5 Important Steps for Defining Your Niche Market

I talk a lot to clients about branding and finding their niche but this can be quite challenging to new entrepreneurs or even seasoned business owners when it isn’t clear what their brand is or who they would ideally want to work with.

New entrepreneurs have a vision of how they want to help people and have a gift they can share that will help solve their problems, but they struggle with getting the right message to the right people who can benefit from their services.

In order to find ideal clients, you need to do some homework first in order to make your marketing message appeal specifically to them, their struggles and what they’re hoping to accomplish.

Here’s 5 steps to help you find perfect clients to work with.

1. Stop thinking you can work with anyone or defining too wide of a niche.

One of the reasons why new entrepreneurs struggle is because they are trying to help too large of a group of people. Even though it’s human nature to help as many people as possible, the trouble with this approach is your marketing message end up being too diffused and won’t be appealing enough to compel people into action.

Even if you narrow down your niche to a specific class of individuals, such as business owners or real estate agents, this is still too wide of a reach and your message cannot possibly appeal to everyone within those groups.

Get clear on whom it is you want to work with. Be specific. What gives you the most joy when working with people? Who loves working with you and are happy to pay you for your services?

Focus on those types of clients – the "A" list – and define a sub group from there.

2. Get a clear picture in your mind of what your ideal client "looks" like.

Once you have a sub group of your "A-Listers" now define specifics on certain characteristics they all have in common.

As yourself questions like:

a. Are they predominantly male or female?

b. What age range are they in?

c. Are they all within a certain industry?

d. Where they are geographically located?

e. What kind of income bracket do they fall in?

f. Do they share similar interests or beliefs?

3. Understand the group’s psychographics

This is one of the most important parts of your research that must be done before you can start marketing yourself to your newly defined niche. You must know what their state of mind is.

Find out about:

a. The biggest challenges, obstacles or problems they face that you can help them with.

b. What they are worried about and need the kind of help you can provide.

c. What exactly do they need, not necessarily what they want.

4. Be clear on the results you can provide them

Next you want to be clear on how you can help this group of people. What results will they get from working with you? What problems will you be able to solve for them? What kinds of benefits would they get after working with you?

You will also want to lay out how specifically you will help them with those struggles. Do you have a step-by-step process, system or software that will help them solve their problem? Ensure your marketing message clearly outlines how you can deliver the results they seek.

5. Understand why they should hire you instead of your competitor

Part of the process of identifying your niche is to also be clear on what makes you different from your competitors. What is your USP - your Unique Selling Position?

Do some research on others who could also help solve similar problems and identify why you are different from their approach. Your marketing message can then showcase those differences to help your niche decide to work with you.

In order to find ideal clients, it’s important to take these steps first and clearly understand who it is that makes up your niche market.

The next step is to write your marketing message specifically tailored towards that group of people.

Your marketing message must be clear and with the same language your niche uses so they can relate to what you’re saying and trust that you know what they are going through and can help them.

Stop Thinking You’ll Be Losing Out On Opportunities

Avoid falling into the trap of thinking you don’t want to turn anyone away and will lose income opportunities if you focus on a niche. This is a falsehood that holds no basis of truth. In fact, the opposite will happen and you will end up appealing to a much smaller group of people due to your too-diffused marketing message.

How about you? Do you struggle with defining your ideal client and niche marketing message? Share what’s happening for you in the comments section below.