By Michel Fortin of SuccessDoctor.com
[April 10th, 2002]

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[This is the second part of a two part article. The first part can be read here].

Here's an illustration: let's say that your best client is the corporate executive earning $50,000 annually or more, and that your website receives approximately 200,000 hits per month.

If your site aims for the public at large, only a small number of that ideal market will be a part of that group of visitors, and an even smaller number will be qualified for your offer.

For the sake of example, let's say that this percentage is around 0.1%. It means that, of 200,000 monthly visitors, only 200 will fit into your market (that's an optimistic figure).

And since your site is too general, an even smaller percentage of those 200 execs (say, about 0.5%) will be truly interested in your offer and eventually buy. In this case, 0.5% (of 200 visitors) will equal to a single client for an entire month.

Looking at it in reverse it means that, if you want to achieve at least a single sale per month from this ideal market, your site will thus require at least 200,000 visitors on a monthly basis, based on the law of averages. Therefore, your marketing efforts will need to multiply exponentially in order to create a high enough quantity of traffic to yield acceptable results.

Now, take the example of another website dedicated exclusively to corporate executives earning over $50,000. However, this site receives a meager 5,000 visitors per month -- admittedly, it's not a lot, especially when compared to the other. But in this case, the percentage of those 5,000 that fall into that site's target market will be 100% -- a 10,000% improvement!

(Additionally, chances are great that your site will magnetize this ideal market, almost effortlessly such as via the search engines, since your site caters to their needs specifically.)

Furthermore, the percentage of interested leads that are in a better position to buy will be higher by virtue of the fact that the site centers on their specific needs. In other words, perceived value will be greater in the mind of those people.

To be conservative, let's say that this percentage is only 5%. It means that out of 5,000 visitors per month, one can achieve 250 sales -- that's 249 more sales than the other (and, on top of that, with only a quarter of the traffic). But let's be a little more conservative, for a moment. Let's say that only 1% buys. It's still a remarkable 500% improvement over the other, as 1% of 5,000 visitors equals to five sales per month.

Of course, the above example is when all things considered are equal -- I agree that there are many variables at play, here. But the spirit of this illustration is clear: it took an equal if not lesser investment of time, effort and money to achieve five sales per month than it did to achieve a single one.

Jim Banks started selling carpets online in 1998. He admits that, at the time, he knew nothing about it. Says Banks: "I thought that it would be a non-competitive market ('who would want to sell carpet on the Internet?' I asked myself) and it would allow me to learn about this whole new Internet thing."

But at first, Jim floundered. "I showed carpet on the website, sent out samples, and used a wholesaler in Georgia to deliver the goods. I made some money, but it was a lot of hard work. In fact, a lot of hand-holding of customers was required, and my time was a limiting factor in how much money I could make."

But then, Jim had an idea. He adds: "I had read one or two of your articles at the time where you stressed the importance of niche marketing. And after thinking about that, and applying it to my industry, I came up with the idea of selling carpets and area rugs with children's designs (e.g., animals, letters, game boards, etc). Today, things are going very well!" (By the way, check out Jim's site at http://www.KidCarpet.com/ .)

In conclusion, here's my advice: if you're looking at starting a business online, first find a niche and fill it. But if you already are doing business online, then narrow your focus to a specific outcome, audience or product. And finally, if you do sell everything to everyone already, I suggest breaking your business down by developing several sites, which sell the same things but targeted towards different segments of your market.

Article by Michel Fortin of SuccessDoctor.com. Michel is a professor in marketing, a professional speaker and a highly sought-after consultant whose marketing advice has helped countless clients earn millions in record time. He is the author of four books. His latest, "Power Positioning Dot Com," reveals how to keep your business or product indelibly carved into your prospects' uppermost consciousness.