warmest,
tad
Finding a Niche
==============================
I got an email from a customer recently with this comment:
"I can't make any progress with my marketing until I know what my
marketing niche is. Until I know who my ideal clients are going to be,
I can't start with my marketing, so I really can't get any of your
products until I'm clear about this."
You might want to substitute your own concern: "I don't know what
my services are yet," or "I don't really know what the ultimate
outcome is that I provide for my clients," or "I don't know what
makes me unique yet."
And with this declaration of what you don't know, your marketing
grinds to a screeching standstill.
My answer to this customer was the following:
You don't find your niche. Your niche finds you. And this goes for
your services, ultimate outcome, uniqueness, etc.
What I mean by this is that you can't really figure it out in your head.
You need to discover it. And the way you discover it is to jump into
the process of marketing.
I know this might not makes sense to you, but stick with me here,
because this is really one of the biggest issues Independent
Professionals face.
I've seen it hundreds of times.
I've seen people completely stuck because they can't figure out their
audio logo or perfect marketing message. And they "know" that
when they figure it out, all their marketing will fall magically into
place.
Utter nonsense, I'm afraid.
Here's the big secret that nobody has told you: You take your best
guess, give it a shot and see what response you get. That's all,
really. You don't get it right. You get it wrong - maybe for a long
time - until it finally falls into place.
My customer is confused about which clients she should go after. But
she doesn't have to decide - yet. All she has to do is take a mad
stab at it and say, for the time being: "These are the clients I'll work
with for now." And then build a marketing message around that.
She'll discover soon enough if it's the right niche or not.
She'll talk to a lot of people. She'll use her newly created audio logo,
ultimate outcome, etc. She'll get responses or not. If not, no
problem, back to the drawing board.
If she gets a few clients in this niche, she'll soon discover if they are
ideal or not. She'll learn as she goes, and fine tune her message
along the way. After awhile the niche will find her. She'll stumble
upon it. Aaha! that's it! And then the next version of her marketing
message will be right on target.
Let me give you an analogy in another field.
A new music student says: "I can't learn music until I know what
composers I'm going to play. I'm really conflicted. Will I play Mozart
and Bach, or Betthoven and Brahms? Difficult choice. But when I'm
clear on who, then I'll start to learn music.
Wouldn't we roll our eyes if we heard this? Then why do we take the
declaration so seriously that someone can't find their niche? It's nuts.
Sadly, the chance of the above person ever becoming a musician is
pretty slim. And with this approach, the chance of my customer ever
becoming a successful Independent Professional is pretty slim as
well. The good news is she's willing to try.
And starting is easy.
Get a book, manual, or tape program, or attend a course. Start with
the first lesson. Do the homework. Apply it the best you can to your
business.
You won't be a marketing genius in a week or two, but you'll be way
beyond where you are now. So get out of your head, let go of the
need to have things perfect, be willing to fail fast and just do it!
*
The More Clients Bottom Line: You don't figure out all your marketing
strategies first and then start marketing. You start your marketing
with one imperfect message at a time and figure it out as you go.
*
What holds you back from starting your marketing? What could you
do to get started... now? Please share on the More Clients Blog.
http://www.actionplan.blogs
==============================
Marketing Tools to Get Your Marketing Started
==============================
One of the most frequent questions I hear from customers is "What
Action Plan Marketing product or service should I start with first?
The answer is that is depends upon where you are in your business and
marketing. Here are some suggestions:
The InfoGuru Marketing Manual - This is for Independent Professionals
who are starting out, who haven't done much marketing or who
haven't had much success with their marketing.
http://www.actionplan.com
The Web Site ToolKit - This is for any Independent Professional who
wants to create a high quality web site - the first time. I will walk you
through every step of the process of developing your content and
then give you guidelines for getting it designed.
http://www.actionplan.com/wstk
The Action Plan ToolKit - This is for Independent Professionals who
need some support in getting their marketing off the ground. It will
guide you in creating targeted marketing action plans.
http://www.actionplan.com/aptk
The MAPP Program - This is a live teleconference program held over
six weeks and seven sessions. It's for Independent Professionals who
want to accelerate the implementation of their marketing.
http://www.actionplan.com
Audio Programs - These programs are recorded interviews with
marketing experts on specific aspects of marketing your services and
are appropriate for anyone who wants to increase their skills in that
area.
http://www.actionplan.com
All of our products and services are very hands-on and how-to. They
get to the heart of how to attract more clients and how to make
marketing less of a struggle. They all come with a money back
guarantee, so it can't hurt to check them out.
Just click on any of the links above to learn more about these
products and services and to order on our secure shopping cart
system.
