When it comes to selling your product on the market, there is value in having a niche: that little slice of the market that hits the centre of your “They Want What I Do” / “I Love Working With Them” Venn diagram. We love the idea of determining who you sell to the most, the best, and the most happily – that is the absolute best way to ensure you are running and living an aligned business (more on that in a future blog post.)
By marketing to those who want what you sell and who you love to serve, you should be running an empire in no time, right? Not always.
There is a downside to the niche process though, which can be best defined by a third Venn circle: “They Can Pay Enough To Support Growth.” And that’s where over-niching (yes, that is a term I just made up) can get you into trouble.
Your three audiences can all be marketed to – just not in the same way. Those who fall in the Money Niche probably don’t have the same type of passion for what you do as your Soul Niche, but that doesn’t mean you can’t serve them (and charge them more, often, than your Soul Niche).
Your MONEY NICHE (or MONEY AVATAR) needs what you have, can pay your full cost, and will shop around for best value (not price, but value.) Think wholesalers, partnerships, investors, large corporate, government – anyone who is a few steps removed from your actual sale, but who will use it for their own business. Engage them with a really awesome website, fantastic SEO, and often on LinkedIn.
Your SOUL NICHE (or SOUL AVATAR) loves you and what you do, but can’t pay enough on a single purchase basis to support growth for a company entirely. Think retail clients, sole proprietorships, etc. Engage with them on social media and in long form content like blog posts.
Your COLD NICHE likes you and can pay for what you sell but they don’t necessarily need it. They fall into a few categories, from referral partners and collaborators to those who need education on what you do – often people don’t understand how an offering could help them or fit into their lives. While they’re pretty far down the list of priorities, once you have a solid system for attracting the other two defined niches, they are an awesome area for growth!
The Rules for Attaining your Ideal Client:
1: You have to be niched down but only enough to delight an audience big enough to support your business. Delight being the key word here.
2. Be of value to your audiences, put them first in all of your marketing. Then sit back and watch the magic happen. (But don’t really sit back…they need to be engaged regularly!