Claim Your Niche Market for Guaranteed Business Growth
By Serena ole, President, Virtual Business Solutions ON DEMAND

Does your business have a specific focus? Are you considered an expert in one particular area? If you’re not the go-to person in your industry of choice, the problem could simply be that you’re spreading yourself too thin. Let’s say, for example, that you own a floral shop. Until recently, you’ve been offering (and advertising) your expertise and your access to quality flowers to everyone under the sun. Here’s a typical day for you: you spend half the morning at a business networking event, talking up your arrangements as memorable business gifts. Then you head back to the office just in time to catch a phone call from your local high school’s yearbook editor; he wants to go over the ad you place every year to try and capture business from students needing flowers for prom, and parents wanting flower arrangements for graduations and other special events. That afternoon, you head to a bridal fair, where you hand out brochures and business cards to everyone you meet.

You get a little business from each marketing technique, but not enough to write home about. Besides, after a short while in business, you quickly learn that you most enjoy chatting with eager brides who are as enthusiastic about their wedding flowers as you are, and you love putting together mind-blowing bridal bouquets and breathtaking centerpieces. In fact, you’re much more excited about wedding flowers than any of your other work, so you finally decide to focus on brides as your niche market, dedicating your marketing efforts on them and their needs. Before you know it, business is booming with ideal clients willing to pay top dollar for your top-notch wedding floral services. The best part is that your clients sense your passion and enthusiasm for your work, which makes their experience with you ten times better. As a result, they’re quick to drop your name to anyone sporting an engagement ring. You become the go-to expert for all newly-engaged couples in your area.

Okay, so this jump in business may not happen immediately after you claim a niche market, but you’ll be surprised at how quickly it can bring success to your business.

Finding a niche market can be much easier than you might think. Take a look at your current product or service offerings. Are they across the board? As in, are you a photographer who specializes in family portraits but also sells high-tech photography equipment out of your studio? Chances are, the families you serve aren’t interested in the equipment, so it just sits around collecting dust. Your best bet is to pick a specialty and stick with it. That’s not to say that you have to turn down lucrative senior portraits because your specialty is family pictures; you can have a menu of related services or products, but try to keep your focus as narrow as possible to avoid spreading yourself too thin.

---Source: Serena Carcasole is a marketing consultant and president of Virtual Business Solutions ON DEMAND (www.vbsondemand.com).