You hear the advice all of the time, you must niche, you must niche in order to succeed! Now, I am no marketing expert and I do completely get why, we “should” do this, but let’s explore both sides to the argument. I can almost feel the marketing experts seething at the teeth and shaking their heads, no no no, don’t listen, it will end in failure. Maybe it will but maybe it won’t! The problem I have as a Life Coach is that I spend a lot of my time asking this question to my clients, “who says you should?” Should’ing yourself can promote an awful lot of guilt and anguish and if you find yourself telling yourself, “I should do this because they said I should”, then maybe it’s time to follow your own internal advice and believe in your own way forward.
The online dictionary defines Niche as: denoting or relating to products, services, or interests that appeal to a small, specialised selection of the population.
So, why should we niche? It’s all about knowing your ideal customer and your target market, so you can talk directly to them. Makes a lot of sense and one I don’t disagree with. Of course, you need to know who your target market is but the big piece of the puzzle we don’t often hear is, do you know where to find them? do you know what marketing arena they will be hanging out in? Once you know this you can target your product or service directly to your people. You can have different services and a different marketing strategy for each one.
The big problem I have with niche’ing is I don’t want to spend my days supporting just one type of person( no matter how much I love it). I am not passionate and knowledgeable about just one thing. I am passionate and knowledgeable about a lot of things and having to chose one area just does not sit right with me. Now again, I can hear the critics saying, but people want experts and experts they shall seek. Maybe, some potential customers will seek out an “expert” a “guru” a “leading light” but that will certainly come at a price and let me tell you, that doesn’t make them any better. Pricing, I will come onto shortly but let’s stay with the expert discussion for now. I know that I am not alone, I know that many of us are multi skilled, multi talented and can transfer skills from one situation to another. Why quash your passions, your skills, your desires because someone says you should. Why hold yourself back for a select few, when you can support and provide for the masses!
Now, back to pricing. The advice is right that the more “super niche’d” you are the more you can charge. But, I think this debate comes down to your values, your guiding principles, your mission statement. Do you feel comfortable and happy charging a small fortune to the select few? if yes, then great stuff and super niche away. If no, then what would make you happy and how can you achieve that?
The moral of this blog is that there is no right or wrong approach. There is no one size fits all and that comes down to the simple fact that we are human beings driven by love and security. Didn’t we all become business owners for those reasons? To love what we do and provide an income to feed us, to protect us, to provide shelter. I sense, Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs prompting me here 🙂
Ask yourself this:
Do I understand what my vision and values are?
Do I know my target market and where to find them?
Can I be courageous, stand up and be heard? (You may have the best product in the world, but if no one can hear you, you won’t be found).
Do I believe in myself and allow my passions to shine?
Whatever path you take or are on, I wish you well. There are 7.53 billion people in this world. That’s enough customers to go round, that’s enough to know you won’t please or appeal to everyone. That’s enough to surely allow yourself to love what you do and the way that you do it.
Daniela Stones is a Life Coach, Hypnotherapist and soon to be Counsellor. She supports and nurtures people with their business, with their health, with their family and with their soul. Contact her today for more information. info@danielastones.co.uk or 07948 685680
