Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Breakthrough Secrets to Niche Marketing
By Kaya Singer This book may not be reproduced by electronic or any other means
without permission of Awakening Business Solutions. Contact us at
http://www.awakeningbusiness.com
©Kaya Singer 2013
http://www.awakeningBusiness.com
Introduction You’ve created your amazing business idea. You’ve developed awesome services and products and now you want to connect to the right people who need your help. Marketing is a challenge for all solo-‐business owners. Niche marketing can make it all a lot easier! Once you know who your niche people are, it’s only a matter of building relationships and trust with them. My story I began my own business like many of you; focused on what I was good at, my passion, and what I wanted to do. After lots of struggling I learned about niche marketing and a whole universe of understanding appeared. It’s not about you!
If you are like I was, and focusing all on yourself and what you offer, you will never attract scads of clients and your business will continue to flounder. Niche marketing teaches you to take your focus and direct it squarely on the people who need your help. Once I began doing this, I started to attract lots of wonderful clients and my business began to flourish! Here in the next pages I have given you my formula! It’s to you to use it.
The Importance of Having a Strong Niche You want more clients. That’s a given. You’re likely working long hours and doing everything you can think of to try to get more clients to and increase your cash flow. Maybe you feel frustrated with the outcome. You might be feeling discouraged and worrying about how to pay off your credit cards and you are wondering if you should throw in the towel and get a job! You are not alone I assure you-‐ but there is a solution and it is simple. It has to do with “how” you are doing your marketing. If you make one small shift in your niche focus, your business can change overnight. Especially for a service based business – having a strong niche focus is essential. I will explain why but first lets look at what is a niche and what isn’t.
What is a niche and what it isn’t? Here are a few questions I get asked over and over: Q-‐ I have created an amazing program and I know it helps people. I’ve been telling people all about it but no one bites, even though I know it would help them in so many ways. What am I doing wrong? A -‐ Your niche is not your programs or tools. It is the narrow community of people who have a specific problem that is causing a burning need for them. Their focus is on their issue and they won’t be interested in what you offer until they feel you understand them. So your niche is this strong group of people not your products. If you really want to get un-‐stuck you have to really get this. Q -‐ “I know I can help a lot of people. Can I have more than one niche?
A -‐ For your marketing to be strong and really work, you need to aim at one narrow but strong group of people who have a real burning need. You can help many people, but your marketing plan needs to be focused in this way. I will elaborate more about how this works later. You likely have certain kinds of people you really enjoy helping. You want to work with the kind of people you enjoy. Nothing is wrong with that. I will show you how you can have both. A strong group of people you enjoy working with who also wants the benefits you are offering. Yes-‐ you can have this but you need to follow the correct steps. What about my products? Once you understand the needs and wants of your niche group, then you can provide many, many products and services to offer value to them and keep offering them more expert help.
If you don’t understand these people, you won’t be able to connect with them, If you don’t connect with them, they will go elsewhere. It is all about them, not about you. In summary: It is not about helping a million different kinds of people. It is about focusing a one strong group and then offering a million different ways to help them. Next I will tell you why having a niche is so essential and specific ways it will impact your business immediately. I will be asking you some important questions to help you begin the process. Why having a niche is so essential You’ve spent years learning your profession and gaining the skills and expertise to help people.
It can be disconcerting to realize that this is not enough to grow a successful business and to attract the clients you want to help. In a way-‐ your niche clients become your expertise. Without them you have no business. It is essential to: • Listen to them. • Understand who they are. • Know what burning need is driving them. Here are 7 reasons having a strong niche is essential and how it will help you to attract more clients. 1. It is much more profitable to market to a narrower group. This group becomes your expertise and then you can develop many different ways to help them. If you try to market to “everyone,” your message gets dissipated and weak. The difference between a strong deep river, and a shallow wide creek. 2. There are so many choices out there and if people are confused, they will go away. If they end up on your website and they don’t feel you are
talking to them, they will click off. People look for the exact fit and for people who feel you “get them!” 3. You may have spent a fortune getting your website built but don’t know who exactly who you are marketing to. Although your site might look pretty, the content will be weak and won’t provide enough value and connection to people. When you know your niche it is easy to speak to their issues and provide the help they need. 4. People will recognize your specialty and gravitate to you. If people see you as a generalist they will keep looking. When someone has a problem they need help with, they tend to look for someone who specializes in people like them with the kind of issues they have. 5. Your clients will easily be able to tell their friends about you and refer people to work with you. It will make it easy for them to rave about you being a specialist. 6. It’s easier to connect to strategic partners as they too, will know exactly who to refer to you. They will
trust your expertise and also see you as the company to connect with around this niche group. 7. People would always prefer to work with an expert so you will more likely get asked to speak to groups, write articles and be a presenter. How to know if you have a hot niche Not only is it important to have a clear niche group run your marketing plan, but you need to you have picked a niche that will work. I call this your hot niche. • People won't invest their hard earned dollars for something they don't feel a driving need for. This is especially true in a service business where its not just money but also their time, energy and commitment they are giving. As a practitioner and a caring person, it might be easy for you to see how the help you are offering could make a big impact on someone's life. However, a hot niche is when the people themselves acknowledge their problem and it is a burning issue for them. They need to be emotionally engaged and
aware of their problem. For instance, maybe they are stressed around money, in an unhappy relationship, lacking skills for something they really need in their business, in physical pain or unwell or something else in their life that is truly an issue for them. Whatever it is-‐ they are aware of it and want solutions to their problem. • Your niche is narrow but strong. Strong means there is a whole community of these people that have a similar burning need. It is almost a movement of certain people who all want the same thing. This is an important aspect of a hot niche. • These same people are ones you want to work with. If you pick a niche of people you don't feel excited about working with, you won't enjoy your business. They need help and your specialty is in working with them. It is a perfect match and will make it much easier to grow your business from this place because you will enjoy your work.
