As the famous joke goes, nothing in life is certain, but death and taxes. However, even though all of us have to pay taxes, I have never met a tax accountant who says that "everyone" is a client. Rather, tax accountants focus on different market niches. Some work with small businesses, some work with corporations, and some concentrate exclusively on high net worth clients.

However, I have seen several people claim that everyone is their target market. Not so. I always tell my clients that three conditions have to be met for someone to be your potential client - they need your services/products, want your services/products, and are able to afford them.

Unless your potential clients meet all of the conditions above, you will not be able to convert potential clients into actual clients. It is not wise for company that sells upscale vacations in the South of France to target college students. While they may indeed want to go to the South of France for a spring break, most college students cannot afford it (trust fund beneficiaries excepted). On the other hand, a company that sells value priced Florida vacations will do better with the same target market.

At the same time, results would be less than stellar if the company that sells cheap Florida vacations tried to market these to the higher-end market. While people in the upscale market can certainly afford a cheap Florida vacation, they probably do not want them.

Here are a few ideas for locating a new target market for your business or segmenting a current one:

* Think about your past clients. Do they have a particular characteristic in common? Maybe they live in the same area, are members of the same profession, have similar income levels, etc. Do you see a pattern?

* Does the group need your services or products? Even if someone can afford your services and you think that they positively can't live without them, do they actually need them?

* Does the target market want your services and products? While they might need them, they have to want them as well. Think about a child who needs to eat broccoli. The need is there, but the desire is not. This applies to your clients as well. Even if several impartial observers agreed that your target market needed your services, your clients will not buy unless they actively want your services.

* The target market has to be able to afford your offerings. If they can't afford them, you are wasting your time marketing to this target market. See the vacation example above for an (almost) real life illustration.

Make sure you know what your target market is. You will market more effectively and create a win-win scenario for you and your clients.