"I'm a management consultant with over twenty years experience in many areas of management, from marketing, to sales, to customer service, and I am skilled at sales presentations, and negotiations. I've worked for Fortune 500 companies, have my MBA, and to get business I attend networking meetings, and have a website. Yet, I'm not getting any business."



Does the above description sound like any one you know? The problem is this person is presenting themselves as a "Jack or Jill of all trades", and they're looking for any type of business consulting work they can get. The result is they're not getting any business, because they're not "standing out from the crowd" as a specialist or expert, and they don't have a clearly defined market niche.

Part of developing your marketing strategy is narrowly identifying whom you will sell your products and services to?your market niche. Not all management consultants, bookkeepers, or event planners are alike. Each of us possesses unique experiences, knowledge, skills, and talents to offer. It's important to take time and invest some energy to define your Ideal Market Niche? the market you are uniquely qualified to serve.

Often business owners view a niche market as narrowing their sales or cutting into a profit margin. The truth is, a narrowly defined market niche gives your business POWER.

What is a Niche?

A niche is also a group of people whom?

* Have common issues and problems

* Hang out together in organized groups

* Are large enough in number to be a profitable market (but not too large)

The most successful solo entrepreneurs offer a highly specialized service to a market niche. For example, rather than being a general management consultant, a person may do management consulting for chiropractors. You must niche so you can draw attention to yourself, and communicate why you are unique. You don't want to be perceived as doing the "same type of work" as everyone else; you want to be known as a specialist or an expert in your field.

Many business owners are concerned that if they focus too much, they will miss other opportunities. Actually, the opposite is true. Defining your market niche market before you embark on implementing your marketing strategy is important. Following are the 5 reasons why you want to niche:

1. Managing your marketing activities get much easier.

You can maximize your marketing budget dollars by targeting your defined market niche. You'll know exactly where to advertise, and where to look to find ezines and related sites that are catering to your market.

2. It gets easier for people to talk about you, and refer business to you.

This is because they will know exactly whom you serve, and what products and services you offer.

3. It's much easier to become known as an expert at what you do.

Because of your focused efforts to serve a specific niche, you'll have an upper hand in establishing yourself as a leader in your industry.

4. It's easier to develop products and services.

A defined niche market makes it easier to develop ideas for new products or services that inherently appeal to your specific market niche.

5. You can cater your website to your niche market.

You can develop your website to help your market niche find solutions to the problems they are experiencing. Your website can then be optimized for search engines so that your niche market can find you easily.

The clearer you are about who your market niche is, and the more passionate you are about helping them solve their problems, the more likely your revenues and income will substantially increase!

Copyright 2008, Bonita L. Richter