Hey all,
I've got a big surprise that I will be announcing next week that I think you're going to love.
But more on that later . . .
This week we are going to focus on one of the most critical concepts in marketing - the unique selling proposition (USP).
It'll be quick.
In his book Reality in Advertising, Rosser Reeves (Chairman of the Board at Ted Bates & Company) gives the precise definition as it was understood at his company:
1. Each advertisement must make a proposition to the customer: "buy this product, and you will get this specific benefit."
2. The proposition itself must be unique - something that competitors do not, or will not, offer.
3. The proposition must be strong enough to pull new customers to the product. It persuades another to exchange money for a product or service. It should be not only compelling but irresistible. What makes it sell? It addresses a very real pain or problem that your ideal clients are experiencing.
Reeves also wrote that a USP does not necessarily have to be a verbal message. It can be communicated both verbally and visually. For example, a classic Clairol advertisement showing a picture of a model and just the headline, "Does she or doesn't she?" implied the USP, "If you use Clairol products, people won't even notice that you dyed your hair."
However, Reeves warns against forming a USP based on what he calls "The Deceptive Differential" - a uniqueness that is too small or too technical that customers cannot observe the differences in actual practice.
Says Matt Hockin from www.interativemarketinginc.com . . .
“Your USP is the force that drives your business and success. It can also be used as a "branding" tool that deploys strategy with every tactical marketing effort you use such as an ad, a postcard, or web site. This allows you to build a lasting reputation while you're making sales. The ultimate goal of your USP and marketing is to have people say to you... "Oh, yes I've heard of you. You're the company who..." - And then respond by requesting more information or purchasing. Your USP needs to be so compelling that it can be used as a headline that sells your product or service.”
Note: the question is not, “What’s different about you?” Different does not necessarily mean better.
But different is better than nothing. Here’s a fun game. Open up the Yellow Pages and look at your generic industry. Hell, look at any industry. Here’s what I predict you’ll see: the same damn add over and over and over. All of the ads for plumbers look identical. All of the ads for Taxi services look identical.
Let’s be honest: most businesses are mediocre. They’re okay. Their product is pretty good. Their service is nice. And if that’s you and it’s working for you, that’s fine. But I would invite you to ask yourself how much longer it will be fine for.
In the words of marketing guru Jay Abraham, “Most business owners don't have a USP, only a "me too," rudderless, nondescript, unappealing business that feeds solely upon the sheer momentum of the marketplace. There's nothing unique; there's nothing distinct. They promise no great value, benefit, or service - just "buy from us" for no justifiable, rational reason.
It's no surprise then that most businesses, lacking a USP, merely get by. Their failure rate is high, their owners are apathetic, and they get only a small share of the potential business. But other than a possible convenient location, why should they get much patronage if they fail to offer any appealing promise, unique feature or special service?
Would you want to patronize a firm that's just “there," with no unique benefit, no incredible prices or selection, no especially comforting counsel, service or guarantee? Or would you prefer a firm that offers you the broadest selection in the country? Or one with every item marked up less than half the margin other competitors charge? Or one that sells the "Rolls Royce" of the industry's products?
Can you see what an appealing difference the USP makes in establishing a company's perceived image or posture to the customer? It's ludicrous to operate any business without carefully crafting a clear, strong, appealing USP into the very fabric of the daily existence of that business.
The point is to focus on the one niche, need or gap that is most sorely lacking, provided you can keep the promise you make.”
The heart of creating an irresistible offer is not just about “selling the sizzle not the steak”. It’s not about marketing so slick that you could sell the Pope a double bed.
It’s about becoming a remarkable company.
Now, if you’re a conscious, green or ethical company then I think you’ve already got a leg up on that.
Part 2 of the USP will hit your email boxes in the next week or so.
But before that you'll probably be getting a quick announcement about a new project I just finished that you'll be getting free access to.
I hope all is well with you.
Warmest,
Tad Hargrave
Founder
Radical Business
"helping conscious folk make more money"
tad@tadhargrave.com
www.tadhargrave.com
P.S. Please consider the environment before printing this email - Thank You!
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Monday, August 06, 2007
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Your Irresistible Offer - "Your Value vs. Values Proposition" - Part 3 of 19
Hey there,
I hope your week's been good.
I ended up having a friend fly me to California on airmiles for week last week. No kidding.
I'm excited about the topic of this week's "Your Irresistible Offer:.
It's particularly relevant for you as a green or conscious business.
Consider this question . . .
“Why should I buy from you vs. the competition?”
For green, conscious and holistic businesses there are powerful reasons to take a long and hard look at this question.
It has to do with the difference between your Values Proposition and your Value Proposition. The letter ‘s’ can make a big difference.
Imagine you go to an autobody shop with your broken down car.
You pull in and are delighted to find out that this autobody shop is a “green” autobody shop. They recycle everything. They’re union owned. They are an active community member and give steep discounts to those working in local environmental groups. They power their shop with wind power, bio-diesel and solar.
They give you a free bus pass for the year and encourage you to drive less. They greet you with a smile and you feel excited to be doing business with them.
You come back later that afternoon to get your car.
But, halfway home, it breaks down in the middle of the highway making you late for a critical appointment. You feel frustrated, helpless and angry.
This repair shop was in profound alignment with your values but didn’t deliver the value you were looking for. They didn’t do the one, central thing you wanted them to do. And no matter what else they did for you - all the other green stuff - you don’t care because they didn’t do the most important thing.
They didn’t solve the problem that you came to them with. They lived their values but they didn’t provide the value you were looking for.
