First let me say I really like your changes to the layout. To me it looks much cleaner and more organized. Nice job!
Ok, playing devil's advocate here, here are my thoughts on choosing your target market:
As I see it, you are looking at three possibilities:
- online shoppers in general
- women online shoppers
- online women shoppers that are mothers.
The broadest category of online shoppers in general will be have the largest number of potential customers, however it will also have the most competition. Not that competition is bad, but if you choose that larger market you will really have to think about what you are doing to differentiate yourself from the competition (as in what is your unique selling proposition?). By narrowing your target market, you will also be narrowing your potential customer base, but you also can more target your ad copy to entice those customers to come to your website. You can focus your marketing more precisely to appeal to that niche. You can use those "hot button" words that will make them want to visit your site over the competition's site that doesn't strike that special chord.
In your case (and this is just my opinion), as your site stands now, you are offering a place to buy products from moms in business. If I'm a 25 year old guy, I most likely won't find anything compelling about your website that would make me want to shop there. So if I do a search and your site comes up with a hundred others, there is nothing that really will make me feel compelled to check you out. Now, if I'm a woman (but not a mother), I may like the idea of buying from mothers in business, but honestly, before I became a mother, I don't think that would have really been a big selling point for me. Now that I am a mother, I am much more interested in supporting mothers in business, and I find the idea of buying from another mother very appealing. I would be much more likely to check out your site than one that didn't have mom-owned businesses. So you have struck a chord with me that makes me want to check out your site over your competition.
Of course, you don't want a niche that is TOO small, or there won't be enough of a customer base to make it worthwhile, however, I think that "online women shoppers that are moms" is certainly a sizeable market, and by focusing on that market you could really target your marketing and ad copy to grab their attention. They can find a great selection of products AND feel good about supporting other moms (who they can relate to).
Again, this is just my opinion, and your choice of a target market needs to be one that feels right to you. Just thought I would throw out a little food for thought.
Best of luck to you - looks like you are doing a terrific job!
Lynne
P.S.: Nice to see someone else from Iowa. I live in Davenport - east/central Iowa right on the Mississippi River. I'm not familiar with Prairie City; I'll have to look it up on the map.
