All businesses are "niche" businesses

In my opinion all businesses, if they are successful, are concentrating on what they do best and not all things in their product or service portfolio. I have a client who is a prominent attorney in Savannah. While he could practice any law , he has elected to concentrate his practice on Personal Injury related cases. He could, by degree and license, do it all but he doesn't. Not only does his firm gain in reputation and stature, but his clients get the benefit of his focusing on just the core practice.

I see the same “concentration” in a number of real estate firms who are willing to sell anything, anywhere but focus in geographical areas of Savannah, ie: Historic area, Southside, Ardsley Park, The Landings. Again, they are basing their advertising decisions on what they do best.

If my assumption that all businesses are “niche” players, how can you determine what is best for you? You already know what is your niche, but for whatever reason(s), you have elected to be a “generalist” and do it all. I do not know of a company that can do everything and maintain the same level of excellence. While a medical doctor can exam and prescribe medicines or treatment options, the doctor in today's medical world will almost always recommend you see a medical specialist.

Even grocery stores have figured it out and they just don't sell food but they promote their friendly service and value. Walk into any Food Lion store and I bet the first Food Lion employee that sees you will greet you with “Welcome to Food Lion”. Food Shoppers are always interested in price but if you ask them why they go to a specific store and I suspect their answers will be Super employees and good value. A niche does not always have to be a product but it can also be a way of doing business.

After you determine your niche, I suggest you do the following:

1. Plan your advertising budget to promote your niche.
2. Market your niche on-line and use all of the Internet marketing techniques that I have written about or that you know yourself.

3. Write, Write, Write about your “niche” and publish on your website, write an on-line article, post to your Facebook page and add to your Twitter account

4. If you have a workforce, you need to insure that they are going to put their maximum effort on the niche product/service and not on your total bag of products. Let the latter be sold as a result of fulfilling a request and as a promotional item.

Understanding “Niche” is important and again in my opinion, it should be your number one priority.