The First Steps

Objective: Given a custom motorcycle part for a specific market, go out on the Internet to:

1. Find who and where your customers are (on line).

2. Discover how to contact those customers.

3. Build a lasting relationship with our new customers.

Product Description: I am offering a cruise peg that is custom made for the top of the line Harley-Davidson motorcycles. A cruise peg can help an ordinary motorcycle look like an outlaw bike, bringing back memories of choppers without the danger. It is strictly an item to look at that retails for more than $200.

Target Market: The large touring bikes are typically owned by mature riders who have spent from $20 to $40 thousand dollars already and are predominately men who are over 40 years old with an above average income.

What Motivates them to spend so much on their Harley's? Prestige and power are two motivations. Many "bikers" will look down upon Japanese motorcycles, A.K.A. "Rice Rockets", and view the Harley as something made in the USA These people also own computers and use the Harley appeal to have some fun and get out from their lives on weekends to go for rides. The real appeal to a Harley is that of a cowboy, of freedom, of riding a powerful horse without th

Background

In order to achieve his goals, Greg was asked to work within his "natural market", something he had a passion about and felt good offering. His choice of product came from a friend who fixes his Harley and whom he would like to help. As you read this, notice how the core passion of a Harley is similar to any other consumer passion.

People love their Harley's, and are part of a special niche, a group interested in this particular brand, and in motorcycling in general. If some of Greg's comments offend some people, so be it; I'm sure not a Harley biker and have no clue what drives this market.

But I do know what works, and that is what works for your customers. Let's let Greg do the talking in his initial research.

Greg's First Steps

It is now 3:30 P.M. and soon will be the end of the day meeting. The focus of today was originally to find out difficulties that arose from research as well as identifying frustrations and get ideas that could be included in a marketing system. Today was very successful in gaining ideas on how to better target market as you can see by the amount of information that has been highlighted and set in bold print. Most of my frustrations were mechanical and stole valuable time and momentum. These may or may not be included but none the less are "real frustrations" that future clients may experience on line.

Time went more quickly than I would have liked it to and I was not able to cover all the area such as Ezines, but most were covered to some extent without even looking for them. I hope to again put my mind set as that of a entrepreneur marketing a different product, perhaps a bit more "High Tech" and again see what is similar and what is universal so we can focus on and include it in an effective marketing system.

Step 1. Find who and where your customers are (on line).

The first attempt to find where are customers meet is to go to Excite or any other search engine and search for discussion groups. One of the most widely known is www.dejanews.com and just have your key words ready to punch in to the search. I punched in Harley Davidson and was immediately brought to a large list of discussion groups. In fact, there were so many I narrowed my search to get to the market that I could sell to... touring! You could easily find many discussions on line and many already have a "no spam" attitude so you might want to tread lightly before pitching your product or service. But by now you have narrowed your search to the people who would be most interested and as long as your intro is reasonably intelligent and polite, the chances of getting flamed are nil.

On these initial contacts you want to invite potential customers to your site and have something of interest to show them. You already have an email address so you are half way there.

One thing I've noticed so far, be careful not to get caught up in all the cool stuff that is out there. When searching or looking for something, it is easy ( especially when it's in your field ), to let your research time of 10-15 minutes, turn into entertainment. And that don't pay the bills! But some fun is good especially if you are making good leads and contacts that will turn into sales later. So if you are able to become comfortable online with discussion boards, news groups, message boards, chat sessions, and classifieds your chances of making actual contact and receiving inquiries will greatly improve. Once you break the ice with a few key players, the information and contacts you will make from them will get your business going in the right direction.

There are many things that are passionate to this industry. The world of Harley-Davidson is a sub-culture within the motorcycling community and has the greatest loyalty of any other brand associated with motorcycling. One of the passions that are universal to all motorcyclists are laws and preconceptions. For years there has been debates on helmet laws. Many Harley riders are against them but some are proponents. The Outlaw biker image has been toned down by the new RUB's (Rich Urban Bikers) that have joined the ranks of the riding population. This is also a issue of contention within the community, yuppies posing as long time riders and causing the prices to rise on bikes, parts and equipment since it's now "fashionable".

Well that's where the businesses come in and cease the opportunity to capitalize on that newly developed market. Taking those passions and finding a niche to turn those opportunities into sales.

