Believe it or not, I can make a connection between goats and “getting inside your customer’s head”! (More on that in a minute, but here’s a quick hint: one of the markets I cracked in my early days online was farm animals).
How many times have you heard the First Commandment of Marketing: “Know your audience”? If you’re a student of internet marketing, probably hundreds of times. Because you’ve followed the marketing gurus, you’ve bought all the e-books, and you’ve taken all of the courses.
But it’s much easier said than done, isn’t it?
Getting inside the mind of your prospect IS absolutely essential if you want to influence their behaviour – whether you want to make a sale, get a donation, collect an email address, whatever. The trick is to find out what your prospect’s wants/needs/desires are, what motivates them – and use that information to influence their behaviour.
That question has been driving me for a long time, and it’s why I started this blog. Because I’m infinitely interested in behaviour, and how it can be shaped.
– I’ve been doing research for the past ten years (as a graduate student, in my job, and as an information marketer)
– I have a Master’s degree in Development Economics. My thesis looked at how socio-economic changes affect the behaviour of forest-dwellers in India. I did primary research in two villages in Madhya Pradesh, India, intervewing villagers one-on-one on how their use of the forest “products” was influenced by changes in their socioeconomic environment.
– I’m a full-time online entrepreneur, focusing on researching markets to identify gaps. I build (or buy) websites, scale their traffic and income, then sell them to investors through website brokers (did you know the market for online businesses is RED hot?).
I use a rigorous research methodology based on to identify information that people are willing to pay for. I’ve used this approach to research dozens of markets, including:
– Before becoming a full-time information marketer I worked in social marketing for the Canadian government in Ottawa, Canada. Social marketing involves using “commercial” marketing techniques for the social good. If you’ve ever seen an ad encouraging people to stop smoking or do their bit for the environment, you’ve seen social marketing in action. (Look here for the difference between social marketing and social media marketing – the two are often confused.)
– Besides niche research, I also have years of experience in email marketing, pay-per-click advertising, product creation, and conversion optimization.
– I’m an avid surfer, snowboarder, and rollerblader.
– I live lived in Bali, Indonesia with my good bride Lillian, and sons Sachin and Taj (and now am based in Ottawa, Canada – with as many trips to Bali as possible!).
Still there? You’re awesome!
If you’re a research geek (or research stud – depends on how you look at it), please leave a comment on any of my posts, or drop me a line: moe at keywordsblogger dot com
To your health and happiness,
Moe Muise