VALUES PROPOSITION: Your values proposition is your statement of what’s important to you in your life and your business outside of making money. It’s the fact that you are green, serve only fair trade coffee, do carbon offsetting on your shipping etc. You value proposition is “here’s what you get for your money.” Your values proposition speaks to their values. This makes them feel good about themselves for doing business with you. It makes them say not just, “wow. what a great product or service.” but “Wow, what a great business.” Your values proposition is basically a, “do it because it’s the right thing to do” message.
“Niman Ranch will sell you four hormone-free, anti-biotic free, humanely raised beef based hot dogs for $7. Possibly the finest hot dogs in the world. It's not clear that the average kid eating a wiener can taste the difference, which is my point, the way we feel about what we eat accounts for as much as the taste itself.” - Seth Godin
**An Example of a Powerful “Values Proposition” from Whole Foods:**
We purchase wind power credits to offset our use of carbon. You can too! Visit a store to find out how.
We support sustainable farming practices that nurture the soil for future generations.
We prevent millions of pounds of waste from going into landfill through our recycling and composting efforts.
We won the EPAs Green Power Partner of the Year award in 2006.
We've been on Fortune's "Best Companies to Work For List" for 10 years in a row-- Number 5 this year.
We support local communities and economies by sourcing unique, artisan
and local products as part of our mix.
We give back 5% of our gross profits through regular Community Support Days.
Our Whole Planet Foundation gives micro-loans in developing countries as a way to fight poverty.
Our Animal Compassion Foundation works to change the way animals are raised for food.
We install energy efficient appliances and use green building materials in our stores.
“An open book policy in which everyone knows what everyone else makes, from the boss to the teenaged delivery boy, is an excellent idea, especially when the business genuinely tries to pay people fairly. Whole Foods also operates with a wide-open financial system. Sensitive figures on store sales, team sales, profit margins, even salaries are available to employees in every location. The company shares so much information so widely that the SEC has designated all 6,500 employees "insiders" for stock-trading purposes.” - Marketing Without Advertising
“La Blue's Cleaners in Sebastopol, California, has been in business for more than 40 years. In addition to providing pick-ups and delivery services to homes and offices, they are known in the community for extending a hand to the temporarily unemployed. If you are out of work, they will custom dry-clean and press one suit or one dress and launder two shirts or blouses at no charge. This information is posted on a sign inside the store which says, "This is our gift to you so you will look your best at your next job interview." Customers really appreciate it, and you can be sure that when they are back among the employed, they bring their business to La Blue's.” - Marketing Without Advertising
VALUE PROPOSITION: Your value proposition speaks directly to their self interest - it speaks directly to the problem they’re facing. The questions to ask yourself are, “Why did they come to us? What is the problem that brought them? What is the self serving result they’re wanting out of working with me?” And then make sure you at least deliver on that. That’s the minimum you must deliver.
And you need both.
I remember talking to the owner of a store that sold most of the green products in town - he was lamenting at how “people don’t shop at our store as much as they say they want to. They always say how much they love what we do but they don’t shop here. How are we supposed to survive if people only give us lip-service?”
It was heartbreaking to hear because he’s a really good man - but he doesn’t market his store. He just appeals to people’s values - he makes them no offer outside of that. He didn’t understand that appealing to people’s values (so that they can feel good about themselves when they buy from you) is only one component of your irresistible offer.
You might know people like him - well intentioned folks with good hearts. But they’re struggling and refuse to market their business.
In this series we’ll explore how you can go about crafting offers that are irresistible and get you more than mere lip service from your clients.
* * *
“Why should I buy from you vs. the competition?”
But, of course, the simplest questions are often the most difficult to answer. After all there are many layers to that question. One name for the answer to that question is a Unique Selling Proposition (USP). One of the simplest and best known examples is Dominoes Pizza: “Hot, fresh pizza to your door in 30 minutes or it’s free.”
“When an idea can’t be articulated simply, crisply and accessibly there is usually something wrong with it. When I hear a great idea, it usually has an affect on my mind and body. Sometimes I feel it in my stomach, other times in my throat, still others on my skin - a kind of instant truth detector test.” - Michael Eisner
COMING NEXT:
Next week sometime I will send you the fourth in the series focusing on the your "USP" - it's one of the most important things you can learn as a business. I tell you more about it next week.
Hope you're having a wonderful summer.
Warmest,
Tad Hargrave
Founder
Radical Business
"helping conscious folk make more money"
tad@tadhargrave.com
www.tadhargrave.com
P.S. REMINDER: Are you interested in getting $400 worth of my marketing coaching time for whatever you want to pay me? If so, check out - www.tadhargrave.com/consulting
This offer is only available until the end of August.
I hope your week's been good.
I ended up having a friend fly me to California on airmiles for week last week. No kidding.
I'm excited about the topic of this week's "Your Irresistible Offer:.
It's particularly relevant for you as a green or conscious business.
Consider this question . . .
“Why should I buy from you vs. the competition?”
For green, conscious and holistic businesses there are powerful reasons to take a long and hard look at this question.
It has to do with the difference between your Values Proposition and your Value Proposition. The letter ‘s’ can make a big difference.
Imagine you go to an autobody shop with your broken down car.
You pull in and are delighted to find out that this autobody shop is a “green” autobody shop. They recycle everything. They’re union owned. They are an active community member and give steep discounts to those working in local environmental groups. They power their shop with wind power, bio-diesel and solar.
They give you a free bus pass for the year and encourage you to drive less. They greet you with a smile and you feel excited to be doing business with them.
You come back later that afternoon to get your car.
But, halfway home, it breaks down in the middle of the highway making you late for a critical appointment. You feel frustrated, helpless and angry.
This repair shop was in profound alignment with your values but didn’t deliver the value you were looking for. They didn’t do the one, central thing you wanted them to do. And no matter what else they did for you - all the other green stuff - you don’t care because they didn’t do the most important thing.
