Niches - The Path to More Profits
Hey, as business owners we CAN'T be all things for all customers.
I mean it would be fantastic if we could, however, you just can't
meet the needs and wants of everyone, you would run yourself
ragged trying :o( BUT ... that doesn't mean you throw your hands up in dispair and
give up ;o) Stick with me for a few minutes and we'll go over a
few ideas that come to mind and see if they get your creative
juices flowing. Firstly, what the heck is a "Niche" anyway?? I mean I am sure
you have seen the word flying around the Internet and a lot
more lately. You've seen newsletter articles and email letters
from some of the top guru's now sprouting "Niche" as the new
"catch" word of the time. The term is NOT NEW. Basically a "niche" is finding a specific
target market and catering to their specific wants and needs. Ummm let me give you an example... As a marketing coach/consultant my business is providing a
service "marketing" to businesses. Now obviously the business
arena is too general so what I want to do is break it down into
bite size sectors or smaller target markets. I may want to deal
specifically to the needs and wants of Dental Offices and decide
to specialize in Dental Office Marketing. I could take on the legal
sector and specialize in marketing legal practices. Get where I am going here?? I can't be all things to all businesses out there, so I break the
business sector down into target markets and the find the ones
that I want to specialize in and cater to that group specifically. Now, you may be thinking ok, that's good for you being a marketing
coach, but I am an affiliate for a progam...how does "niche
marketing" affect me? Glad you asked ;o) When people first come online with the desire to start some
sort of eBusiness they typically go into the "emarketing" niche
and promote products/services with a marketing theme. It makes
sense from a marketing point of view, you go where there is demand. However, with demand also comes competition and the "online
marketing" arena is saturated and highly competitive. So...what do you do? Well, what you need to do is sit and think of markets outside of
the "online marketing" arena which could also use your products/
services and target your messages specifically to them. Umm I feel an example coming on here...ah ok, here is one for
you. Lets say you are an affiliate for an autoresponder service.
Excellent service because you know that anyone who starts
a business online needs an autoresponder. While that is great,
what isn't so hot is the fact that you are not the only autoresponder
service in cyber-land and they too are targeting the same niche
you are. But...the difference between you and them is this article ;o) See, we all go for the obvious niche or target market when we
sign onto an affiliate program. We go after the others just like
us and market to them. What we fail to do is find the OTHER
niches or target markets out there that haven't heard of an
autoresponder and have no idea what it is let alone how much
time we can save them. I am thinking about niches like, oh...perhaps Real Estate Agents.
A few friends are in the market for a new house. Every week
they get in the mail (snail mail) the new listing sheets for all
the houses listed that week. The idea is that they go through
these sheets and see if any of the houses peak their interest
and then they are to call their Agent and ask to view them. It was an ok system, but imagine how much time and MONEY
a Real Estate Agent could save if they had an autoresponder
service? All they would have to do is create the new listing templates,
enter the email address and names of their client base (even
that is automated) and blast out the new listings once a week,
or more often if they wanted to. No more printing costs and
gone are the mailing costs and the time factor you have saved
them is PRICELESS! See the potential here??? Are you beginning to get the idea about finding other market
segments (customers) for your products/services?? If you are an affiliate for an autoresponder service you
could promote autoresponders to Dental Offices. They
send out appointment reminder cards...imagine the cost
savings for them if they had an autoresponder service,
not to mention the time savings of having staff to stick
labels and post them out?? It is just a matter of seeing what they do and how your
service can save them the time and money. AND...the
best part about this thinking is that not many take on
this sort of business stance. Now lets get away from the "online marketing niche"
for a second and think of other ways of creating
profit through niches. Another thing is to look to your hobbies and interests. Lets say you dabble at DJing on the weekends as a
hobby. With that very hobby you could create profit
by creating a little niche site geared towards DJing.
Your site could focus on showing someone how to
break into the weekend DJ business and provide
sites that offer good DJ equipment (that you are
affiliated with of course). The idea about NICHE Marketing is that you DON'T
have to stick within the "Online Marketing" niche.
You can find a niche based on an affiliate program,
a hobby or a special interest. Some of the top marketers have found other niches
like; stop smoking, weight loss, online dating, model
trains, travel, golf and yup even cooking. Don't limit yourself to the niche of online marketing.
Step out and find other market segments that are
not being served or where there is limited competition
and build your niches around those. It's like taking a
path of least resistance and a path to more profits! Denise Ryder is a Marketing Coach writing from her home
office in Northern Ontario (Canada). Imagine What You
Could Accomplish With a Marketing Coach in Your Back
Pocket! Take the No Cost TEST DRIVE! http://www.profitspace.com/coach
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