Ask Diane: What's so important about marketing to a specific niche?

Real Entrepreneurs. Real Questions. Real Answers.

Question:

What’s all the noise about the importance of marketing to a specific niche?

Answer:

As an entrepreneur, it is crucial to decide on a niche. This may sound easy but can be a challenge. We are so scared to leave anyone out. We are afraid that we are going to lose business. Often, we have no idea where our niche is or how to find it. And yet, if we don‘t define our niche, we will lose business. People want experts. And if they can’t clearly define what it is we provide we will lose them.

What is a niche?

1. suitable place for somebody: a position or activity that particularly suits somebody’s talents and personality or that somebody can make his or her own

2. specialized market: an area of the market specializing in one type of product or service

Your niche might be based on a combination of the following:

• Your life experiences
• Your education
• Your career history
• Your location
• Your purpose

Stephanie Ecke is a prime example of a woman working in her niche. Stephanie Ecke, The Trauma Queen can be found at www.stephanieecke.com.

Stephanie‘s Mission Statement: I want to faithfully and passionately help people heal, restore and transform their lives on every level in order to become all that God created them to be.

Stephanie Ecke is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor (LCDC). She has extensive trauma resolution training and uses mind/body techniques to help clients heal from trauma.

While she works with a variety of clients, Stephanie specializes in trauma and addiction. She trained at The Meadows with Pia Mellody, a pioneer in the fields of codependency and addiction. She is committed to helping her clients find freedom from trauma and addiction, and celebrates their successes as they step into new, bright, hopeful futures. Stephanie has very focused areas of expertise and is using her life experiences.

I also need to clarify that marketing to a specific niche doesn’t mean you cannot create multiple streams of income but it might stir a greater focus, a need to streamline products that can be offered within the parameters of your niche.

So what is your niche?

What is your niche?  What need are you filling?  What stands out about you/your product?

It’s time to claim your niche, this group of people that God specifically needs you to work with. You are uniquely positioned to do this.

Need help surviving in the business world? Submit your entrepreneurial questions to Diane at diane@dianecunningham.com. Please note that all questions selected for public display may be edited for clarity and privacy and become the property of NACWE.