? Will your business need physical equipment, software, and production facilities, or can you operate it out of a spare bedroom or garage in your home? Those are all important financial factors.
5. What experience or knowledge will you draw from?
While planning your business, you hopefully choose a product or niche you are interested in. But, of course, it will be ideal if this topic is one you already have experience with. That is what will help establish you as an expert more easily.
Have you already done something in this niche in the form of teaching or coaching? For example, if you had to do a talk on the subject, how long could you talk about it without notes?
The more personal knowledge you can infuse into what you’re creating, the more fun you’ll have creating it. Too often, people pick something just to make a quick buck, only to lose interest if profits don’t immediately soar.
Take inventory of what experiences and knowledge you bring to the table for your niche. Evaluate them on a scale of one to five to determine which subjects to tackle first. Use that list to map the various parts of your project, then prioritize them from most difficult to easiest.
6. Do you have the drive to finish what you started?
To test your business mindset, ask yourself, “Are you in it for the long haul or just to make a quick buck?”.
Undoubtedly, you will encounter challenges and obstacles in the process of building your business. These can destroy you, sabotage your business efforts, or motivate you to work harder to achieve your dreams. Therefore, you need to have a stick-to-it attitude if you want to succeed.
Remember to keep your eye on the goal, your ultimate reason for building the business, and reflect on how it will feel when you fulfill that vision. First, you will discover what your potential clients want and their pain points. You will have produced a quality product that you can market at a fair price. Finally, you will have marketed it ethically, bringing you the profits you need for your business success.
You will have definitely started creating a successful business mindset by answering these questions. Good luck in your endeavors.
