How to create your own niche
As entrepreneurs ourselves, we have gone through the tiring process of figuring out what our unique niche was going to be. By this we mean figuring out exactly what services we want to offer, and who we want to serve. Then, it needs to be displayed on a minimal website layout for the best chances of standing out to the right clientele in this digital world.
Us entrepreneurs are interested in many things, and as business owners it is so tempting to fall into the trap of wanting to grab as many opportunities as possible! With the reluctance to finding our niche business and therefore the best online marketing strategy.
However in life, if we try to please everybody, we please nobody. The same applies in business and entrepreneurship.
3 Steps to Follow
These are some key steps you will need to take in order to define your unique niche which will help meet your business’ full potential. We delve into this much better during this blog post.
Determine what work you love doing most.
Determine your ideal client type.
Merging the above two, and see where the best intersection happens, in order to work out what product or services will drive the most growth in your business.
Changing your Entrepreneurial Mindset
Entrepreneurs are in the business of meeting a certain need of their clients and customers. If we could appeal to lots and lots of types of clients, we would certainly increase business and hence sales and revenue. Right? …. Actually, we think not. And we explain why.
Small business owners, especially in their early days, are very tempted to accept all kinds of work from all kinds of clients. The good and the bad.
IGNORE YOUR TEMPTATIONS
The loyalist customers and those who, let's face it, are not going to return (and you don’t want them to).
This is because we’re able to earn more money that way, increase our portfolio or our experience, whatever the reasons may be for you specifically.
The temptation is there to say ‘yes’ to everybody. This also has the appeal that if we can design a business that meets everyone's needs, then we’ve struck gold!
Us entrepreneurs are afraid that once we’ve defined our unique niche, we may potentially push some of our clientele away, and hence we will lose a lot of business.
Let’s get one thing right, yes we will push some clients away, but we will not lose business in the long run. Quite the contrary. This is because from now on you will be attracting only the RIGHT type of client.
“When you speak to everyone, you speak to no one.”
The Importance of a Niche
Honing your business down into a specific niche, means that you will start to attract a specific type of clientele.
By doing this, you’re concentrating and focusing your efforts into attracting only certain types of customers, who are more likely going to pay you for your product or service instead of wasting your time.
The same customer is then likely to come back for recurring business, as well as, telling people within their network about your product or service.
Where people within their network are much more likely to be another ideal client of yours, because they have the same specific needs and mindset.
Work out what it is that makes your business different. How do you and your business serve the world? Are you fixing a specific problem?
“in order to be irreplaceable one must always be different”
Is your business meeting the needs of a specific demand in the marketplace? What is it that makes you step away from your competition’s limelight, so that you can meet your client’s needs in a way that another business can’t?
This could be a progressive development, and not something that you figure out instantly. Although determining a niche is very important, it needs to be done correctly.
However, once you think you’ve nailed it, your website needs to reflect it.
Identify Your Passion
There are steps we can take as a business to determine what niche we will offer, and only to those clients who are truly interested in that particular niche. This should be work that you love to do, and excites you when you think about it.
Chances are that if you love it, you’re going to work the hardest at it and put in the most effort towards it.
If you’re a brand new business, still in its bright and early days, then count yourself as truly lucky. At this stage you can think about that work which you’re truly passionate about. What aspects drive you, and give you the most energy?
If you’re a business or entrepreneur that has established themselves over some time now, it's definitely not too late to still establish what your niche is. What do you truly love doing?
You have a wonderful advantage here, because you’re able to look back at previous work and projects that you had undertaken, and note down what it is that drove and motivated you the most.
Do this by brainstorming ideas, or by whatever method you think best. Personally, this took us a while to figure out and several discussions before we knew what we truly wanted. It’s still a work in progress, because as our business develops we also continue to find new work that motivates us.
Determine your Ideal Client Type
The same applies to now determining the ideal client (ICA) type for your specific chosen niche.
What is an Ideal Client Avatar/Type (ICA)?