They didn’t solve the problem that you came to them with. They lived their values but they didn’t provide the value you were looking for.
VALUES PROPOSITION: Your values proposition is your statement of what’s important to you in your life and your business outside of making money. It’s the fact that you are green, serve only fair trade coffee, do carbon offsetting on your shipping etc. You value proposition is “here’s what you get for your money.” Your values proposition speaks to their values. This makes them feel good about themselves for doing business with you. It makes them say not just, “wow. what a great product or service.” but “Wow, what a great business.” Your values proposition is basically a, “do it because it’s the right thing to do” message.
“Niman Ranch will sell you four hormone-free, anti-biotic free, humanely raised beef based hot dogs for $7. Possibly the finest hot dogs in the world. It's not clear that the average kid eating a wiener can taste the difference, which is my point, the way we feel about what we eat accounts for as much as the taste itself.” - Seth Godin
**An Example of a Powerful “Values Proposition” from Whole Foods:**
We purchase wind power credits to offset our use of carbon. You can too! Visit a store to find out how.
We support sustainable farming practices that nurture the soil for future generations.
We prevent millions of pounds of waste from going into landfill through our recycling and composting efforts.
We won the EPAs Green Power Partner of the Year award in 2006.
We've been on Fortune's "Best Companies to Work For List" for 10 years in a row-- Number 5 this year.
We support local communities and economies by sourcing unique, artisan
and local products as part of our mix.
We give back 5% of our gross profits through regular Community Support Days.
Our Whole Planet Foundation gives micro-loans in developing countries as a way to fight poverty.
Our Animal Compassion Foundation works to change the way animals are raised for food.
We install energy efficient appliances and use green building materials in our stores.
“An open book policy in which everyone knows what everyone else makes, from the boss to the teenaged delivery boy, is an excellent idea, especially when the business genuinely tries to pay people fairly. Whole Foods also operates with a wide-open financial system. Sensitive figures on store sales, team sales, profit margins, even salaries are available to employees in every location. The company shares so much information so widely that the SEC has designated all 6,500 employees "insiders" for stock-trading purposes.” - Marketing Without Advertising
“La Blue's Cleaners in Sebastopol, California, has been in business for more than 40 years. In addition to providing pick-ups and delivery services to homes and offices, they are known in the community for extending a hand to the temporarily unemployed. If you are out of work, they will custom dry-clean and press one suit or one dress and launder two shirts or blouses at no charge. This information is posted on a sign inside the store which says, "This is our gift to you so you will look your best at your next job interview." Customers really appreciate it, and you can be sure that when they are back among the employed, they bring their business to La Blue's.” - Marketing Without Advertising
VALUE PROPOSITION: Your value proposition speaks directly to their self interest - it speaks directly to the problem they’re facing. The questions to ask yourself are, “Why did they come to us? What is the problem that brought them? What is the self serving result they’re wanting out of working with me?” And then make sure you at least deliver on that. That’s the minimum you must deliver.
And you need both.
I remember talking to the owner of a store that sold most of the green products in town - he was lamenting at how “people don’t shop at our store as much as they say they want to. They always say how much they love what we do but they don’t shop here. How are we supposed to survive if people only give us lip-service?”
It was heartbreaking to hear because he’s a really good man - but he doesn’t market his store. He just appeals to people’s values - he makes them no offer outside of that. He didn’t understand that appealing to people’s values (so that they can feel good about themselves when they buy from you) is only one component of your irresistible offer.
You might know people like him - well intentioned folks with good hearts. But they’re struggling and refuse to market their business.
In this series we’ll explore how you can go about crafting offers that are irresistible and get you more than mere lip service from your clients.
* * *
“Why should I buy from you vs. the competition?”
But, of course, the simplest questions are often the most difficult to answer. After all there are many layers to that question. One name for the answer to that question is a Unique Selling Proposition (USP). One of the simplest and best known examples is Dominoes Pizza: “Hot, fresh pizza to your door in 30 minutes or it’s free.”
“When an idea can’t be articulated simply, crisply and accessibly there is usually something wrong with it. When I hear a great idea, it usually has an affect on my mind and body. Sometimes I feel it in my stomach, other times in my throat, still others on my skin - a kind of instant truth detector test.” - Michael Eisner
COMING NEXT:
Next week sometime I will send you the fourth in the series focusing on the your "USP" - it's one of the most important things you can learn as a business. I tell you more about it next week.
Hope you're having a wonderful summer.
Warmest,
Tad Hargrave
Founder
Radical Business
"helping conscious folk make more money"
tad@tadhargrave.com
www.tadhargrave.com
P.S. REMINDER: Are you interested in getting $400 worth of my marketing coaching time for whatever you want to pay me? If so, check out - www.tadhargrave.com/consulting
This offer is only available until the end of August.
Your Irresistible Offer - "Avoid the Grammy Factor?" - Part 2 of 19
Hey everyone,
Welcome to part 2 of Your Irresistible Offer.
Today's will be pretty short. It's a brilliant article by Robert Middleton about creating offers that have more substance to them.
Enjoy!
_____________
Avoid The Grammy Factor
Robert Middleton
www.actionplan.com
I admit it. I watched the Grammy Awards last night. The whole thing. Let me give you a very quick rundown:
There were wall-to-wall musical performances. Some awards were given out. Heartfelt thank-yous were offered. Everyone looked beautiful. But the show is already fading from memory.
The Grammys, like most award shows, value style over substance. Lots of flash and glitz and "look at how passionately wonderful I am." It all gets a little overwhelming after awhile as one thinks, "But I don't even listen to this kind of music, anyway!"
However, I took away a valuable marketing lesson that I'd like to share with you: Most marketing messages are much like the Grammys: the substance is missing.
