Of course you want to have a speciality & point of difference – however we don’t want to be ‘Niched’ out of the market!
For whatever reason, there is this “Interesting” message out there saying “You got to Specialize, Pick one Thing & Just do That!”
As a marketer, I am all for having a point of difference and having something “Unique & Profitable” about you and all that.
However, I have lost count of the number of people out there who have followed the “Niche / Specialize” advice to the extreme and got themselves into lots of trouble. I have seen two recent examples of two amazing business people do exactly that. They are so specialized, it’s very hard for them to attract enough work to keep the lights on / barely make a living.
They came to me with their problems and my advice (which helped turn their businesses around) was to have say 3 – 5 different products / services so they have the breadth and ability to get enough volume and build a profitable & sustainable business.
If I reflect on my most successful and profitable clients (i.e. the ones that live in the 7 Figure Club in particular), they usually have 3 – 6 different products / services over several markets. When I asked them why, you get very simple factual answers that clearly explain their logic including:
– If one area takes a hit, the other ones are there to protect against it.
– It gives more services to offer to the same target market (getting better leverage of single clients).
– It’s much easier to build a business as there is enough volume / mass to work with + more.
In short, I actually don’t know any multi-millionaire that has just one “Niche” in this regard. Sure, they may serve a given target market – but they have a range of services. Also – they may say just have a single service, but they serve multiple industries to ensure there is the volume to work with.
I was very lucky to learn this not only as a Marketer when I studied, but I would see this play out time and time again the Small Business space. These learnings inspired me to very early on broaden my focus so in essence I could not make these mistakes. As an example, I have an Online Product known as the Awesome Marketing Vault, I run workshops, Mentor, Write Content, Consult, Train & the like. My sandbox is “Marketing” sure, but I have lots of services in that sandbox which I love doing and people want.
Things also shift over time too – right now Facebook & LinkedIn are hot topics. You never know, they may not be in a few years – so the fact I have other services keeps me going and in the zone.
My advice and thinking? If you are reading this article – I bet you are concerned about the fact that you are too “Niched / Specific” in what you do or perhaps you are planning to come up with some great new services. Aim for 3 – 6 as a rule of thumb – this has worked great for many clients. Think about what you like to do, what’s profitable / sustainable and what the market wants to guide you thinking.
Love your work, thank you for the read and make contact if you need a hand awesome friend!
About the Author:
Edward Zia is a Marketing Mentor, Blogger & 4Networking Leader who loves help Business Owners & Entrepreneurs kick butt with their Sales & Marketing Strategy & Approach.
If you like what you see, a great place to learn Top Strategies for More High Value Clients is the Premium Online Community “The Awesome Marketing Vault” >> Check it out Right Here!
No responses yet