I absolutely ADORE Denny Hatch. I subscribed to his email newsletter Denny Hatch’s Business Common Sense YEARS ago and he has yet to disappoint. Every month he regularly delivers on the promise of “Business Common Sense” promised in his newsletter’s name and continues to generously share his wisdom and experience with his newsletter subscribers. In each newsletter, he includes Takeaways to consider – and the quote above is from the December issue.
“Your new business can only make money two ways: creating wants and satisfying needs.” ~Denny Hatch
I talk a lot about your target audience’s GDP – Goals, Desires and Problems. Goals, Desires and Problems are simply three different types of “needs” that consumers experience.
Assuming you’ve zeroed in on the needs your product or service satisfies – it becomes “easy, peasy – lemon squeezy” to put your business blog to work outlining the many different ways your product or service can satisfy your target audiences various needs.
When I work one on one with clients – that is the most important and productive work we do – identifying the needs of a particular target audience.
In my book Beyond the Niche: Essential Tools You Need to Create Marketing Messages that Deliver Results I share an example about how three different people can purchase candles and while each is purchasing the same item – each consumer is satisfying a different “need”. One is purchasing candles for emergency lighting – while another is purchasing candles to create a romantic mood for dinner. The third is purchasing candles to cover the odor of the family dog.
Even though each consumer is purchasing candles – each is purchasing the candle to satisfy a need. As you blog for your business, you must keep in mind the need your target audience is seeking to satisfy.
Satisfying needs is easy – creating wants is another story.
Creating “want” is the most difficult task you can ask your marketing campaigns to accomplish.
It’s not done quickly, cheaply – nor easily.
I want to go on the record at this point in saying that it’s possible to create a successful marketing campaign on a shoe-string budget. Your business blog can be a literal marketing powerhouse which can do a BEAUTIFUL job of positioning blog posts right in the path of prospective customers and clients who are seeking the solutions your product or service offers –when that product or service is tapping into an existing “want”.
The most successful problem solving products and services don’t need to create an awareness of the problem – they only need to offer a solution.
By the way – if you’re a government – creating a problem is easy. All you need only to pass a law in order to create problems on a MASSIVE scale. Fortunately, in America – there’s a ready supply of entrepreneurial minded business owners ready to jump in and make a profit solving those problems.
For most small and medium business owners who don’t possess government’s far reaching problem creating power-it’s far easier to tap into existing wants than it is to try to create a demand.
What wants does your product or service satisfy? Answering that question is the key to success in business. The answer to that question can then be put to work – via your business blog – via your Tweets – via your Facebook Page- via your LinkedIn profile – via your [insert latest social media craze].