It went something like this… a woman at a conference approached me and said, “Hey you’re Shannon Cherry, the publicity lady. I want you to get me on Oprah.”

“Well, do you want to get on Oprah because you want to get famous, or make money?” I ask.

“If I get on Oprah, I know I’ll sell a lot,” she says.

“So, you want the sales.”

(Frankly, that’s the better answer than just being famous. If you are in business,  your marketing should help boost profits.)

“What’s your product?” I ask.

“I have a product that shows women how to create their own business.”

“How much?”

“$997.”

That woman – and her product – won’t ever make it on Oprah.  Why?

Because she doesn’t know her target market well enough to understand that they don’t watch The Oprah Winfrey Show.

It’s a common mistake and the one that makes any publicity strategy fail right from the start.

Once you know who your target market is (and by the way it’s not everyone and anyone… it’s not even a generic term like Moms or Seniors or Men with hairloss), you need to know what media outlets they use to get their information. Then you target those media outlets with your publicity efforts.

Sounds simple, right? It really is.

I know your next question: how do you find out what media outlets a target market uses?

And that answer is just as simple. You ask them. You can use a survey or simple flat out ask your customers.