A Product for Everyone

I believe that these Marketing gurus put it best! "You can't be everything to everyone" and "products for everyone rarely reach anyone". In case you're wondering, the latter phrase was by Seth Godin and the former was by Ries and Trout.

What these gurus are essentially saying is that you cannot make a product / service targeted for EVERYONE!!! Yet, in my work as a marketing consultant for my clients; especially in Malaysia, I've seen this mistake being made by companies over and over again. Every time I ask them, who is your target market, more often than not I'll get the response... EVERYBODY!!!

I believe FOCUS / SPECIALIZATION of target customers are the key here... In today's business environment, you can't market your product and service to everybody. Here's why...people's choices and preferences are all different. Another is that the market is so wide, do you have enough marketing budget to market to everyone???

So my advice? taking after the gurus... I believe every business should find a niche or segment which they can dominate and concentrate all their marketing efforts on. With that, I believe your company will not only thrive but will honestly be successful. The question is not whether you believe me or these gurus, the question that remains is whether you have the courage to do what it takes to FOCUS your business. =)