One common characteristic of every successful entrepreneur is curiosity. You ideal customer is already looking for what your offer and willing to pay for it.

Not only is your ideal customer ready to buy but willing to tell others about what they found. To FIND that ideal customer, be curious enough to really "study" this person.

Your curiosity will guide every "niche strategy" you come up with for marketing your business.

Coming from Maine, I know hunters. Hunters don't just get together the right gear and practice shooting - they learn everything they can their target. Good hunters study every aspect of know their target until they can THINK the same way. KNOWING the way the creature thinks and behaves is how they get themselves into the path of
their target.

Now, I'm not suggesting that niche marketing is like going on a bear hunt BUT you won't know your target unless you have an insatiable curiosity about what makes them tick!

Like a trail guide, know your marketing terrain and everything around your target customer. Make your future customers the focus of your study and energy. Learn how to see the world from your ideal customer's viewpoint. Know what concerns them, motivates them. Study their habits and lifestyles. Be always curious about this customer that will actually MAKE your business happen!

Remember, with online marketing it is not the amount of traffic or readers you have - it's the number of repeat customers that tell others about you. Without happy satisfied customers, you don't have a business.

There are several ways you can fuel your curiosity about your "would be" customers.

1) Visit the websites of your direct competitors. If they are highly successful, they KNOW a great deal about their target audience. Read their customer testimonials. Study their ad copy. What type of person are they reaching and how are they creating satisfied customers.

2) Visit message boards that your potential customer might get involved with online. Sift through the problems posted to see if your company can meet their needs. Pay close attention to words people use to express their frustration, desire, anger and disappointment trying to FIX their
problem.

3) Set up a survey then reward visitors that participate. Once you start to understand your ideal customer and it begins to pay off in more customers, even more sales because you finally understand a bit more about this elusive creature - your best customer!

4) Check out "complaint" websites or forums - hunt down what's NOT working for ideal customer.

5.) Become a student of human nature. In many ways, we are predictable. Okay ~ some are quite unpredictable BUT without a doubt, you can anticipate some reactions, behaviors just by studying how people have behaved in the past. Look at those trends, fads and past success to see how they can be used again today.

6.) Pay close attention to what motivates YOU and people already around you. Listen and watch. Be curious then LEARN!

The only way you can find your customers, meet their needs in such a way as they come back again and again AND ensure they will spread the word about you is with KNOWING them - inside and out!

In the world of internet marketing, words still rule. Start keeping track of the way people post their questions and ask for solutions. Pay attention to the key words they use. Make your customers your focus. It doesn't matter WHAT you sell - learn what motivates them to change their lives,
solve their problems.

Be curious. Feed that curiosity! You will know more about your customer and your business. Your knowledge of both will make your marketing strategies actually WORK for you.

Tammy Ames is the owner of WAHM Connections and Success Connection BOTH offer unique learning experiences to pump up your Entrepreneur Spirit AND Success Factor! Sign up here for her weekly online newsletter to keep you motivated and on the right track with your business goals.