Can’t I Help Everyone?

If you ask some entrepreneurs and would-be business owners who their ideal client is, they will say, “Everyone.” Of course, that can’t be true. Not everyone needs everything or anything. (Truth be told, women are the worst at this. Why? Our nature is to want to help everyone rather than define a niche group of people we can help. We just don’t want anyone left out!)

However, knowing your niche is important, because it will not only help you better define the features and pricing for your product or service, it will let you tailor your marketing message to address the needs and wants of a specific and narrow group. Marketing experts say that the narrower the niche, the stronger your business will be, as long as you choose a niche that is accurate and reflects an

authentic need.

Here are just a few reasons why defining your niche market can benefit your bottom line:

1. A smaller group has very specific and unique needs and wants.

2. You will get more referrals. When people know exactly what your specialty is, they also know exactly whom to send your way.

3. You can find business allies. Working within a narrow market provides a great opportunityto partner with complementary businesses that serve the same market.

4. You will be laser focused on your target. Defining your niche takes a lot of the guesswork out of your marketing efforts, and also positions you as a clear expert in your area.

People always ask me if I’ve ever changed my niche from when I started and I simply let them know that my niche adjusted a bit but my message never changed. My message has always been about communication. How women communicate, how men communicate and how everyone communicates with each other. I talk about how different men and women are and I never say one gender is better than the other or one is right and one is wrong. I talk about the differences and that’s what they are differences and how to use them as assets rather than liabilities. I just needed to add this into the sales process. So my message remained solid. In other words, I redefined my niche to focus on gender communications in sales training. So, yes, I did start to color outside the original box, but I stayed on the same page.

4 Responses

Alina says:

February 22, 2014 at 11:19 am

I can completely relate – it’s hard to start narrowing down the ideal target market, because we don’t want to leave anyone out. It also feels like you are leaving money on the table if you are not including everyone. In actuality, more focused you are, the better you can serve your audience, and everyone else can’t help but want to work with you, because THEY want to be included too 🙂

Log in to Reply
Angie says:

February 22, 2014 at 12:04 pm

I so agree with you! When I first started I was an everyone person too and the reality of it was I didn’t want to work with everyone!

Log in to Reply
Shawn says:

February 22, 2014 at 1:25 pm

That has been a tough lesson for me to learn. But I agree having a niche makes serving customers so much easier. I loved all the benefits that you listed if we stay within our niches.

Log in to Reply
Nicole Bandes says:

February 22, 2014 at 4:21 pm

I resisted the Niche market aspect for a long time. I finally gave in and it has made a HUGE difference in my business.

Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.