Everyone's trying to get the perfect marketing message, the perfect look, the perfect mind-blowing information that will compel prospects to respond in droves.
But it usually falls flat. Why?
Because it's often missing the most important thing of all: What the client actually gets from working with you. Don't think this is all that important?
Let me tell you a story...
One of the people in my current Marketing Action Group had been struggling with her marketing message. Nothing was really working. But finally she applied some of my ideas on creating a marketing message and told someone the story of a recent client success.
And the immediate response was: "Wow, I need your services. Will you work with me?"
And the great thing is that it wasn't a fluke. Now almost every time she uses the message, people want to work with her. Hey, her message was so great that I even decided to work with her!
How do you create a message with substance? Here's a 5-step process that will work for you.
1. Identify your ideal client
Your message will not work for everyone. You need to be clear exactly who your message is for. Who can you help the most? Who do you understand the best? Where do you have the most experience? Think all of this through and develop your message specifically for this ideal client.
2. Identify a client challenge
What does your ideal client want to do but doesn't know how? What's missing for them? What are they struggling with? What is confusing or frustrating for them? Clearly articulate this: "I work with these kind of clients who have this kind of challenge."
3. Identify a service and outcome
What specific service could you offer to address the client problem and provide a desirable outcome? Keep it simple: "I offer this kind of service and when clients use this service they will get this result." A service without a promised outcome is a wast of time.
4. Prove you can deliver the outcome
If you haven't offered this service before, then find an ideal client and perform it for them. If you need to cut your price or even offer it free to validate the outcome, so be it. But you need to be confident you can produce that outcome consistently.
5. Use your story as your message
The most powerful marketing messages are simple stories that demonstrate that you delivered a desirable outcome. "This was a client who came to me. They had this frustrating challenge. I implemented my service. These were the results."
This is the process my Marketing Action Group participant went through. She now has a reliable marketing message that's all substance, no style. She doesn't have to worry about perfect words or the "magic phrase." She just needs to tell her outcome story and get a positive response. Every time.
The actual response you get will depend on who your clients are, the depth of their challenge, their interest in getting an outcome, the actual service you develop and the kind of results you can deliver consistently.
But I promise you that if you follow these five steps to the letter, you'll emerge with a marketing message that's a quantum leap beyond what you're using now.
And that will always translate into more clients.
COMING NEXT:
Next week sometime I will send you the third in the series focusing on the most critical strategic mistake that conscious, green and holistic entrepreneurs make in their marketing . . .
Welcome to part 2 of Your Irresistible Offer.
Today's will be pretty short. It's a brilliant article by Robert Middleton about creating offers that have more substance to them.
Enjoy!
_____________
Avoid The Grammy Factor
Robert Middleton
www.actionplan.com
I admit it. I watched the Grammy Awards last night. The whole thing. Let me give you a very quick rundown:
There were wall-to-wall musical performances. Some awards were given out. Heartfelt thank-yous were offered. Everyone looked beautiful. But the show is already fading from memory.
The Grammys, like most award shows, value style over substance. Lots of flash and glitz and "look at how passionately wonderful I am." It all gets a little overwhelming after awhile as one thinks, "But I don't even listen to this kind of music, anyway!"
However, I took away a valuable marketing lesson that I'd like to share with you: Most marketing messages are much like the Grammys: the substance is missing.
Everyone's trying to get the perfect marketing message, the perfect look, the perfect mind-blowing information that will compel prospects to respond in droves.
But it usually falls flat. Why?
Because it's often missing the most important thing of all: What the client actually gets from working with you. Don't think this is all that important?
Let me tell you a story...
One of the people in my current Marketing Action Group had been struggling with her marketing message. Nothing was really working. But finally she applied some of my ideas on creating a marketing message and told someone the story of a recent client success.
And the immediate response was: "Wow, I need your services. Will you work with me?"
And the great thing is that it wasn't a fluke. Now almost every time she uses the message, people want to work with her. Hey, her message was so great that I even decided to work with her!
How do you create a message with substance? Here's a 5-step process that will work for you.
1. Identify your ideal client
Your message will not work for everyone. You need to be clear exactly who your message is for. Who can you help the most? Who do you understand the best? Where do you have the most experience? Think all of this through and develop your message specifically for this ideal client.
2. Identify a client challenge
What does your ideal client want to do but doesn't know how? What's missing for them? What are they struggling with? What is confusing or frustrating for them? Clearly articulate this: "I work with these kind of clients who have this kind of challenge."
3. Identify a service and outcome
What specific service could you offer to address the client problem and provide a desirable outcome? Keep it simple: "I offer this kind of service and when clients use this service they will get this result." A service without a promised outcome is a wast of time.
4. Prove you can deliver the outcome
If you haven't offered this service before, then find an ideal client and perform it for them. If you need to cut your price or even offer it free to validate the outcome, so be it. But you need to be confident you can produce that outcome consistently.
5. Use your story as your message
The most powerful marketing messages are simple stories that demonstrate that you delivered a desirable outcome. "This was a client who came to me. They had this frustrating challenge. I implemented my service. These were the results."
This is the process my Marketing Action Group participant went through. She now has a reliable marketing message that's all substance, no style. She doesn't have to worry about perfect words or the "magic phrase." She just needs to tell her outcome story and get a positive response. Every time.
The actual response you get will depend on who your clients are, the depth of their challenge, their interest in getting an outcome, the actual service you develop and the kind of results you can deliver consistently.
But I promise you that if you follow these five steps to the letter, you'll emerge with a marketing message that's a quantum leap beyond what you're using now.
And that will always translate into more clients.
COMING NEXT:
Next week sometime I will send you the third in the series focusing on the most critical strategic mistake that conscious, green and holistic entrepreneurs make in their marketing . . .
