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One of my favourite business experts is Michael Katz the owner of Blue Penguin Development.
Michael works with businesses that are solo professionals and shared some helpful ideas a few days ago on the value of focussing on a niche in your marketing.
Let me hand you over to Michael for his comments...
Do you have a favourite statistic?
I do, and here it is:
Of all American men between the ages of 20 and 40 who are at least 7 feet tall, 17 per cent are currently playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
That's right. If you fit this demographic, you have a better than one in six chance of being a professional basketball player, right now (and a better than one in one chance of wearing custom-made pants).
Absent that - and given that there are just 450 players in the NBA and, I don't know, 45 million American men between the ages of 20 and 40? - your odds are roughly one in 100,000.
One in six Versus one in 100,000.
I'm no Blaise Pascal, but statistically speaking, these scenarios would appear to be significantly different.
But why the disparity?
Is it because the taller you get, the more skilled you become as a basketball player?
Hardly. In fact, it's exactly the opposite. Height is such a colossal advantage in basketball that the taller you are, the less skilled you need to be.
Indeed, as NBA scout Ryan Blake explains in a fascinating Sports Illustrated article
regarding life as a 7-footer, he sets the skill hurdle for these giants just north of deceased:
"I'll check up on anyone over 7 feet that's breathing."
Chances are though, you're not 7 feet tall and you don't play professional basketball.
But wouldn't it be great if there were some similar ingredient in the world of solo professional marketing - something that, if you were to possess it, would catapult you to the front of the line and make up for your otherwise, overall, middle-of-the-pack-ness? (I mean no offense.)
Lucky for you, my unbehemoth friend, there is.
It's called a niche.
Yep, a niche.
The one factor that, like excessive height in basketball, makes up for nearly everything else.
Why? I can think of at least three reasons:
1: A niche helps people remember you.
Tell someone that you're a freelance writer and they'll smile politely.
Tell them instead that you specialise in writing white papers which is what Gordon Graham does and they'll remember you in six months when they receive one of those "Can anybody recommend someone who...?" emails.
2: A niche suggests that you are an expert.
If you only do one thing, or only focus on one type of client - or both - people naturally assume that you must be pretty good at it.
And chances are, you are pretty good at it. When you spend a lot of time going deep in one area, it's easy to stay well ahead of your jack-of-all-trades competition.
3: A niche helps you focus your marketing efforts.
If you do a lot of different types of work for a lot of different types of companies, you're essentially marketing to "Earthlings in my Hemisphere."
If you narrow your focus, on the other hand - by industry, location, type of service offered, or some other truly meaningful distinction - it becomes clear where to spend your time.
Now you know which conferences to attend, which blogs to guest post on, which LinkedIn groups to frequent, etc.
As important, since you have a tight focus, you know which of these to ignore.
Here's the bottom line.
When it comes to marketing your solo professional business, you can spend the rest of your life tweaking, polishing and incrementally improving whatever it is you're currently doing.
Or, you can take one, giant, 7-footer-sized step in the direction of narrowing your business focus.
Comment from Graham:
I saw an excellent example of the power of focussing on a niche a few years ago.
I got an email from a business coach in the United States. He told me that for the first year or two in his business he focussed on being a business coach to a wide range of businesses. Business was tough and he struggled. He then decided to focus on being a business coach to website developers only. In other words he focussed on serving a particular niche market. Within 12 months his revenues had increased 500 per cent and he discovered it was a lot easier to get new clients.
Focussing on a niche may be worth considering for your business as well.
'One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular.' Tony Robbins
Action Exercise:
If you want to know how to choose a good niche to market to there is an excellent book called The Pumpkin Plan: A Simple Strategy to Grow a Remarkable Business in Any Field by Mike Michalowicz (It is well worth reading.)
Chris and Lee-Anne Minturn talk to Tom Raynel about the Jewellers Collective.