Professional Profiles are the latest buzzword in business marketing, and yet so many business people don't know what it is and are missing out on a highly influential and valuable marketing tool.

So today, I am going to change that. By the time you are done reading this article, you will have a clear understanding of what a profile is, what a professional profile is and why it is so valuable to you as a marketing tool.

I believe that many of you are familiar with customer profiling. It is using the Web to find out clients or customers specific needs, interests, and other demographics. Customer profiling is an effective tool to determine with whom you conduct business. It is part of developing your target market.

Why is customer profiling so important? As a business owner or professional, executive or whatever role you have, understanding exactly who is your ideal customer is the key to creating products and services for your customer. Without this information, you would have hard times generating revenue.

I want to tell you a little secret. Customers profile the companies with whom they do business.

Think about this for a minute. When you are in need of new tires for your car, how do you decide where you are going to get them? You shop around. You check out prices and compare value. You think about the reputation of the dealer and the manufacturer. You consider location.

Guess what? You are profiling the businesses in order to make a good choice and get the best you can.

Are you getting a feel for where I'm going with this?

A professional profile is a short biography of a person or company.

Profiling a business or person is to create a short biography or professional profile of the business or person, and use it, as a marketing tool.It is a way to give your clients information about you, about your business, about your products and services, about the value you provide. You give them what they are looking for rather than making them hunt it down.

I want you to stop and think for a moment about your website. Most entrepreneurs, business professionals, service providers, and companies will have an About Me or About Us page of one kind or another. That page is in effect, a profile or short biography of the company or entrepreneur, whatever the case may be. It's great that those pages are up there on the Internet for everyone to see. However, there is so much more that you can do with those words.

The potential use for a professional profile is huge! A professional profile is a valuable marketing tool. Here are just a few ideas how you could use a professional profile:

• Include it with your press releases
• Add it to your media kit
• Print it out nicely for tradeshows
• Add it to your brochures

Tonight, before you shut down your computer, look at your About Me or About Us page. Read it over. Think about how influential and valuable this page could be if you turn it into a full-blown professional profile? An essential part of your marketing kit is your professional profile.