How to Define your Market Niche, with Maggy Sterner

A Hera Hub Business Booster Recap, with Maggy Sterner

Many entrepreneurs are afraid to niche their business because they think they will lose income opportunities. However, it actually is the opposite. Narrowing your niche can actually help to grow your business and make more money!  Having ONE niche brings you many advantages, such as:

• Easier to focus your marketing.
• Easier to become known as the “go-to person”.
• Powerful connections with prospects.
• More referrals!
• Easier to write content because you are writing to someone.

 What’s your niche? In order to define your niche market, follow these three simple steps in the following order:

1. Who is your target market? (your Who?)

• Start with top-level information, e.g., small-medium businesses, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, corporations, etc.
• Work your way down to more specific details, e.g., consultants, coaches, creatives, etc.
• Define subgroups of the types of people with whom you are willing to work; characteristics of your ideal client; gender; type of experience; demographic; values, etc.

      2. Define what problem(s) you are solving (your What?) Identify what your target market is struggling with in order to have clarity on the result or solution you want to offer them. The bottom line is to help your clients to attract more clients. Remember, your clients buy results, not your product/services.      3. Define your niche. Be specific. A niche appeals to a small specialized section of the population. You can have one niche and do many activities underneath that. It is small but mighty. The smaller the size, the bigger the audience. How do you define your niche? First, get real with yourself. Interview yourself to identify your interests:

•  What kind of work do you want to do?
• Who do you want to do business with?
• What do your ideal clients need help with? What results do they want?

Second, identify problems you can solve by interviewing your ideal clients. In order to get representative answers, talk with at least 5 clients. Ask them the below questions and really take the time to listen to them. (Bonus: The answers to these questions will also help you focus your marketing!)

• What is the problem you have that would cause you to seek out me/my services?
• What is your perfect solution to this problem?
• Why now? 

 Why is ONE niche important?

• Provides clarity and specificity about your offerings. Not only will you be able to describe your business in one sentence, but you will also feel confident when you describe it.
• Helps define your deliverables. Ensures that you are delivering something that your clients want.
• Identifies your ideal client and to whom you are speaking.
• Helps you ascertain the business activities and clients that make you happy. Excludes those with whom you do not want to work, so you can more easily find the right people, and more easily make money.

In conclusion, narrow your niche to grow your business. Remember that nothing is static. Your niche might change in the future and that is fine, but let’s start with ONE. Maggy Sterner is a brand and a business coach. Maggy helps business owners get clarity about what they do and talk about it with confidence so they attract perfect clients. Learn more about her at MaggySterner.com.