Here are a few examples:

1. When the California helmet law first broke there was a lot of unhappy bikers who were angry at Pete Wilson, California's governor, for passing this controversial piece of legislation. The Entrepreneurs came in with "Helmet Laws Suck" stickers and printed slogans that were popular and profitable. I know about this personally since I wrote Pete Wilson a letter of disapproval and protested this law on the road and in court. ABATE , a national bikers rights group, was formed to fight this legislation with a passion

2. One of the oldest and best known biker rallies is held annually in Sturgis, South Dakota. Until recently, this rally has been know around the world as a hard-core biker rally meeting of the clan, as the "old school" bikers would ride from thousands of miles around the country and the world to attend. The Harley fashion has caught on so much and brought so much attention that the "RUB" crowd has jumped the band wagon. People who don't really ride have trailored their $25+thousand dollar fancy bikes up to Sturgis and ride next to some guy who rode his bike across the country through rain, hail, cops, oil slicks, roadkill, blazing heat, breakdowns, drunk drivers, bugs, lightning, flash floods, and every hazard imaginable to get to the Black Hills of South Dakota.

   So you can see why there is a difference in riders. Some genius found a niche in this irony. He developed and sold a bumper sticker and T-shirt that proudly displayed..."I Rode my Bike to a Trailer Party!" Ironically, the only people who bought those shirts were the yuppies who trailers their bikes up! Another example along the same lines is the slogan "$15 thousand and 15 miles don't make you a biker".

   While these may sound like silly examples, its just a part of finding a niche by knowing the passions and interest of that industry and capitalizing on it, and online it can be done faster and more efficiently. It's all part of contacting and listening to your customer. For all I know, the person who profited from those slogans could have been a 16 year old Chinese student who had never rode a motorcycle in his life.

   Step 2. Discover how to contact those customers.

   The forms of making actual contact are simple and fairly limited: email, fax, mail, and phone. You had better do your homework and be up to speed before using any of these mediums. In other words, know what to say, ask, or suggest. In addition, if you want to promote your product or service it is important to have your information ready and waiting online before making that first attempt.

   You have to give them something for contacting you; I thought that a list of links to great Harley sites, or information on how to turn your regular Harley into an outlaw chopper would be ideal. We would also drive people to a Web Page that had a picture of the product, and more importantly, and picture of someone riding a bike before and after the peg was added.

   One live example I personally found while researching a discussion group was a conversation between a newbie (new rider) and a female rider who was giving some advice online to him. Not only was the information interesting to me as well but she left a link to her site. What the heck, so I clicked on it...Wow! It was like opening the door to the castle in the Wizard of Oz! She had photos, graphics, and most importantly lots of links to other sites. She was obviously savvy on the net and had built up a good site that probably has lots of traffic. Check it out at http://www.qro.com/yvette1.html. The first thing you see is a photo of Yvette and a directory of categories that deal with areas of interest to her. I found that some links were to commercial ventures like http://www.rally.sturgis.sd.us/headquarters/headquarters.html which is for promotion of the rally, the ABATE chapters, Harley-Davidson, other personal pages, and it also gives access to magazines online.

   The niche here is women riders and everything from fashion tips to motorcycles is available to be marketed. Keep in mind that you want to stay within your natural market, that is an area you feel comfortable in and will build a relationship online, with those you communicate with. Be legitimate and you'll probably do just fine.

   Searching deeper from Yvette's corner through the online "Asphalt Angel" online magazine I hit the jackpot...a link that took me to well known magazines, independent sponsors, products, classifieds, and banners. Everything a marketer with a new product could want! There were many links to many different shops, products, services, and sites that provide a built in network of leads, contacts, and partners to help get established. And it all started by opening up a discussion board.

   Step 3. Build a lasting relationship with your new customers.

   Now that you've had the chance to find out who and where your customers are online, and you know how to contact them (have something ready to give them to open the door), we hope you've given or sold them something so you can get feedback and build that long lasting relationship that is so valuable to our business. If you've created a list of potential customers, be sure to use those lists to keep involved and informed. This is done by closing the sale, whether you want your contact to

   1) Buy your product,
   2) add your link to his site,
   3) obtain a list of leads,
   4) barter or exchange some product or service.

   If you have offered the customer something and they have accepted and are responding it is important not to drop the ball and lose contact. Just like the fact that you only have so much time to sell someone who clicks to your website you have to keep that spark alive and keep you idea, product or service alive in your customers mind by keeping them coming back to your site...How?...Offer, surveys, contests, newsletters, articles, hot new links, free stuff and information that will keep them interested and over time build that customer loyalty. If you make them happy, they'll be there for you, and that, my friend, is how your success is measured.

   CONCLUSION

   Greg found that his market loved to hear about the latest news, political events, controversies, challenges to an existent community (hard core bikers vs. The RUBS), and liked to talk about their Harley.

   One more thing; they like to spend money on their toys, their hobbies, their Harley's. Can you think of any other markets that could benefit by targeting Harley riders (RUBs that is)?