Choosing a Niche for Your Business: Part One

I see a lot of business owners throwing spaghetti at the walls to see what sticks. Their marketing tactics lack focus, and so they try a little of everything and get frustrated when they don’t get the results they expect. This is one of the reasons why so many entrepreneurs loathe marketing.

Though marketing does involve testing to figure out what works for your business, there is an important first step that is often missed. You need to know who you are marketing to—and that audience should be narrowly defined. Once you do this, it can change everything about the results you get from your efforts.

Everything about marketing comes down to the audience—your target audience. And the audience is different for every business. Once you identify your audience, every marketing decision you make becomes easier because you gather data that helps you find them and you begin building your service offerings and your marketing campaigns around your focus. More importantly, the more narrow your focus, the better chance you have of standing out.

For example, general contractors are often skilled at doing many tasks. It can be tempting to remain a generalist in order to try to get what you perceive to be the most work possible. When a potential client calls and asks for a bathroom remodel, room addition, flooring installation, or garage make-over, the answer is always, “Yes, sure, we can do that!”

There are several potential downsides to saying yes to everything. First of all, you can’t possibly be an expert in all areas (unless you employ a large team of specialists in each area). Second, your portfolio of work can appear unfocused. If you said yes to everything and then showed photos of your wide variety of jobs to potential clients, they might think, “Gee, he does a lot, but I only see one example of a bathroom remodel. I wish I could see more examples. I wonder if he really has the right experience to do this job.”

On the flip side, if you met with a potential client who wanted her kitchen remodeled and you whipped out a portfolio of photos showing the many dazzling kitchens you created—a bright light would shine around you. You would be the obvious authority in your field—a field that is quite crowded with generalists.

Now you may be thinking that what I’m suggesting sounds crazy because you would be giving up other opportunities and walking away from (gulp!) revenue from other types of jobs. But walking away from that other work frees you up to focus on your target audience: people who want kitchen remodels. And odds will be in your favor that once you narrow your focus and choose a powerful niche, your business will begin to prosper beyond your wildest imagination.

Benefits of Choosing a Niche

-Stand out against the competition, which are usually generalists
-Increase appeal with your niche audience because they will feel confident they are working with an authority who understands their needs
-Referral partners will be easier to find because you can work with those who also work within your niche
-You can become the go-to choice for clients who need what you have to offer

You may be able to raise your rates due to your specialty area of focus
In Part Two of this series, we will discuss how to identify your niche and make the transition to serving that audience.