Defining your niche is very important whether you are going after clients or even looking for work. It’s about Who and What.
“One of the girls I have been mentoring was looking for a job..we’ll call her Wendy for this case study. The sound of her voice dropped when she talked about getting a job. She just lost her full-time job and needed to do something quickly. I suggested that she get a blog going, start selling your skills and talents. Write, post her journey as an event planner, consider in being a VA for a while with her skill set, she has become “The Action Girl.”
After starting her blog, she had 4 calls inquiring about her offerings. (Not to say this will happen instantly for you) It does work. Continue to write about how you have been able to help people at your workplace, or past clients etc.
As an update, she has a client who has hired her on a project basis..Wendy is still talking to new prospects. She is doing work that she enjoys, writes and is making money.”
Where do you begin to narrow down your niche?
Sometimes it just takes time, and then you need to deal with the fear of “Am I going too narrow?” In my experience I wished I had narrowed down my niche, it would of been easier. If you are wondering how this fits in your social media marketing, it just makes it easier to reach them.
I will tell you, that without an audience or niche to market you will be doing, what I call a shotgun approach, especially in Social Media Marketing.
Marketing in several groups and networks, and you will feel like you are wasting your time. (I hear this quite often).
If you don’t know what you are good at, or what service or product you want to sell start to take inventory of your skills and start writing them down. Look back to a time where you felt happy, what were you doing, who were you serving. Who did you enjoy serving the most, who seems to read your content? Ask your friends if you need some extra help with this. Even with side gigs.
What problems have you fixed? Who seems to have this problem? What case studies can you write about or know how you have helped them. Here’s some situations that may help you think about who you can help or will be in your niche.
▪ Poor sales
▪ Ineffective marketing
▪ Don’t know how to write copy or Press releases
▪ Don’t know how to deliver their message
▪ Your clients don’t have a system or process to do things
▪ Poor products or customer service
▪ High turnover or under performance with their employees or business
▪ Lack of teamwork – communication
▪ Procrastination and Overwhelmed
▪ Poor cash flow
▪ Poor communication skills, negative traits
If you haven’t noticed it’s not easy for others to do what you can offer, this is why they’ll seek you out and pay you for it!
Who do you want to help?
Be aware in how you are feeling, does your face light up, do you get excited or does your stomach sink?
Think about who is in your world you would like to serve and work with? Who needs my help the most, who is not being served? What do these people have in common? Who do you “resonate” with?
Look at their occupation, age, interests, family status, professional status. Try combining a couple of these and see who you come up with. “middle aged surfers” “2nd life Boomers.”
What problems do you want to solve?
- Has something happened in your life experiences that you can help others with?
- Is there something you can add to your current product or services – something value-added?
- What work or life or business problems have you solved so far?
- What can you offer now?
- What group of people can you see now that would be willing to pay you?
- A niche is a particular audience that is waiting for you to serve them. They don’t know who to turn to, are you ready to deliver your message and services to help them?
- Where can they find you?
Once you have defined your niche you can begin to create a Social Media Marketing Plan and a one year plan for your business.
Image used is by Unsplash – Austin Chan
