Apr 3, 2007

Hitting your targetBy Melissa DunsonJoplinGlobe.com

When Doris Fry, owner of Grand Interiors … Simply Grand!! in Carthage, opened for business nine years ago, she didn’t know the first thing about attracting customers into her small gift store and keeping them coming back.

She ran newspaper ads, handed out business cards and attended home shows.

Fry said she knows she could still be better at targeting customers. She recently attended a Small Business Development Center seminar at Missouri Southern State University titled “Marketing: Think Before You Spend.”

“I feel there’s always room for improvement,” Fry said. “You just learn as you go.”

Karen Bradshaw, the speaker at the seminar, said marketing comes down to customer perception. She said all business owners need to identify who their target customers are, what they want and where to find them before they commit money and energy to advertising.

‘Our best method’

Paula Tease, owner of Scrapbook Fever at 1651 W. Seventh St. in Joplin, can identify with the feeling of not knowing how to draw customers into her store.

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