When selecting a target market, you'll want to consider its viability.   Here are the critical parameters you'll want to consider.  The more of them your target target meets, the more viable it is.

• Is there a real need for this service?

The solution your service offers must meet an urgent or unmet need.  The basic motives for business purchases are pain, fear or greed.  Do members of the target market have a real problem to solve?   Is it painful enough for it to trigger or justify a purchase decision?  Or, is it important enough to change their current way of doing things (i.e., consider paying someone else to do something that they've always done in-house?) 

• Can you easily and affordably reach them?

It won't do you a lot of good to pick a group, but then find that you can't easily contact them.  Or, if you can reach them, you can't do so in a cost-effective manner.

When selecting your target market, consider whether there are lists of the decision makers available and/or places where you can reach them by speaking or networking.

Here are some examples:

• What do they read? (trade journals, newspapers, newsletters, etc.)
• Where do they go? (trade shows, conferences, seminars, workshops)
• Where do they hang out?  (clubs, associations, Internet forums, etc.)
• Are any of the above easy and affordable to use to make your services known?

• Are there enough of them to sustain your business?

While you need to narrow down the universe to a more niched group of businesses that have common characteristics and similar needs, you also need to make sure that the group still has enough prospects in it to sustain your business.  

It's likely you'll need to conduct some market research to find out how many businesses are in your target market.

A couple of places to look are:

www.hoovers.com
www.marketresearch.com

You can also do a web search for any trade associations in the industry you've chosen.  Association web sites often have statistics on market size and other important details.

Another research method is to visit your local library. Tell the reference desk librarian what you are looking for. Libraries often subscribe to several online databases where this data is readily available.

• Can they afford you, and do they have the ability to pay?

Are there other similar service offerings in the target market that people are paying for at the prices that you want to charge? Is there a history of members in the market buying a similar service to yours? 

• Is this a market that you are passionate to serve?

Chances are if you don't like what you are doing, or who you're working with, you won't be as successful at as you could be. When identifying your target market, it's important that you have some passion for the group.   The passion is really the fuel that will help you be effective in not only selling your services, but becoming well-known for what you do.    While customers do hire service providers based on their knowledge and skills, your passion is what will really make the difference in your ability draw in new customers and create loyal clients.

Will you get satisfaction out of helping people with this group's specific type of problems?   Do you enjoy the process of helping them?   Do you enjoy working with the typical kinds of corporate cultures or personality types that are in this group?