It is a very one-sided mindset. And in my opinion, quite dangerous and short-sighted. You might as well just tie me to a chair, force me to watch your ad, and wrestle my wallet out of my hand. Is that how to create a happy and loyal customer?

For a moment, flip the equation around. Rather than “target” someone else, what if you became the target? And what would it take to make yourself a highly valued target or someone that was sought after?

If your product or service or expertise isn’t worth talking about, why is that? Perhaps you haven’t yet figured out what makes you special. Or worse, you don’t even care.

So take a moment and look at Convert and change the focus. Change your strategy to teach your happy loyal customers (a.k.a. the converts) to be your marketing megaphone. Step back and wonder, “why would they want to refer me business?”

I believe that marketing is no longer just outward bound. In fact, it has always been bi-directional. The Internet just gave people the simple tools to extend “word of mouth” to tap into the “wisdom of the crowds.” Most companies are just starting to understand or grasp this, which is why social media in business is booming.

So the answer is simple: marketing is about conversation. If your product, service or expertise isn’t worth talking about and you aren’t talking, you are invisible.

Be visible and start talking. (Post your comments below.)

“How do I reach my target customers?”

The typical answer (old) is to buy a lot of ads in hopes that millions of people will see them and somewhere in the millions, your target audience will respond. Don’t have that much money? Do the same thing but focus the ads locally.

And this strategy is essentially the same on the Internet: get the top position on Google.

But Seth Godin suggests a different way.

This seems great for products, but what about service-based businesses? I think that you just have to get more creative. And the Internet is only one tactic to use.

Example 1 – Landscaper: Find a handyman that is busy and ask if you can tag along. People that hire handymen typically hire landscapers. Support this with

Example 2 – Allergist: Sponsor “Back to School Night” at as many schools as you can by supplying coffee, tea, snacks and such. And then be there for the conversation and give free advice. And have your appointment book with you.

Example 3 – Graphic Designer: Hold a contest for high school seniors and offer a $500 scholarship. Make sure the local papers cover it. Side effect: intern program.

What other “small” ways can you think of that could get big results?

The problem is that clients create a broad definition of the purpose of the website. Typical example:

• Generate sales leads
• Provide customer support
• Promote business partnerships

That is three distinct audiences, each with their own set of tasks for the site. Typically, I try to recommend a balance of these for my clients.

Lately, I’ve started talking to the clients about picking one audience and not compromising. And if you need to support multiple audiences, consider having different targeted sites for each audience with content and functionality just for them. At first, it might seem more expensive to create and support multiple sites, but compromising on the audience will almost always compromise your results.