I’ve talked at length about target marketing. Even though it’s a relatively simple concept, it can be challenging to apply to your practice. So I called Cherie Sohnen-Moe, massage marketing author and coach, and asked for some help. I gave her the kind of question we are often asked by bodyworkers. “My target market is office workers over 40,” someone might say. “How can I get more of them in my practice?”

Here are Cherie’s ideas, condensed in the following non-verbatim nutshell:

Out of the coach’s mouth

Something as broad as ‘office workers over 40′ is tough as a target market.

First, how do you go about focusing on a market like that? You need to be able to easily pinpoint the people in your target market group. A group like office workers over 40 is so broad that it’s difficult. To help you refine that market, look at them according to their needs.

You’ve got issues like staying healthy, agile, and maintaining immunity as people age. When you speak to those concerns in your marketing, you attract people into your practice who want those things. Ask yourself what one targeted individual looks like. How would you describe them? What are they involved in? What do they do? Keep following that thread.

Look at subgoups, for instance people with headaches. That is a target which is much more easily defined. Who else services people with headaches? List other health care practitioners, such as dentists, and support groups for people with a specific condition, whether it’s headaches or something else.

Then take action. Do a headache presentation in a corporate situation, for example. (Cherie spoke at brown bag lunches like the telephone company when she was ramping up her massage practice.) How can you find those companies? Join the Chamber of Commerce, and meet people. Look at company websites. Find out which ones have company newsletters. Will they publish your article on self-massage, and let your promote yourself at the same time?  When you have a chance to give presentations, take brochures and other materials to help educate the audience.

Cherie’s final words:

“Take the in-between steps. People want to go from A to Z, but you have to take one step after the next.”

For more, check out Cherie’s book, Business Mastery and e-book, the Business Mastery Supplement. These are the most comprehensive, most detailed business-building resources in the industry.