Having a tight focus on your niche is critical to your success. That’s Marketing 101. But how close does the spotlight have to be? This is a question that puzzles most solo entrepreneurs. Somehow we get the idea that the wider the net, the more fish we will catch. However intuitive that might feel, the results show that the opposite is true. The tighter your focus, the more impact you will have on the marketplace.
This is the due to several factors.
First, you are defining your market, not creating it. In other words, the people who need you are already in place and they already know who they are. Poorly targeted marketing often has the idea that we need to convince people that they need our transformation. That’s like telling a vibrant man that he needs to have a yearly MRI—to the tune of $2500—just in case. Until he gets that message from some type of internal prompting, most men would turn that down flat. He doesn’t see his need and no amount of public advertising will change his mind. He’ll simply click the remote when the ad pops up on the screen.
By defining your market, you are saying, You already feel this pain and I have the answer. When someone who has that pain sees those words, he says, Yes, that’s me. I am a part of that group. You are defining who he already is. People join the National Rifle Association not because they want to see if guns are a good thing but because they already are convinced that bearing arms is our Constitutional right. Love them or hate them, the NRA defined a niche that was already strong within the population, and so should you.
Second, remember how few clients you truly need to make your business or practice flourish. Keeping that in mind, you will realize that it’s overkill for you to market to a wide group. Within your micro-niche, there will be plenty of clients to keep you busy for the next hundred years.
Think about your favorite clients. Which 3 people have you absolutely loved working with who have also seen the greatest transformation from your service? Exactly what was their pain? If you’re a coach helping people make a fresh start in life, are your best clients recovering from divorce? Are they grieving the death of a loved one? Or maybe they are a serial engagement breaker. Are they Gen-Xers or Baby Boomers? Male or female? With children or without? Work force or entrepreneurs? Spiritual or not?
Once you find the shared traits of those 3 clients, you’ll have a mindshift. By defining their positioning in the universe and fine tuning your understanding of their collective pain, you’ll discover your micro-niche. Anything broader will taste like fine Pinot Noir poured into a glass of water. Who’d be attracted to that?
And now I'd like to invite you to pick up my free Prospect Profiling Kit at http://LetsGetRealmarketing.com.
Award-winning author and Internet marketing specialist Rosey Dow puts a persona to your prospects the way an FBI profiler finds an unknown suspect. That's why she is known as the Prospect Profiler.
