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129 | Finding Your Profitable Niche with Gene Hammett
Do you want more leads for your business? Do you want more quality leads? Lean in to today’s episode as I combine many of the episodes with quotes, stories and tips. This is about finding Your profitable niche for your business. There is a free gift at the end of this episode that will help you get more leads. I am super passionate about this episode since this is a huge part of my work with my clients. I am happy to share it with you and would love your feedback on this episode.
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Gene’s Target Audience: Gene works with entrepreneurs who want to find the perfect match between their unique value and the people who will become their best clients and biggest fans.
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125 | A Case Study in Turning Around A Struggling Business with Drew Pearson
Have you ever struggled to make payroll? Have you ever stressed over taking your business to the next level? Well, most entrepreneurs have been there before; however, it does not have to be that way. Drew Pearson, Owner of Ninja Multimedia, shares his journey so that it may help you. Drew took a chance by attending an event with me. Afterward, we had one coaching session to fine-tune his strategy so that he could turn around his business. Drew has always done excellent work, (and get lots of referrals) but he needed to change his business development approach. Listen to Drew tell you how he turned around his business so that he could be proactive in his sales strategy.
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Drew’s Target Audience: Drew now mostly targets medical communication clients.
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112 | How To Eliminate The Sales Process with Jack Mize
If you hate to sell, listen in here to this episode. Positioning yourself prior to the sale allows you to bypass the traditional sales process. Jack Mize, host of Influencers Radio, tells us how being the educator and the advocate allows you to eliminate the sales process. You probably understand what it takes to educate before the sale, but the “advocate” is someone that will really stand up for the success of their customers. Jack talks about positioning yourself as the authority simply by being an educator and advocate. Listen in to this episode to see what this means in your business.
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Jack’s Target Audience: Jack has been in the marketing business for several years serving business owners, coaches, and consultants where he helps them to focus on positioning themselves as educators and advocates for their prospects. Educators and advocates are also known as authorities. Essentially this is the position he helps them to take in their industry.
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Small Business is not a Target Market
This post is NOT for those that work at Walmart, Coke, Fedex, Microsoft or anyone else that has the budgets, resources and opportunities available to “BIG” business. It is for small businesses that have limited budgets, strained resources and in general less than 1000 employees (but usually WAY smaller). This post is for the small business- entrepreneur.
I hear so many entrepreneurs tell me they are comfortable in having a broad niche and they *think* that variety makes them great. I understand this all too well. In fact, in the early years of my business, I would have described my target market as “small business,” which was too broad. But I learned the hard way that having such a fuzzy audience is no way to build your business. With all the competition out there, you have to be crystal clear about who you serve and demonstrate that with a smart marketing message.
Back when I defined my audience as “small business” I had clients, but it was really hard for me to develop a steady stream of leads and even harder to make conversions. I always wanted to write a book and develop programs for my business, but until I found a true target market, I struggled. Once I narrowed my niche, I found that many of my marketing decisions flowed better. I knew which events to go to for networking and how to develop offers for my market using my target market’s language and examples that directly connect to them. I knew how to create content that would connect my audience to me and my brand.
If you agree with this concept…read on.
What is a “target market”?
It is a clear description of who you serve. It can be either vertically or horizontally focused. Think of it this way: vertically focused is aligned with a specific industry, e.g., real estate or financial services.
Horizontally focused is not as easy to describe because they can be any one of the following:
- Demographic – based on the person, e.g., women owned firms
- Stage – companies can be described by their stages, like new, start up, growth or established phases
- Challenge based – what problem does the client need (e.g., increase online conversions or registrations)?
Any of these will work to narrow your target market. But if you really want to develop a strong position, you should select a vertical and horizontal focus to have a “niched company.” A great example of this is wtalkie.com run by Brett Neal who develops WordPress websites for cement construction companies. His strategy has produced amazing results so far. For example, Brett recently got the chance to speak to a room full of cement construction executives and walked away with 13 projects from that one speech….one speech!! (talk about some focused marketing efforts!). Brett knows this business and has stacks of references and testimonials that directly relate to this narrow target market.
Your target market will seek you out if you write your web content and emails directly to the heart of what really matters to them. If you create a video that addresses them directly and with empathy you will get more clients. This is true because I have seen it work for so many clients and I have seen it work for me (remember I am a Business Coach to Entrepreneurs that want to find their target market and the profitable niche just in case you forgot).
One final thought here…Your “target market” must be black or white. This means that people will see if they are included in your target market.
This means that your client will positively associate themselves to that target market. The stronger that someone will defend that position, the better your target market is. It is critically important to have clients see themselves based on the words you use. Don’t pick some cute- fancy name just to be different. You want your target audience to easily recognize who you are.
Now after you find your “target market” you have to do some work to find your niche. Look for our next post about finding your niche.
I would love to hear more stories from you about your target market. Leave me a comment to start a conversation.
Related posts:
Episode #034 – Gene Hammett | Discovering Your Real Target Market
034 Gene Hammett | Discovering Your Real Target Market
In more than 30 episodes at Leaders in the Trenches, we have talked about “target market” and the value that it offers the companies that really understand the audience they serve. We have talked to coaches, consultants, designers, marketers, authors, speakers and more to hear of their struggles before knowing their target market and the successes after the WORK to discover their own target markets. There are 3 stages that you must move through to realize the benefits we talk about here.
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