Your Irresistible Offer - "Why Should I Bother?" - Part 1 of 19
Hey everyone,
It’s an innocent enough question:
“Why should I buy from you vs. the competition?”
This is the first installment of the "Your Irresistible Offer" series of emails. Approximately once a week you will receive my latest thoughts on how you can make your business more irresistible to your ideal clients.
Before we get into the mechanics of creating an offer - let's take a look at what an Irresistible Offer is and why it is the heart of any marketing you will ever do.
Let's get right to it:
Every purchase is essentially an investment - and the prospect wants to know - “what’s the Return On Investment (ROI)? What do I get for my money? Why should I buy from you vs. the competition?”
Can you tell them?
* * *
To quote Seth Godin, “In the coming years, there will be more clutter, not less. There will be more interactions between customers, not less. There will be more upheaval, more inventions, more technologies, and more fashions, not less. And consumers have always wanted more than they say they want anyway ...”
In short - expect a lot more competition in your industry - not less.
“Why should I buy from you vs. the competition?”
When people ask this question, they want a real answer - not hype. Not slick marketing or fancy salesmanship. It’s a straightforward and totally legitimate question.
* * *
Sadly, all too often business owners create their products and services and then ask themselves, “now, how should I market this?” It’s much more powerful to start with the marketing first and ask yourself, “what is it that they want and need - and how can I give that to them?”
We need to start with the offer. The steak, not the sizzle.
I thought I would start off this series of emails with something really special.
It's hard medicine - but it's good for you.
* * *
An Edited Summary of the book:
Free Prize Inside!
by Seth Godin
Here's the quick definition of a Purple Cow: a product that's remarkable.
“Remarkable" simply means that a customer is willing to make a remark about it. If you can create memorable products, people will talk about them. If that happens, the word will spread and your sales will grow. That explains the success of most every fast growing company of the past ten years.
Lowering you prices without doing anything else is a game for desperate people lacking in imagination.
Most of the time, people are looking for marketing to serve as a magic elixer. They want to know how to use marketing techniques to make the business they've chosen work more profitably with the customers they're targeting. They want to change better-that commodity prices for their commodity products. They usually believe that it is the job of marketing to focus the spotlight on the things they've already decided to sell.
People want marketing to solve their product problems.
But today - it's all marketing because the product or service is the marketing. Marketing is no longer a separate division. It's the whole company. We’re living in an era where the real marketing happens inside the product, not in the ad pages of a magazine.
I say, if your product is not distinctly different, don't come up with better ads. Come up with a better product.
The simplest, fastest way to grow is to make your product remarkable. To make it worth talking about. If you make your product your service, your school, your church or your career worth talking about, the word will spread.
The only thing that leads to real growth is person to person conversation, word of mouth. And these only come about when you do something truly remarkable. Differentiation is not, by itself, remarkable. To be purple, you have to be more than different. You must be extreme. You must be on the edge.
Ask yourself: Are you invisible? Or are you remarkable?
In the world of the Purple Cow, where the product is the marketing, the winners are the people able to champion remarkable ideas and make them happen. And the astonishing revelation is this: Innovation isn't just fun, it's free!
If you can't make your product remarkable by changing the utility of the product or service, you must do it by one of three things . . .
1. creating a story: A story that transcends the utility of the product and instead goes straight to the world view of the user. See my book, “All Marketers Are Liars” for more information on how to do this.
2. by adding a free prize, a bonus, something extra, something worth paying for. What really works? No surprise, it's the soft stuff. The commonsense, creative stuff that requires initiative and curiosity, not an advanced degree to do. Most successes, though are actually the result of what I'll call soft innovation. Stuff like fast lube job shops, cell phone pricing plans and purple ketchup, or
3. by changing the way someone feels about what you do.
Here’s the good news: It turns out that there's a huge amount of inertia left in almost every category. Every product, service, feature, benefit is open for improvement. There's nothing that's finished, nothing so complete that it can't carry another free prize. No, not carry a prize, be transformed by a prize, transformed so completely that the product category finds new life.
Don’t Be Average:
Most companies focus on creating average products for average people.
The goal in Edgecraft is figuring out what people really want to buy, what they want to talk about and then giving it to them.
So, what you need to do is add a second benefit, a new edge, something your product or service does that is truly remarkable. You can only do that by going to the edges.
You must go all the way to the edge. Accepting second best doesn't make sense.
• Running a restaurant where your the free prize is your slightly attractive wait staff isn't going to work. They've got to be super-models or weightlifters or identical twins. You can only create a free prize when you can go all the way to the edge and make something remarkable. (note; the white hot essence, you need to fan it.) You don't create a better restaurant by serving better food. You can do it by serving remarkable food, or a remarkable location, or a remarkably famous chef. You don't build a better car but building a faster car, you do it by building the fastest car, or the least polluting car or the biggest car.
• Ergonomics that are slightly better are useless. Your product only becomes remarkable when you define the users experience.
• Ten percent more stock is invisible. When you have triple or ten times the stock of the competition (or 1 percent of their selection) people will notice. (note: be obvious)
Your innovations only matter when you can deliver an overwhelming distinction. Being somewhere near the edge is a very market-centric, self-aware thing that marketers do when they think people care enough to really dig deeply.
You can't achieve rapid growth by being just a bit better that the competition. It's not enough to get people to switch. You'll be ignored in favour of the incumbent.
The bottom line: If people aren't blown away, they won't talk about it. If they don't talk about it, it doesn't spread fast enough to help you grow.
Many people don't want this to be true. They don't want innovation to be the only path to growth. They believe that the market should reward earnest efforts at incremental improvement. Alas, it doesn't matter what you want... what we see is the market rewards innovation.
* * *
I know - it sounds intimidating and perhaps impossible.
