Distill your market until it becomes a 98-proof mesmerizing micro-niche

Having a tight focus on your niche is critical to your success. That’s Marketing 101. But how close does the spotlight have to be? This is a question that puzzles most solo entrepreneurs. Somehow we get the idea
that the wider the net, the more fish we will catch. However intuitive
that might feel, the results show that the opposite is true. The
tighter your focus, the more impact you will have on the marketplace.

This is the due to several factors.

First, you are defining your market, not creating it. In other words, the people who need you are already in place and they already know who they
are. Poorly targeted marketing often has the idea that we need to
convince people that they need our transformation. That’s like telling
a vibrant man that he needs to have a yearly MRI—to the tune of
$2500—just in case. Until he gets that message from some type of
internal prompting, most men would turn that down flat. He doesn’t see
his need and no amount of public advertising will change his mind.
He’ll simply click the remote when the ad pops up on the screen.

By defining your market, you are saying, “You already feel this pain and I have the answer.” When someone who has that pain sees those words, he
says, “Yes, that’s me. I am a part of that group.” You are defining who
he already is. People join the National Rifle Association not because
they want to see if guns are a good thing but because they already are
convinced that bearing arms is our Constitutional right. Love them or
hate them, the NRA defined a niche that was already strong within the
population, and so should you.

Second, remember how few clients you truly need to make your business or practice flourish. Keeping that in mind, you will realize that it’s overkill for you to market to a wide
group. Within your micro-niche, there will be plenty of clients to keep
you busy for the next hundred years.

Think about your favorite clients. Which 3 people have you absolutely loved working with who have
also seen the greatest transformation from your service? Exactly what
was their pain? If you’re a coach helping people make a fresh start in
life, are your best clients recovering from divorce? Are they grieving
the death of a loved one? Or maybe they are a serial engagement
breaker. Are they Gen-Xers or Baby Boomers? Male or female? With
children or without? Work force or entrepreneurs? Spiritual or not?

Once you find the shared traits of those 3 clients, you’ll have a mindshift.
By defining their positioning in the universe and fine tuning your
understanding of their collective pain, you’ll discover your
micro-niche. Anything broader will taste like fine Pinot Noir poured
into a glass of water. Who’d be attracted to that?