Want to know the best way to fail at building a successful online business?

No????

Are you sure???

OK, well, what if, instead I tell you the number one most important thing you must do in order to succeed?

I bet you’d be interested in that!

Actually, the most important thing to do to succeed is the very thing that will make you fail if you don’t give it the attention it deserves.

I’ve talked about this before, but you can’t hear it enough: know who your target market is.

I know – not so exciting.  Not as much fun as designing a website, finding the perfect business name, or producing what you sell.

Just the most important step you will take. Period.

It’s hard; I know.  You have to do a lot of thinking and how do you know if what you come up with is right?

First of all, do you have customers now?

Maybe you sell cosmetics or make candles or teach people how to fix up their house to sell. If you’ve got any customers right now, take a look at them and see what they have in common.

Just giving your stuff away to friends?  You can still take a good look at them and see what they have in common.

If you’re selling make-up, your target market is not women who wear make-up.  That’s a good start, but you need to define them more carefully.

Are they women who wear make-up every day?  Who wouldn’t go out without it?

Or are they women who only wear make-up for special occasions or who wear minimal make-up?

How old are they?  My 15 year old Goth niece and my 83 year old aunt both wear make-up, but I doubt that they would both be interested in the same make-up or the same person who sells it.

Start by getting your basics down and then keep refining them over and over.

Make a mistake?  That’s OK; you’ve learned something.  Now start again with your perfect customer and keep refining her until you could recognize her on the street.

Or you can just forget all that and call your target market “women who want what I sell”.

Now thats the best way to fail.