On this episode of the Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast, I interviewed my good friend, Pam Hendrickson. Pam and I go WAY back. She is actually the person who interviewed me for my position with Tony Robbins, and was my first "big boss." Pam and I have spent many hours working and traveling together. We joke that we spent more time together during certain seasons than we did with our husbands! Pam worked for Tony Robbins for close to 20 years before going out on her own. Considering her experience with Robbins, she thought launching her first products would be easy, but she was wrong. In spite of the fact that the products were great, she made very few sales. The turning point for her was when she learned how to give her customers what they want, and in this episode, we dive in deep about how to do that. In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover: A key success principle for business What will cause your business to fail even if you have the best content in the world The necessary foundation for great marketing Common mistakes when defining a target market Tools for understanding your target market How to cultivate relationships Why technology will never replace face-to-face interactions And so much more! Key Takeaways A key to success in business is not being afraid to make mistakes Great content alone isn't enough. If it isn't want your customers need and want, it won't be successful. The foundation of our marketing comes from understanding who our target audience is, and creating all of products and services based around that. Ideal customer exercises are great, but they don't go deep enough. It's important to go beyond who and really dive deep into their pain points. Product creation and marketing are easy when you truly understand your audience. There are three primary areas to focus on: Tactical Relationships Emotional connection Tactical focuses on learning more about your audience. This is an ongoing process. In order to learn this information, you can conduct surveys, look at what your competition does to see what's working for them, and conduct market research using tools such as Keyword Spy and Ispionage. Relationships focuses on really getting to know your audience, and enable you to go deeper when it comes to truly understanding them and therefore really knowing how to meet their needs. A great example that Pam gave was that if you went to the gym and someone had you fill out a survey, they would have a certain level of understanding about your needs. In contrast, if you went to the gym and spent time talking with the person exercising next to you, you would have a much deeper understanding. Emotional connection is when you really begin to FEEL what your audience feels. It goes deeper than having an intellectual understanding of their needs, and enables you to basically put yourself in their shoes so that you better understand them on an emotional level. This is the opposite of the tactical side of things because it focuses on feelings rather than facts. Action Steps For a week or two, spend ten minutes per day researching your target market using tools such as Keyword Spy, Eyespionage and Pew Research. To help you build relationships with your audience, pick one or two live events to attend. The goal is to have an opportunity to connect face-to-face with your target audience. Set aside 20-30 minutes to get quiet and FEEL the problems and pains of your customers. A Special Gift from Pam for My Audience Pam really went the extra mile by creating a special gift just for you, a free video training and report, which you can get here.