But I assure you it's not. This series of emails will break down exactly what you need to do to get from wherever you are now to being 'absolutely irresistible'.
That's it for today.
It’s an innocent enough question:
“Why should I buy from you vs. the competition?”
This is the first installment of the "Your Irresistible Offer" series of emails. Approximately once a week you will receive my latest thoughts on how you can make your business more irresistible to your ideal clients.
Before we get into the mechanics of creating an offer - let's take a look at what an Irresistible Offer is and why it is the heart of any marketing you will ever do.
Let's get right to it:
Every purchase is essentially an investment - and the prospect wants to know - “what’s the Return On Investment (ROI)? What do I get for my money? Why should I buy from you vs. the competition?”
Can you tell them?
* * *
To quote Seth Godin, “In the coming years, there will be more clutter, not less. There will be more interactions between customers, not less. There will be more upheaval, more inventions, more technologies, and more fashions, not less. And consumers have always wanted more than they say they want anyway ...”
In short - expect a lot more competition in your industry - not less.
“Why should I buy from you vs. the competition?”
When people ask this question, they want a real answer - not hype. Not slick marketing or fancy salesmanship. It’s a straightforward and totally legitimate question.
* * *
Sadly, all too often business owners create their products and services and then ask themselves, “now, how should I market this?” It’s much more powerful to start with the marketing first and ask yourself, “what is it that they want and need - and how can I give that to them?”
We need to start with the offer. The steak, not the sizzle.
I thought I would start off this series of emails with something really special.
It's hard medicine - but it's good for you.
* * *
An Edited Summary of the book:
Free Prize Inside!
by Seth Godin
Here's the quick definition of a Purple Cow: a product that's remarkable.
“Remarkable" simply means that a customer is willing to make a remark about it. If you can create memorable products, people will talk about them. If that happens, the word will spread and your sales will grow. That explains the success of most every fast growing company of the past ten years.
Lowering you prices without doing anything else is a game for desperate people lacking in imagination.
Most of the time, people are looking for marketing to serve as a magic elixer. They want to know how to use marketing techniques to make the business they've chosen work more profitably with the customers they're targeting. They want to change better-that commodity prices for their commodity products. They usually believe that it is the job of marketing to focus the spotlight on the things they've already decided to sell.
People want marketing to solve their product problems.
But today - it's all marketing because the product or service is the marketing. Marketing is no longer a separate division. It's the whole company. We’re living in an era where the real marketing happens inside the product, not in the ad pages of a magazine.
I say, if your product is not distinctly different, don't come up with better ads. Come up with a better product.
The simplest, fastest way to grow is to make your product remarkable. To make it worth talking about. If you make your product your service, your school, your church or your career worth talking about, the word will spread.
The only thing that leads to real growth is person to person conversation, word of mouth. And these only come about when you do something truly remarkable. Differentiation is not, by itself, remarkable. To be purple, you have to be more than different. You must be extreme. You must be on the edge.
Ask yourself: Are you invisible? Or are you remarkable?
In the world of the Purple Cow, where the product is the marketing, the winners are the people able to champion remarkable ideas and make them happen. And the astonishing revelation is this: Innovation isn't just fun, it's free!
If you can't make your product remarkable by changing the utility of the product or service, you must do it by one of three things . . .
1. creating a story: A story that transcends the utility of the product and instead goes straight to the world view of the user. See my book, “All Marketers Are Liars” for more information on how to do this.
2. by adding a free prize, a bonus, something extra, something worth paying for. What really works? No surprise, it's the soft stuff. The commonsense, creative stuff that requires initiative and curiosity, not an advanced degree to do. Most successes, though are actually the result of what I'll call soft innovation. Stuff like fast lube job shops, cell phone pricing plans and purple ketchup, or
3. by changing the way someone feels about what you do.
Here’s the good news: It turns out that there's a huge amount of inertia left in almost every category. Every product, service, feature, benefit is open for improvement. There's nothing that's finished, nothing so complete that it can't carry another free prize. No, not carry a prize, be transformed by a prize, transformed so completely that the product category finds new life.
Don’t Be Average:
Most companies focus on creating average products for average people.
The goal in Edgecraft is figuring out what people really want to buy, what they want to talk about and then giving it to them.
So, what you need to do is add a second benefit, a new edge, something your product or service does that is truly remarkable. You can only do that by going to the edges.
You must go all the way to the edge. Accepting second best doesn't make sense.
• Running a restaurant where your the free prize is your slightly attractive wait staff isn't going to work. They've got to be super-models or weightlifters or identical twins. You can only create a free prize when you can go all the way to the edge and make something remarkable. (note; the white hot essence, you need to fan it.) You don't create a better restaurant by serving better food. You can do it by serving remarkable food, or a remarkable location, or a remarkably famous chef. You don't build a better car but building a faster car, you do it by building the fastest car, or the least polluting car or the biggest car.
• Ergonomics that are slightly better are useless. Your product only becomes remarkable when you define the users experience.
• Ten percent more stock is invisible. When you have triple or ten times the stock of the competition (or 1 percent of their selection) people will notice. (note: be obvious)
Your innovations only matter when you can deliver an overwhelming distinction. Being somewhere near the edge is a very market-centric, self-aware thing that marketers do when they think people care enough to really dig deeply.
You can't achieve rapid growth by being just a bit better that the competition. It's not enough to get people to switch. You'll be ignored in favour of the incumbent.
The bottom line: If people aren't blown away, they won't talk about it. If they don't talk about it, it doesn't spread fast enough to help you grow.
Many people don't want this to be true. They don't want innovation to be the only path to growth. They believe that the market should reward earnest efforts at incremental improvement. Alas, it doesn't matter what you want... what we see is the market rewards innovation.
