Finding Your Own Niche Market
by Bob Leduc
What is your target market? When I ask business owners that question I
usually hear something like...
- Small Business Owners
- Opportunity Seekers
- Doctors
- Homeowners
Do you define the targeted market for your business similar to one of
these? If you do, you're working harder and spending more money than necessary to promote
your business. And you're enjoying only a fraction of the sales you should be getting.
Most business owners recognize the value of targeting a market. But when
you target a broad audience like those listed above, you're only targeting prospects who
CAN use your product or service. You have to narrow your focus if you want to target
prospects who are LIKELY to use your product or service. One of the best ways to do this
is to find a niche market.
What is a Niche Market?
A niche market is a narrowly defined group that includes all of the
following:
- Individuals in the group have the same specialized interests and needs.
- They have a strong desire for what you offer.
- You have (or you can create) a compelling reason for prospects in the group to do
business with you instead of with someone else.
- You can easily reach individual prospects within the group.
- The group is large enough to produce the volume of business you need.
- The group is small enough that your competition is likely to overlook it.
Why You Must Narrow Your Focus
A niche market enables you to target your sales messages with great
precision. The more narrowly you define your niche market the easier it is to cater to the
specifically defined interests of people in that market.
For example, some businesses describe their target market as
"opportunity seekers". But this is a broad audience. You cannot cater to
specifically defined personal interests of individuals in this group because it may
include all of the following:
- Executives who want to get out of the corporate environment and start their own business
- New mothers who want to start a home based business
- Students who want to generate some extra income
Any promotional message to this group would have to be very general. But
people don't respond to general talk. They respond only when they feel you are talking
directly to them about their individual needs.
SPECIAL ADVANTAGE: A highly defined, small niche market can
insulate you from competition. Other small businesses are likely to overlook it. Large
businesses will find the market segment too small to bother with.
How to Find Your Own Niche Market
One way to find a good niche market is to evaluate your existing
customers. Can you uncover a segment of customers with similar characteristics?
For example, I recently talked with an MLM distributor for a health
products company. About a year ago she noticed that many distributors in her downline were
health or physical education teachers. She now has a lot of success targeting a niche
market of female physical education teachers who are married, have children and are
members of the same professional association.
Another way to find a niche market is to work backward from the benefits
you offer. Start by listing all the benefits provided by your product or service. Then
list some of the characteristics of prospects whose current situation can be dramatically
improved by those benefits. You should begin to see a narrowly defined group emerge as a
niche market.
It's Your Bottom Line
How specific is your target market? Can you develop sales messages so
sharply focused your prospects believe you're talking specifically to them? If not, use
the information in this article to help you find a niche market of your own. Then tailor
your sales messages to the specific interests and needs of that niche market. You'll see
an immediate increase in your sales and profits.
About the Author:
Bob Leduc is a Sales Consultant with 30 years experience in building
successful businesses. He just released a revised and completely updated New Edition of
his manual, "How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards," and
several other publications to help small businesses grow and prosper.
Email: BobLeduc@aol.com
Subject: "Postcards"
Phone: 702-658-1707 after 10 AM PST/Las Vegas, NV
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