Do you find yourself offering a wide range of products and
services, trying to offer anything that you can to everyone
that you meet?
I certainly did, when I started my business! I offered
every service that I thought I could perform-from design,
to CD burning, to printing (off of my home inkjet
printer!), to typing and transcription. Once, I even helped
a family pack for a move-I had the spare time in my
schedule, and it paid a few bucks!
I thought that this approach would bring me more business.
It certainly kept me busy-thinking up new services to
offer, finding clients for those services, and learning how
to do them. But being busy is different from being
successful. Since I didn’t appear to be an expert in any of
the services that I offered, I was not able to convince my
clients that I should be paid well for then. After a while,
I decided that this was not the best plan.
But I was scared to offer fewer services-what if I couldn’t
find enough work in a single specialty to support myself?
What if I wasn’t the best in the field that I chose? What
if I got bored only offering just one service? All of these
fears made me really hesitant to narrow my offerings. I
even argued about it with my business coaches and advisors.
Finally, I decided to narrow the services that I offered in
my marketing materials. I started talking about just logo
designs and stationery sets in my 20-second commercial, on
my website, and in my marketing flyers. This helped my
clients to focus on the services that I could best deliver
to them-I closed more sales with ease, and got more
referrals from both clients and casual contacts.
This type of narrowing and focus is known as niching. It
helped me to concentrate on developing clear marketing
materials about specific services, and to create better
processes for delivering them. Niching also helped me to
focus on my own business-it helped me to decide which
products and services I can best deliver, and what I should
outsource or just not quote at all!
Next, I got really brave and narrowed things a bit more-I
promoted only logo designs, and only to small businesses.
At this point, things really took off! Not only did the
previously noted benefits increase, but also, now that I
could really focus on my clients’ specific problems, I
became an expert in their exact needs. Once I gained this
expertise and could speak directly to a real need, my
services gained a lot of value… and I was able to raise
my rates to reflect that targeted value.
Narrowing your services in this way is called niching. By
narrowing the types of services you offer, you niche
horizontally. By narrowing the types of businesses to which
you offer your services, you niche vertically. Using both
types of niching is the most specific and targeted way to
niche.
Developing a niching strategy didn’t mean that I didn’t
offer any other services-I still design marketing materials
and websites, and I even offer stand-alone website coding.
But until I established and grew my expertise in one area,
I stuck to marketing just that one service. If a client
needed additional services, I was happy to provide them.
Other clients even came to me specifically for websites or
brochures from time to time. So while I did limit the
services that I actively promoted, I didn’t limit the types
of projects that I delivered… or the income I was able to
bring in.
Differentiation can also help you to focus in your own
business-it can help you to decide which products and
services you can best deliver, and what you should
outsource.
So, instead of trying to be everything to everyone, I
recommend that you try niching your services. It will help
your clients to focus on and identify the services that you
offer, and it will help you to develop deep expertise in a
single area… and niching will help you to raise your
rates and create a profitable business.
—————————————————-
Erin Ferree is a brand identity designer who creates big
visibility for small businesses. As the owner of elf
design, Erin is passionate about helping her clients stand
out in front of their competition and attract more clients.
Her workbook, “Stand Out! Differentiate Your Business to
Build a Solid Foundation for Your Brand”, will help you to
define your difference and find your best niche.
http://www.elf-design.com/products-stand-out.html
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