* * *
I know - it sounds intimidating and perhaps impossible.
But I assure you it's not. This series of emails will break down exactly what you need to do to get from wherever you are now to being 'absolutely irresistible'.
That's it for today.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
BUSINESS FEATURE: GreenMaven.com - The Google for Green Products and Services
From: Melissa.Mansfield
I thought you all would be interested in a website I''m working on with my Earthsite partners Joey Shepp and Stacie Wickham. It''s GreenMaven.com, a green search engine that allows you to enter any search term and get the green result. It searches a database of 5,000 websites that have been chosen for their focus on environmental and social values.
It''s great for greenies like us ;) who already know what we''re looking for, but don''t always want to deal with the gazillions of useless results that Google might pull up. And it''s great for newbies who know they want eco-friendly socks, for example, but don''t know to search for bamboo, organic cotton or hemp socks.
So, please check out the site and give a try! Also - make sure you submit your businesses so that our searches will turn up results from your sites. And, if you have a chance, any feedback from the green business perspective would be very appreciated.
(I''ve copied and pasted the press release below so you can get the more formal pitch, and some more details.)
Thanks!
Melissa
[b:4d3723160b]Green Search Engine makes \"going green\" easy[/b:4d3723160b]
[i:4d3723160b]GreenMaven.com searches websites screened for environmental and social values[/i:4d3723160b]
San Francisco, CA - March 15, 2007 - GreenMaven.com is the world''s most comprehensive \"green search engine\" which allows users to search the Internet for trusted websites and news related to environmental and social values.
\"People want to go green, but they often don''t know where to start or even what questions to ask,\" says Joey Shepp, founder of Green Maven. \"Green Maven makes searching for all things green as easy as using Google. If you search for socks, you get organic socks. If you search for cars, you get hybrid cars. Our mission is to make it easy for mainstream to go green.\"
Recognized in TIME.com''s Top Ten List of Best New Websites of 2006, Green Maven uses Google''s recently released Co-op Search technology to make searching fast, easy, and relevant.
\"Going green has never been easier than with Green Maven,\" reports Lee Ettleman, TIME.COM. \"Editors at the site hand-pick web pages and news items related to the environmental movement—about everything from eco-friendly cities to organic socks—that can then be searched using the Google tool on the homepage or browsed through using a directory.\"
Launched in late 2006 by a team of Green MBA graduates, Green Maven has reached a total of 5,000 websites since its launch. GreenMaven was designed with Open Source software by the leading sustainable website development firm, Earthsite.net, developers of Urth.tv and GreenFestivals.org.
Visitors can search on GreenMaven.com, or they can take the green web with them by installing an easy browser plug-in. Businesses who want their sites included in the green search engine can submit their URLs to Green Maven''s team of editors for approval.
GreenMaven.com is responding to a growing segment of the Internet community searching for news, products and services that match their environmental and social values. By making it easy to \"go green\", GreenMaven.com is making a green lifestyle available to everyone.
###
GreenMaven.com founder Joey Shepp is available for interviews. For more information, contact Stacie Wickham at (415) 259-4664 or info@greenmaven.com.
* * *
a blog for green business marketing, eco-business marketing, ethical business marketing, conscious business marketing, sustainable business marketing, and community-minded entrepreneurs who are struggling with their cashflow, not attracting enough clients and have mixed feelings about marketing - www.tadhargrave.com
I thought you all would be interested in a website I''m working on with my Earthsite partners Joey Shepp and Stacie Wickham. It''s GreenMaven.com, a green search engine that allows you to enter any search term and get the green result. It searches a database of 5,000 websites that have been chosen for their focus on environmental and social values.
It''s great for greenies like us ;) who already know what we''re looking for, but don''t always want to deal with the gazillions of useless results that Google might pull up. And it''s great for newbies who know they want eco-friendly socks, for example, but don''t know to search for bamboo, organic cotton or hemp socks.
So, please check out the site and give a try! Also - make sure you submit your businesses so that our searches will turn up results from your sites. And, if you have a chance, any feedback from the green business perspective would be very appreciated.
(I''ve copied and pasted the press release below so you can get the more formal pitch, and some more details.)
Thanks!
Melissa
[b:4d3723160b]Green Search Engine makes \"going green\" easy[/b:4d3723160b]
[i:4d3723160b]GreenMaven.com searches websites screened for environmental and social values[/i:4d3723160b]
San Francisco, CA - March 15, 2007 - GreenMaven.com is the world''s most comprehensive \"green search engine\" which allows users to search the Internet for trusted websites and news related to environmental and social values.
\"People want to go green, but they often don''t know where to start or even what questions to ask,\" says Joey Shepp, founder of Green Maven. \"Green Maven makes searching for all things green as easy as using Google. If you search for socks, you get organic socks. If you search for cars, you get hybrid cars. Our mission is to make it easy for mainstream to go green.\"
Recognized in TIME.com''s Top Ten List of Best New Websites of 2006, Green Maven uses Google''s recently released Co-op Search technology to make searching fast, easy, and relevant.
\"Going green has never been easier than with Green Maven,\" reports Lee Ettleman, TIME.COM. \"Editors at the site hand-pick web pages and news items related to the environmental movement—about everything from eco-friendly cities to organic socks—that can then be searched using the Google tool on the homepage or browsed through using a directory.\"
Launched in late 2006 by a team of Green MBA graduates, Green Maven has reached a total of 5,000 websites since its launch. GreenMaven was designed with Open Source software by the leading sustainable website development firm, Earthsite.net, developers of Urth.tv and GreenFestivals.org.
Visitors can search on GreenMaven.com, or they can take the green web with them by installing an easy browser plug-in. Businesses who want their sites included in the green search engine can submit their URLs to Green Maven''s team of editors for approval.
