1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,490
[Paul Boag] Okay, so you've made your decision to specialize.

2
00:00:03,090 --> 00:00:06,800
You've got to find that target audience, and that's not easy.

3
00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:10,560
You need to decide on who you're going to specialize with.

4
00:00:11,890 --> 00:00:15,400
Now a good place to start is by looking at your existing clients.

5
00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:18,090
That will give you an idea of whether there are 

6
00:00:18,090 --> 00:00:23,370
particular groups of people that you've already got some experience with.

7
00:00:24,070 --> 00:00:31,630
What we did at my company is we realized that we'd done a university website,

8
00:00:32,420 --> 00:00:36,110
and we thought that might be an interesting sector to specialize in.

9
00:00:36,900 --> 00:00:39,230
We had a really good working relationship with the client, 

10
00:00:39,230 --> 00:00:43,400
and so we went to talk to them, and I'd recommend that you do the same.

11
00:00:43,850 --> 00:00:48,120
Go and find yourself a friendly client, sit down with them, and ask them

12
00:00:48,450 --> 00:00:51,950
about how they learn about their sector.

13
00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:56,830
Are there mailing lists that they're on that are dedicated to their sector?

14
00:00:57,050 --> 00:01:00,010
Are there forums that they read about their sector?

15
00:01:00,220 --> 00:01:03,150
Are there conferences that they attend?—or meet ups?

16
00:01:03,650 --> 00:01:05,900
or is there a trade publication?

17
00:01:06,610 --> 00:01:11,010
You find a group that has some form of community around it.

18
00:01:11,010 --> 00:01:15,030
So with that higher education example I gave, there was very much 

19
00:01:15,030 --> 00:01:18,990
a community of people that talked to each other through mailing lists,

20
00:01:18,990 --> 00:01:21,610
and forums, and all of those other kinds of things.

21
00:01:22,910 --> 00:01:26,530
Once you have identified an audience like that—

22
00:01:26,530 --> 00:01:31,110
a community that you can reach out to—then things get really interesting.

23
00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:35,200
So how do you go about reaching this audience?

24
00:01:35,980 --> 00:01:41,020
Well a good starting point is to participate in the community surrounding that audience.

25
00:01:41,750 --> 00:01:43,750
Mailing lists and forums are great.

26
00:01:44,220 --> 00:01:47,840
Join in the conversation, but remember, don't get too spammy.

27
00:01:47,950 --> 00:01:50,960
Don't push your services, but just give advice.

28
00:01:51,790 --> 00:01:55,160
Another thing that you can do is offer to write for trade publications 

29
00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:58,860
or blogs because they're usually desperate for content

30
00:01:58,860 --> 00:02:02,890
and if you're willing to put in the time they'll probably publish it.

31
00:02:03,650 --> 00:02:07,200
Another option is to attend or speak at conferences.

32
00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:10,810
Going along to conferences is a great way of networking 

33
00:02:10,810 --> 00:02:13,900
and building relationships with the community you're targeting,

34
00:02:14,150 --> 00:02:16,160
and if you can speak at them, all the better,

35
00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:19,860
although, admittedly, not everybody is a natural speaker.

36
00:02:21,290 --> 00:02:23,890
Finally, you can write for your audience as well. 

37
00:02:24,510 --> 00:02:27,190
You can start putting out blog posts that use the right key words 

38
00:02:27,430 --> 00:02:30,030
that engage that audience and draw them in.

39
00:02:30,690 --> 00:02:34,600
Ultimately, there is one aim here, which is to provide content 

40
00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:38,680
and real value to your audience, not to spam them,

41
00:02:38,830 --> 00:02:44,240
not to market them in the traditional sense, but to provide them something tangible,

42
00:02:44,830 --> 00:02:47,780
and that is what we're going to cover in the next video.