"Where Is Your Hungry Crowd?"

Frank Ross has a great blog called Home-Based Entrepreneur. The blog title makes it sound small business oriented, however the tips and articles within are useful to pretty much anyone in business – from Fortune 100 on down. Well written stuff.. and very relevant to the issues of the day.

Here’s bit from his most recent post:

“A) Who and where is your hungry crowd? It is no use trying to sell burgers to people who are just leaving a restaurant. They are not hungry. If you want to sell something, your very first task, even before you decide what to sell, is to ask "what do people want"? If people are desperately hungry, they want to be filled, if they are dying of thirst, they want to be quenched, if caught in the rain, they want to be dry, and if feeling lonely, they want to be loved. Get the general idea?

"B) When you know what they want so much they would sell their own mother to get, your next question is "what product or service can you provide them that would meet their need or want?"

"Be careful to distinguish between SOLUTIONS and PRODUCTS. People caught in the rain don't want an umbrella, they want to be dry. People who are insecure don't want a fancy, expensive car, they want to be noticed, admired and envied. The mother with a newborn does not want diapers - she wants her baby to be dry and comfortable.”

Whether you’re thinking about ways to improve your existing eBay business or starting up a new one, these kinds of questions need to be revisited frequently. Building business and increasing profits takes insight and creative thinking. Going through these exercises will help you generate ideas and discover new angles for improvement.

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