How did you decide on which niche to serve?
Okay, everyone talks about picking your niche. In reality I believe that you don't pick your niche - it picks you.
There have been times when I thought "oh, I should go after the aerospace industry because of my military background and engineering degree.." - only to come up empty-handed.
Meanwhile, clients have come out of the blue asking me to help them with something that I had no previous experience, e.g. video editing & production.
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Nov 15, 2016
Its very obvious that what you see around you. If you see that people striving for the mineral water, then you can plant a water treatment plant near you. Such like if there is a demand of transportation near you, I opted for the cab ride business in Atlanta.
http://ezmoov.com/atlanta-taxi
Nov 3, 2016
...I always knew that film making was my destiny, but it took 32 years to get to my niche. Now I am a specialist with no shortage of work. The technology makes it so much easier than before. As I grew towards my niche, I picked up all kinds of handy experience, always eying the end game.
The years of prior experience made it easier for me to jump off the many horses I was riding and jump to the thoroughbred towards the finish line!
Nov 3, 2016
Why concentrate on ONE niche?
Surely the clients will ask "How can you get me onto the first page of Google if you got other clients in the same niche?"
Nov 3, 2016
How many times have you seen an annoying problem that needs fixing? Therein lies a niche.
Nov 2, 2016
Hey John,
There's a lot of good things said , but only you mentioned what I was looking. Passion! We can be good or great at a multitude of things, but what is that underlying push in you, your passion? There where you'll find the answer.
Nov 2, 2016
Your passion should drive you toward your niche(s). As a person quite like you (my passion is small business marketing solutions), my background foundation was in hospitality. Not necessarily restaurants, but high-end private clubs. All of hospitality, regardless of micro-niche is in constant search for new customers, I teach them to find new ones BUT to teach them how to care for existing ones through loyalty initiatives.
Because I also have a wellness background, guess what niche I also serve. As a real estate investor, I work in R.E.I. And we chose medical (plastic surgeons and dentists) because they have large marketing budgets.
Are there other small business we serve? yes, but they merely are attracted to us for one reason or another. We drive our efforts to those four niches out of our understanding of the industries, the competitive nature of them, and the size of their budgets. Oh, and Personal Injury attorneys too. Extremely competitive niche, so the demand is there.
Sep 6, 2016
Hi, John, There are so many great replies here already -- here's the story of my niches.
I invested in working with a very insightful Branding consultant, and later got free coaching from a great SCORE mentor. The branding consultant helped me to see the uniqueness and value potential of my premier service, which is performance improvement. It has a small niche market. That became my first niche.
The SCORE mentor helped me to get active in my other two niches:
- I also have a passion for management/leadership/employee training and development; which is a service area with a shorter closing process and lower price -- and more demand/opportunity -- easier business to get. This became my second niche.
-And, for 20 years my experience in Human Resources is what created the background I was able to develop the two specialties above -- so my HR management services are my third niche.
Good luck!
Sep 6, 2016
To respond to some of the questions - yes, I've worked in the different niches mentioned and developed some expertise in multiple areas. While many things interest me, part of the problem is that those that I'm most passionate about haven't lead to anything yet - speaking, working with creative, travel.
So, this is the classic dilemma I've seen with many entrepreneurs - what do you do to pay the bills, while you're working on your dream ventures?
Aug 29, 2016
I also believe it picks you. But your clients will help you pick that niche. I first got hired as a narrator so that is the area of voice over I focus on and I happen to like it too. Your clients are guiding you toward your niche. I recommend expanding on that, even if you don't have lots of experience. Especially if you enjoy it.
Aug 29, 2016
I found my niche by recognizing a problem and I built a business around how to fix it. Once you determine who has the problem that you can fix, do some research on them and figure out the way to best reach them.
I have some resources on my site that can help you.
Giselle
AZ Social Media Wiz
Aug 29, 2016
Hi John,
I'm a bit confused by your question, as your mosaicHUB profile page lists a number of specialties: local internet marketing consulting, online reputation management, mobile websites, app development, SEO copywriting, PPC, internet marketing, small business consulting, buy sell businesses, technology, services industries, commercial real estate.
While SEO copywriting and PPC aren't really niche fields per se, commercial real estate, online reputation management and buy sell businesses certainly are. Do these interest you? If so, they are your niches. If not, why are you promoting them?
That said, it's also important to pay attention to client requests, as this could be the Universe nudging you in a practical and profitable new direction. If video production/editing interests you and clients are requesting this service — even though you have no prior experience in this area and there are many video experts out there — this seems to be a signpost pointing the way to a potentially lucrative, exciting new niche for you.
To answer your question about how I decided what areas to focus on: I chose those that had always interested me, in which I already had some background and expertise, and built from there. For me, these niches includes health care/wellness, positive aging, self development/personal growth, entrepreneurship, and sustainability/green business. I've also gained experience in a number of other fields over the years, simply by working for clients in these areas.
Hope this is helpful.
Aug 29, 2016
Ideally you should have some underlying level of passion, belief, strength experience etc. Without that the money or not on its own won't get you through the tougher and more testing times, which is inevitable.
Aug 28, 2016
I highly recommend that you by Michael Port's Book Yourself Solid. The illustrated version is my favorite. It helps you work through this exact question (and many others) in a methodical, step-by-step approach. We used this system to help us establish our brand and our niche, it's worked wonders.
Kris, I definitely love your comments. That is true... sometimes people we serve guides us on ways and projects we can improve and build our own businesses upon.