If you have managed to know clearly who your niche is you are miles ahead of most small solo business owners who are confused and unclear. Here is an easy 3-‐part assessment to help you evaluate whether your niche is a strong one or not. Thinking about who your niche is, look at all three of these following points and see if you get a clear “yes.” in all three. It can't be a maybe or a sort of. Needs to be a strong YES 1. They have a strong emotionally compelling problem or issue they know they need help with. 2. They want the positive results and benefits that will either make them feel much better or solve a big problem. 3. They are willing to invest their time and money for the benefits they will receive because they see the value to their life, business and/or happiness. If you got a strong Yes for all three , then you are on
the right track. If not then you are now aware of what you need to work on.
How to avoid making mistakes My clients often have a huge struggle around the whole idea of creating a strong niche for marketing and growing their business. In theory people get it, but in practice, it tends to throw them into full on fear-‐based reaction. Niche marketing has to do with focusing on the needs and wants of a specific and narrow group. The narrower your niche, the stronger your business will be, as long as you choose a niche that is accurate and reflects an authentic need. It works and yet people are resistant to doing this. What are the reasons that you might get stuck in this process? Insight and awareness is the first step to changing your mind-‐set.
So listen to these following points and see if you can relate to any of them. Once you know, you are able to shift. 1. Wanting to help everyone and not wanting to leave anyone out. This kind of thinking just keeps you from being a specialist and being seen as an expert. 2. Thinking you will make less money with a narrow niche. Opposite is true. It is about believing before you see it. You need to understand the logic. 3. Wanting to focus on your service and products instead of smart business strategies. This is the area you feel safe but without strong marketing you won’t have anyone to benefit from this products. 4. Fear of your own empowerment and success. Self-‐worth issues. Am I good enough? It can feel safer to stay small. You might have to shift the way your see yourself especially if your identity is wrapped up with struggling. 5. Money issues cloud your focus and you end up feeling constricted in every area. Once you really know your hot niche it is about developing new income streams doing a full marketing campaign and
this requires you to invest money. When you are not clear it holds you back. It’s hard, if not impossible, to grow a business without investing money, however you do need to perceive a return on your investment. Owning a small business is like taking a full time personal growth workshop. You have to keep peeling off the onion skins and look at the deeper issues that might be holding you back. What to do to next to bring in more clients. If you are like most small business owners, you need cash flow consistently and lots of it! You'll do whatever you need to do to bring in new clients and customers and keep your business hopping. This is where marketing comes in. You know you need to do it and you also want to get instant results so you can pay your mortgage, pay employees, buy food etc. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. It takes 4-‐5
months before you will see any results of a marketing strategy you do now. People groan when I tell them this but there is a solution! The solution is to do marketing regularly and consistently and it needs to be done correctly! 1. You need to create a plan, well thought out and strategic. 2. It needs to be focused on empathizing with your niche clients. Know exactly who you are helping and why. 3.Offer valuable help for free in order to give them a taste. Free download on your website, articles. Listen to their questions and address them. These freebies always will lead into a paid offer. 4. Have a variety of ways people can work with you. 5. Have an interactive website that speaks to your niche and that gets them involved. You may need to update your website or build a new one that better reflects your business. 6. Know where are niche hangs out and be there whether it is Facebook or locally. Learn about how to
use social media. Network. Take your business fully online! 7. Stay in touch with people. Do what you said you would do. Give great customer service. If you do all of this and more, consistently, you will have a steady stream of new clients eventually. People often don't want your help immediately. You may think they need it, but they aren't always ready yet. However, if they keep hearing from you and getting your help, eventually they will move from your freebies to being a paying client. It might take four or five months or a year but it will happen. Creating a hot marketing plan that works is an art in itself. You have to really know your clients and what help they want. You have to hold back on doing sales and instead develop loyal followers. Summary
I developed this book based on my own story. I made every mistake I have shared above. I struggled and learned the hard way. I now have a very successful business with a steady stream of perfect clients and I’m able to do what I love. I hope I have helped you to avoid some of the problems I had. I wish someone had given me this book twenty years ago. I look forward to hearing all about your success! For more help in implementing all these tools and applying them to your business, go to: http://www.HelpMoreClientsNow.com http://www.AwakeningBusiness.com or contact me. [email protected]
© Kaya Singer 2013
