Are you afraid to choose a niche for your product or
service? Are you afraid that you'll be limiting your
business if you narrow your niche down too much? If you
answered yes to either of those questions, you are not
alone. Lots of new business owners struggle with this
issue. All you want to do is give your gifts to the world,
and making decisions that make you feel as though you are
saying "no" to a segment of the world may not feel right to
you. But by choosing to focus on a certain segment of the
population, you are ensuring that your work actually gets
out there, and you will be astounded at what does come your
way.
So don't be concerned that you're going to cut yourself off
from other opportunities, or that you're going to limit
your success by focusing on a smaller segment of the
population. The opposite is actually true. When you focus
your efforts:
1. It's so much easier and profitable to market to a
smaller portion of the market (just think how many people
there are in the world!) than to try to be all things to
all people.
2. It's much easier for people (your clients) to talk about
you because they understand that you do one basic thing for
one group of people.
3. It's much easier for clients and colleagues to refer you
for the same reason as #2.
4. It's much easier to build strategic alliances/joint
ventures and partnerships for the same reason as #2.
5. It's much easier to become and be considered an expert
at what you do because you're clear about who your market
is and what your message is.
6. You'll be amazed to find out that you actually open
yourself up to possibilities that would not have come up
had your focus been all over the map.
Something I often tell my private clients is that there is
a group of people out there who can only hear your message
from you. Even if you think what it is that you're offering
is similar to someone else's offer, the way you deliver
your message (through your presentation, your filters, your
view of the world, etc.) is as unique as you are. And there
is a certain percentage of the population who can only
'hear' that through you and your offerings. Those people
are YOUR people. Doing the digging and the research to
figure out who they are is worth the effort as it will pay
off in spades.
So, once you figure out who your people are, you'll want to
pass them through a few filters to further determine if
they are a viable niche for you to build a business around.
Some of those filters should include:
1. Can they afford your offerings? As most of us are in the
helping profession, that's where a big part of our thoughts
and energies go - to helping people. But you're also in
business to make money. It's critical to determine if a
niche can support your business now and into the future in
the beginning of bulding your business.
2. Are they reachable? If you can't reach these people, how
will you be able to tell them about you and what you offer?
Find out how many ways you can access this group, both
online and off, to help determine if this is a viable niche.
3. Do they know they need you? Many times we create what we
think our niche needs, but if they don't know they need it,
you'll waste time and energy trying to talk them into it.
4. Is this group one YOU are passionate about working with?
Unless the work itself fulfills your passion, then this
filter is just as important as the others, if not more so.
In order for you to show up your brightest and best, the
people you're working with should be people who are your
idea of the best of the best in clients and customers.
When you focus your efforts and energy on one target market
that you've determined would be a great foundation and fit
for you and your offerings, you are directing the Universe
to help draw those Ideal Clients to you. When you continue
to put yourself out there with one clear message, those
Ideal Clients will eventually hear it and seek you out.
Exciting, isn't it?
----------------------------------------------------
Alicia M Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Queen & CoachT,
founder of ClientAbundance.com and creator of 21 Easy &
Essential Steps to Online Success SystemT, teaches
professionals how to attract more clients, create
profit-making products and services, make more sales, and
ultimately live the life they desire and deserve. For FREE
tips on how to create abundance in your business, visit
http://www.ClientAbundance.com .
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