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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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