As a self-employed professional or small business owner, defining
your niche makes acquiring clients much easier. You can position yourself
to attract clients, and have a clearer idea of how to target them. It
makes it easier to identify the places where your marketing will have the
greatest effect. Clarifying this also help you to explain to your contacts
and associates what kinds of referrals you’d like to receive from
them.

It’s impossible to please everyone, and trying to is guaranteed to
fail. By having a clearly defined position, you gain a better
understanding of what types of benefits you can provide to your clients.
You’ll be able to directly target their unique needs, explaining how you
can solve their problems and make their lives easier. By knowing your
niche, you can position yourself as your prospective clients’ ideal
solution.

Once you define your niche, you no longer have to waste your
marketing effort on less than ideal clients who are not likely to work
with you in the first place. You’ll narrow the field of who you’re
marketing to, which will translate into much larger returns on the time
and money you invest in marketing.

Most importantly, when you know your niche, you can present yourself
as the expert in your field. Clients benefit by working with you, and most
are willing to pay more for your services. Such expertise gives you the
opportunity to make more income.

Once your niche is identified it’s time to look outwards, towards
your potential clients. The goal is to figure out what
results your clients will achieve by working with
you. In other words, you must define for clients the benefits of working
with you.

When working with my clients, I find that many of them are unclear
on the distinction between benefits and features. If you want to draw
clients, talking about the features of your business may be wasting their
valuable time. In most cases, your features are irrelevant to your
client’s needs and struggles. On the other hand, if you can send a clear
message about the benefits of your business, potential clients are more
likely to say, “Let’s work together!” Clients pay for benefits, not
features.

When I talk about features, I mean attributes of your company. These
include general statements about your product or service, or factors such
as how you work, the size of your company, and so forth.

In contrast, benefits are what your clients gain out of working with
you, or buying from you. Anything that answers the all-important question:
“What do I get out of it?” is a benefit for your client.

For example, with regard to my own business, here are some features
and benefits.

By defining your niche and the benefits of working with you,
identifying your target market becomes simple. Your target market
comprises the people who need, want, and can pay for the products or
services you offer. They’re the people who are most likely to do business
with you. Your ideal clients are a segment of your target market.

Some of my newer clients have a misconception about marketing: they
mistakenly believe that they should be marketing to the whole world. In
some cases, they need business so badly that they pull out all the stops
and forget to target their marketing. Unfortunately, they end up wasting a
lot of time and money marketing to so-called “potential clients” who would
never be interested in their products in the first place.

When you identify your target market, it makes it easier to focus
your energies on the people who are likely to do business with you. This
way, you spend less time with the “tire-kickers”—that
is, people who ultimately have no interest in buying from you.

It’s like fishing. Any angler will tell you that you have to know
what kind of fish you want to catch. There’s no such thing as an
all-purpose net. You have to specialize. Know what type of catch you’re
going for, and use the tactics that are best for that specific type. If
you’re unsure who you’re targeting, your marketing will be
ineffective.

On the other hand, if you know exactly who you want to target, it
becomes that much easier to customize your marketing message. This helps
you to create a message that’s clear enough to draw your ideal clients
toward you. It addresses their unique concerns, and let them know that you
can give them exactly what they want and need.

Here are a few additional benefits to knowing your target
market:

A critical step in my formula for getting clients, building
business, and making more income, is knowing what you
want from your business. Knowing your target market
is part of this. When you have a good feel for your market, it makes it
much easier to know what you want, which makes growing your business and
earning income so much easier.

When you identify your target market, it’s possible for you to make
projections relating to your business. You can take current events and
market trends into account, and change course when necessary. In coaching,
for instance, I look at economic news to determine what mood my ideal
clients are likely to be in.

All of this lets you create a stronger relationship with your target
market, which gives you the ability to increase your Know, Like, and Trust
Factor. When you’re aware of who your clients are, you can build a good
relationship with them and meet them in a mutually respectful and trusting
place. Think about it: If you didn’t know anything about your target
market, how could you possibly meet their needs?

Finally, by knowing your target market, you’ll be able to figure out
whether it’s economically viable. Can your business thrive by catering to
this market? If the answer is no, you can reevaluate your niche and adjust
your business.

Know your potential clients. You’ll build relationships with them,
and gain an essential insight into what they want and need. It’s an
important step in the success of your business.