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Everyone wants to start a business but with all the heavy competition we’re all facing today, the road ahead can barely be seen by some.
But still, there is hope and it’s possible for anyone to still succeed in business and that my friend, is by understanding and dominating a niche market.
To understand how to leverage a niche for business, let’s take a closer look at…
What is a niche?
Well, the definition is actually quite simple, a niche is a certain segment of the population where you intend to concentrate your efforts.
For example. You have decided, for whatever reason, that you want to sell health related products.
You’ve done your research and have discovered that a good number of the people in this world are sick in some way.
So selling health related products would be a general niche.
Now, you could leave your niche at this if you had, say, a wholesaler who could supply you with a number of health related products.
But maybe you can’t get your hands on everything from soup to nuts related to healthcare and only have access to a few items.
It may be a good idea to narrow your general niche down to a more specific niche, such as acne cures.
If you have got a good home remedy for acne written up in eBook form, this could turn into a big seller and you don’t have to worry about carrying a lot of inventory.
You’ve narrowed down your niche to one specific item.
Why should I focus on a niche for my business?
There are plenty of reasons for that but here’s the main ones that we should all know of:
- You are more focused.
Your web site or sales page has one goal and one goal only – To sell xyz product and nothing else.
This makes you an “expert” in this area and the buying public will have more respect for you.
Think about it, Dell Computers doesn’t try to sell diapers.
They do well enough just selling computers.
- Effective advertising
Another reason you want to concentrate on one niche is because of advertising costs.
When you’re promoting just one product or service, you can put all your advertising dollars into that one product or service and have the best chance of making sales.
If you try to sell everything under the sun you end up splitting your available funds into so many different areas that you can’t effectively promote any of them.
This is not to say that you can’t have more than one niche.
Most likely after you create your first niche product and become profitable with it, you can take some of those profits and pick another niche.
So say you are selling acne cures.
You can then maybe branch out after a while and sell cold sore cures!
Eventually, you will be involved in several niches, remembering to keep each one as a separate business and sales page.
How successful companies use niche for business and how can you?
Every business has a niche, the key is identifying what that niche is.
An online retailer like Amazon.com has a different niche than competitors Barnes & Noble or Borders who rely more on developing a local presence and foot traffic.
A few years ago DHL came out with a brilliant commercial pitting itself against the leading overnight delivery service.
DHL did not claim to be number one or lower priced.
Instead they capitalized on a niche market, being number two and a reliable back up service when you, the consumer, need it most. It was a brilliant campaign.
So you see, identifying or creating a niche means digging deeper into what sets your business, product or service apart from the competition.
The typical marketing question is “Why would I buy from you instead of Company X?”
Your answer will likely just scratch the surface and match what many competitors could claim.
THIS is where you dig deeper.
Look at your location, hours of operation, years of experience, price point, friendly staff, response time to customer inquiries or processing orders, the quality of your product or delivery of your service, personalized attention, and so on.
For example, marketing easy access to your business from a major road or highway is a niche that should drive traffic and make sales soar.
If you are the only video store in your area play it up.
If your video store carries a large selection of hard to find movies in VHS format and stays open until midnight, those are two more niche markets.
Being a new wholesale supplier in a regional area is big news to your local city as well as the region, creating multiple niches for your business overnight.
Claims of being the first, the only one or the original are unique niche selling points that no one else can (legitimately) claim.
Conclusion
The idea of choosing proper niche is simple but powerful because it can mean success or failure for business.
Therefore whether you are building a start up or trying to save a dying company, just find a niche that you can be good at, dominate it and you will reach success in no time.
For more information on building a viable business through a niche of your choice, check out my review of Wealthy Affiliate here.
