Are you focused on niche markets? Do you even know what that means? Specializing in Niche Markets has never been as crucial for small business, as it is today. Gone are the days when you can target general, broad markets and make money from them. To make money in today’s heavy influenced internet and social media environment, one must specialize in well defined niche topics.
So what is Niche Marketing?
Niche marketing refers to targeting a segment of the general or overall market for a service or product line. When a small business tries to market to everyone, they often discover they get no one.
Most small businesses do not have the resources to market to an entire community, so by selecting small segments and focusing their marketing efforts there, they see greater returns on their marketing dollar.
Niche marketing is an extremely cost-effective means of marketing to carefully pinpointed market segments.
Misconceptions about Niche Marketing
Lets examine a few misconceptions when it comes to niche marketing.
Misconception #1: You do not have to be an expert in the Niche field you choose!
Everyone says you should only choose a niche that you are an expert in…nonsense!
The internet and the marketing world as a whole is so impersonal that you can easily appear as an expert and not know anything about that particular niche. The key is perception, to appear as an expert. It easily boils down to understanding the niche you are marketing to and knowing their needs.
What dictates how successful you are is how well you understand your niche market, and how well you provide the solutions to their needs.
Misconception #2: Choose one niche market and stick with it forever.
Not true! Once you establish yourself in one niche and develop a strong customer base, move on to the next. The idea is using your resources wisely to build your customer base.
Misconception #3: There’s not enough people in my market to make any money.
Wrong again!
OK could you niche down so far that there really isn’t enough of a customer base? Sure I suppose it’s possible, but then you really don’t understand what were talking about here and I suggest you ask for some help.
I mean if you are marketing to Single bald men, who own 1 dog and 1 cat, live their mother and drive cadillacs from the 80’s, you might have taken the target marketing exercises a little too far.
But for most small businesses, there are plenty of target markets out there for your to build a strong customer base on. It is also important to look outside of your immediate community. The internet has opened up so many small businesses to a global community, and very few are tapping into that larger market base.
Those are three popular misconceptions when it comes to niche marketing. Follow the tips above, and you will be more likely to succeed. Remember, it is important to find a profitable niche, build a strong customer base by understanding those customers needs and providing the solutions, then move on to the next niche.
Not all niche markets will be a slam dunk, so don’t get discouraged.
Even if one out of ten become really profitable, sit down and smile, you’ve hit the jackpot.
What are your daily practices? Are they positive or negative practices. You see if you practice doing something poorly, you will get better at performing poorly.
I teach my clients to divide their time based on the many roles that a small business owner plays. As a small business owner you are the marketing department, the sales team, customer service, production department, human resources, and the Executive Team. I encourage solo-preneurs that I work with to divide their week accordingly so that everything gets done and each area gets the proper attention.
