You know for far too many years in my business, I struggled with narrowing my specialty and choosing a niche. I believed that fine tuning my niche would keep away much needed business and clients.
But…over the years for myself and my clients, I have found the opposite to be true. Now my niche has become more like a beacon that attracts just the right clients without as much effort on my part.
What is a niche?
I define a niche as a target audience plus a specialty. You can start with one or the other, but in order to have a true niche, you must have both.
Narrowing your niche just means that you are positioning yourself more closely to the people or companies who could most benefit from your services.
When you hone in on your ideal target audience, business comes to you more easily, you enjoy doing what you do every day, and you make more money. Your marketing becomes much more effortless, and people start to call you instead of you chasing after them.
Doesn’t that sound like a good idea?
The downside of not having a specialty is that you are trying to be all things to all people, which is very stressful and time consuming. You also aren’t able to come across as your best, most authentic self.
Choosing your niche market has many benefits:
- It will allow you to focus on your strengths – what you are brilliant at.
- It will free you to do your best, most creative, heart-felt work
- It positions you to attract significantly more business
- It makes you more easily referable
- It gives you a natural competitive advantage
A good niche market is one in which:
- You have contacts and/or experience
- You can use your greatest talents and gifts
- You can easily connect with prospects and clients
- There are many ways your can be highly visible to your market through speaking, writing or networking
- There is potential for prospective partnerships and collaborations with others serving the same market
The latest trend is to have a ‘micro-niche’, which means choosing a much smaller niche where you know you can be a leader and really stand out as the top expert.
Here are some examples of true niche markets:
- Stressed out women executives who want to bring more purpose and balance into their lives to have more time for what’s most important to them. (Target audience: women executives; specialty: purpose and work-life balance).
- Leadership development for health care managers and executives. (Target audience: health care managers and executives; specialty: leadership).
- Writers and creative types who are struggling with completing their creative projects and would like to complete their first book. (Target audience: writers and creatives; specialty: book writing and publishing).
- New moms who want to lose the weight they put on during pregnancy. (Target audience: new moms; specialty: weight loss or healthy eating).
As you get closer to defining your ideal clients and specialized expertise, you will feel more confident. You’ll start to know with more certainty which clients are just right for you and exactly how you can help them. You’ll know with certainty which opportunities to say yes to and which to say no to.
A niche provides rich opportunities for self-expression. When you ‘find your groove’ you can express yourself very creatively and authentically while attracting significantly more business.
The cost of not having a niche strategy is not being recognized for your expertise which means that you will have to work far too hard for less business and you won’t make as much money as you could with a clear niche market.
The easiest way to grow a business is to find an existing need and fill it. Don’t try to create demand that doesn’t already exist or you’ll go broke.
Developing a niche is a process of exploring several possibilities and then gradually refining them.
Start with your strengths and experience. Then, determine who you really like to work with most and in what environment. Notice who shows up for you, who you get referred to, and what types of issues you are most passionate and knowledgeable about.
Find the need in the marketplace that exactly meets your strengths, and you’ll find the easiest way to business success through narrowing your niche.
What kind of results have you had from narrowing your niche? Please share your comments below. I always love to hear from you!
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I think that is such a great post. As an entrepreneur myself helping small business owners become more marketing savvy, it has really helped me to define my niche even further by focusing on helping women in home based businesses become more marketing savvy without spending a fortune.
Fantastic! From here on in my clients can only benefit as I walk my talk and share your post. Thanks Chat soon B
Hi Bernadette,
That’s a great move to more narrowly define your niche so that your ideal clients can find you easily. Best of luck!
Great article, Jan, as always!
One benefit I have experienced in niching has been, being able to carve out my own corner of the world where I am a valued resource and therefore sought after instead of “chasing after!” With a defined audience and solving their unique challenges, I have been able to create a signature system and write a targeted book for my audience, further building my platform and helping me stand out to those who need me. This visibility has also attracted joint venture opportunities because now, people know exactly how my expertise could further their own goals. When you don’t have a niche, people don’t really understand what you are about, so they can’t see a reason to partner with you. Niching really works!
Oma – you have done an amazing job at niching and defining your expertise. You are a shining light for women!