No matter what new services or products appear, no matter what tools, concepts, strategies or tactics people dream up, the basic fundamentals and principles of marketing stubbornly remain the same: maximize your assets, discover needs and how to satisfy them, and, of course, segment something. Anything.
Though almost every new business category begins with a broad market appeal, in no time, entrepreneurs segment the market. By price, gender, age, geography ... every way imaginable.
There’s no better example of the importance of segmentation than the Internet. Every time a successful business concept hits the Internet, it’s segmented immediately. Take so-called matchmaking services.
First there was a personal matchmaker. Now there are matchmakers exclusively for Christians, Jews, African Americans, Asians, and Czechs. Matchmakers for millionaires, farmers and dummies. For gays, lesbians, and for every state and almost every city in the country. There are even matchmakers for married people looking for extra-marital affairs.
If you're looking for opportunities, study Internet businesses, and look for a new segment. If an Internet start-up is your plan, consider in the beginning all the ways others might segment your market, and be ready to beat them to the punch.
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