This client persona type is the ideal customer for the type of niche service or product you have to offer. In other words, your chosen unique niche is perfect for this person and their specific needs in mind.
Look back at the clients you have worked for in previous years. List those people that you absolutely loved working with and helped you make a good profit, those you would consider working with again, and those you did not enjoy working with at all (we’ve all been there!). Or, if you haven’t had much experience yet working with enough clients, think about what type of person you’re looking to serve.
For those clients that have made it to the top ten or twenty, see what they have in common in their personal attributes and characteristics, and what patterns do you see emerging?
Here are a few examples of what you want to define for your ICA:
Profession; what do they do for a living?
Age; choose the age range for this ICA.
Demographic; are they married, single, retired?
Personality; what are their interests and hobbies? What do they love/hate? Are they introverts or extroverts?
Geography; where do they live?
What do they fear? What are their pain points? (this could be in relation to their business)
Your ICA is very likely to have the same interests/hobbies/fears/mindset as yourself. One of the reasons we love working with our clients is because we have so many characteristics in common, and therefore understand their goals as well as fears.
This isn’t something you want to rush by any means. Similar to finding your unique niche, your ICA may change overtime if your niche services or products change or adapt. However, for any small business, figuring out your ICA is crucial and primary to ensure good profit but more importantly, business growth.
Merging the Two; determine your unique sales pitch
After you have established both the niche work you want to deliver and the ICA you want to deliver this to, it's time to figure out the niche sales pitch for your business. This is a merging of the two aspects, and you’re going to start to see an overlap between the two.
The work you’re passionate about is something that is perfect for your chosen ICA, a match made in heaven. It is something that will set you aside from the competition, and will mean that your business offers something to a niche group of people that another cannot.
Your unique sales pitch is something that will need to be made very clear and obvious on all of your marketing material, including your website. It is so important to ensure that whatever niche you choose, this is one of the first things (perhaps THE first thing) your visitors should see on the homepage (check out our other blog post on this!).
Examples
First example, you’re a business selling dairy and gluten free baking mixes for customers who are allergic to dairy and/or gluten, and are not good at baking or are complete beginners. Consider choosing a pitch such as “Baking Mixes Made Entirely Dairy & Gluten Free - Baked goods free from artificial ingredients for complete beginners”.
Second example, you’re a consultant for investing in properties based in Central London, and you find that your ICA is 45+ year old people living in suburban London. Consider choosing a sales pitch such as “Property Investment Consultations for Working Professionals in Central London”.
Even within your chosen niche of work, you’re not necessarily going to love every aspect of it. But of course this is business in general and we won’t delve into too much detail here. But when you feel like you’re not in your lane anymore then eventually it’ll be time to outsource some of the work or start hiring, when you can that is.
Translating on your Website
Your unique, niche sales pitch should be immediately visible to your visitors on the homepage of your website. This is also what we call the ‘tagline’ and it serves as the introduction to your website and business, and this is your first chance to draw your ICA in.
With a minimal website layout, this tagline has a much better chance of standing out.
At this point, your ideal customer will decide whether or not to continue to the Call To Action (CTA).
You want to keep your introductory sales pitch (tagline) on your website concise. In some manner, there are 4-5 questions that you want to answer within your chosen tagline:
Who you are?
What does your business do; product or service?
Where are you based; if geographically important?
Who do you serve?
What makes you unique?
EXAMPLE
Minimalist Homepage
Ensuring a good tagline in minimalist website design is crucial. This is because we want to keep the homepage clutter free, and any content should be relevant and kept to the point in order for good visitor-sale conversion.
Imagery and good graphics are therefore also primary to minimalist web design strategies. On the homepage, the selected tagline, imagery and any graphics work together, to appeal to and attract the chosen ICA.
Minimalist website strategies encourage a very concise homepage design, and it’s chosen content.
Once you have your niche and ICA determined for your business, you should be able to easily translate this to your website. This will ensure that you lead the online way for your unique niche and stand out from a potentially competitive market.
