What's a small business owner to do if they have more than one audience to market to? Perhaps they need to attract clients but they also need to recruit business partners or vendors. Do they need two marketing plans or can they use one plan that tries to address both aspects? This is a great question that applies to many different types of businesses who find they need to market to more than one group of people. You only need one marketing plan. However, you will have two different target audiences within that plan and you?ll need to have a marketing strategy for EACH of these audiences. The reason you'll need separate strategies and marketing activities to go with those strategies is because you will be talking to two very different audiences. And it will be important for you to speak and market to them based on what is important to them. A message that works with one group may not hit home with the other. This will in large part depend on how similar or different these groups of people are. Your first task is to learn as much as you possibly can about each group. What problems do they each have that you can solve? Make sure you can answer the following 10 questions about both groups of people: 1. Who are they? 2. Where do they live ... work ... play? 3. What problem do they have that you can solve? 4. How does your product or service fit into their life? 5. What else do they buy in your product or service category? 6. Where do they get information regarding your product/service? 7. What is most important to them? 8. What are they most afraid of? 9. What is their emotional connection to your product/service? 10. How will they rationalize purchasing your product/service? If you can answer these questions you'll be ready to create marketing strategies to successfully win over each group. (C) 2005 Debbie LaChusa