Friday, June 22, 2012

Do You Own Your Niche?



In general, company presidents or CEOs believe that their businesses are worthy of being industry leaders or trend-setters. But in reality, the majority of businesses are simply members of the pack. It is very rare when a company surpasses its competition and owns its industry or niche, but when this happens, the business is such an incredible stand-out that both the business press and mainstream press take notice. Consider all the attention garnered by Facebook, Apple, Zappos, Southwest Airlines, Coca-Cola, Nike, etc. So how do you own your niche?

In Stephanie Chandler’s book, “Own Your Niche – Hype-Free Internet Marketing Tactics to Establish Authority in Your Field and Promote Your Service-Based Business,” tactics are presented for creating and owning a niche in a service-based arena. However, many of the useful and easy-to-implement tactics can be applied to both product and service environments.

As you develop your business, consider these questions:

[1] Do you offer services that generate rave reviews? If not, how could you improve your customer experience?

[2] What is unique about your business versus the competition?

[3] What do you want your business to be known for?

[4] What values do you hold in high importance?

[5] Could your values or belief system become part of your brand positioning?

Some of the important tactics detailed in the book include:

[1] How to identify and connect with your target audience.

[2] How to build an effective blog and an eBook to promote your business.

[3] How to distribute content that demonstrates your expertise in your industry.

[4] How to handle your own PR and get media to come to you.

[5] How to generate exposure with proven offline methods including professional speaking, direct mail campaigns, and publishing.

In the words of Stephanie Chandler, “It’s important to make sure you don’t cast the net too broad, but instead narrow it down to a niche that’s small enough so that you can stand out and large enough that you can earn a living. You can also evaluate potential industries to see what kind of competition is out there.”

So what are you waiting for? Start now, and you just may own your niche!
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