GreenMaven.com is responding to a growing segment of the Internet community searching for news, products and services that match their environmental and social values. By making it easy to \"go green\", GreenMaven.com is making a green lifestyle available to everyone.
###
GreenMaven.com founder Joey Shepp is available for interviews. For more information, contact Stacie Wickham at (415) 259-4664 or info@greenmaven.com.
* * *
a blog for green business marketing, eco-business marketing, ethical business marketing, conscious business marketing, sustainable business marketing, and community-minded entrepreneurs who are struggling with their cashflow, not attracting enough clients and have mixed feelings about marketing - www.tadhargrave.com
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Your Niche - Menu of Target Markets - Part 7 of 7
Hey everyone,
I just finished a weekend workshop in Calgary.
And it taught me a lot of niches and targeting.
On the Friday night, I had everyone write out their niche in a single sentence (like we described last week). After they left, I reviewed them and wrote my commentary all over them. The next morning, from the front of the room, I reviewed them - giving people targeted coaching on their niche.
Then I invited them to take another crack at in on the Saturday night if they still wanted help. And Sunday morning, I gave more notes from the front of the room.
It was a really valuable exercise and I saw people's niche's become clearer and clearer over the weekend because of it.
But it also taught me a lot about what makes a good target and what doesn't.
It prompted me to write out the following distinctions.
Important Distinctions:
• ideal client: your ideal client is sort of a subset of your target market or chosen community. While most folks in the community your choosing to serve would likely make fine clients - would they all be your ideal clients? Probably not. Your ideal clients are the ones you wish every client was like.
• explicit vs. implied niche: your product might only be used for a very specific purpose (e.g. menstrual pads).Your product might come with a predefined niche. This is an implied niche - you don’t even need to say who you’re targeting - it’s implied in the type of product. Even so, you can often afford to narrow the niche down even further or at least come up with other ways to differentiate your product or service (e.g. organic cotton, chemical free menstrual pads). And differentiating your product may actually change the niche. Sometimes it can be very powerful to pick your niche indirectly like this. There’s a chain of boutique hotels that each have their own very distinct flavour (each on modeled after a different popular magazine). The vibe and aesthetic each hotel has is so strong that the niche is implied - instead of overtly selecting their niche - their niche sort of selects them. But most products could be used by a variety of people in a variety of contexts. For example: who is massage good for? Who needs a realtor? Who could use a car? A blender? Lots of people - there’s no one implied niche. In these cases, it’s recommended to select one or two that you will focus on.
• geography vs. affinity: there are two central dynamics in picking a niche these days. In the old days you had to work in your community of geography. You did business where you lived. We lived in communities defined by geography. But, now, with the internet, ubiquitous travel and postal service we are living increasingly in ‘communities of affinity.” In fact, as the internet becomes more well defined, we are seeing the rise of what is known as the Micro-Niche - this is a group of people who are obsessed with the most bizarre and minor of things (e.g. a certain movie or even a certain scene of a movie). The point is this - the narrower your geography - the wider you will have to cast your net in terms of affinity. The wider a geography you work in - the more narrowly you can likely afford to focus. In other words - when working locally you need to be more of a jack of all trades. When working globally you can afford to be an ubernerd.
• targeting individuals vs. groups: one of the core premises here is that it’s much easier to find clients if you can find the places they already hang out together than to try to find them and sell them one on one. So, when we refer to a ‘target’ - we’re referring to a group of people not an individual. A target is a group. What kind of group? You know it’s a good target when people in the group all share similar situations and experiences. You know it’s a group when membership to that group means something to them.
• the target vs. the problem: identifying your niche is really a two part equation. You must first identify your target - your target will be some subset of ‘everybody’. See the end of this workshop for an extensive (but by no means exhaustive) list of potential targets. Secondly, you must identify a problem that they are currently experiencing that you can help them with. Target + problem = niche.
• a bad target vs. a good target: how do you know if you have a good target? You should be able to describe an average day for them with relative accuracy. You should be able to tell me about their life and the struggles they have. With a good target, this is easy to do. A good target will share common needs, values, experiences and situations. They would be able to relate and empathize with each other if they met. You’d hear them saying things like, “Me too! I totally know what you mean. I’m dealing with the same thing.” This shared experience is the bottom line of a target - without it, you have no target.
• a good target vs. a great target: a great target will not only share a common set of needs that you can help them with - but they will also share two other critical characteristics. First, they have already established communication hubs - meaning: you can find them. They have common places they spend their time, money and attention. Second, there are enough of them.
• a great target vs. a perfect target: a perfect target will meet all the criteria of a great target - plus about 4-5 others (see: Niche Criteria from "Your Niche - Part 4 of 7").
**BUT!**
None of that is what I wanted to write you about.
Many people have a hard time picking a target. That's pretty normal. Most people can't even think of what a target would look like. So, below you'll find a menu of options to get you started.
**Menu of Possible Target Markets:**
This list is not meant to be exhaustive or complete. It’s just meant to get you thinking.
A few key points here:
1. many of these target markets can be combined.
2. these are only half of the equation. To be a really complete niche, you also need to add a ‘problem’ or ‘need’ to whatever combination of these you come up with (i.e. not just single mothers but ‘single mothers who struggle to stay in shape.’)
WOMEN:
single women
new mothers
single mothers
expecting mothers
bride to be
MEN:
single men
single fathers
new fathers
expecting fathers
groom to be
SEXUAL ORIENTATION:
(LGBTQ) Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Transgender/ & Questioning
BDSM
STAGE OF LIFE:
infants
small children
teenagers
high school students
college students
newly weds
homeowners
renters
condo owners
recently divorced
widowed
retiring
grandparents
ETHNIC:
blacks
hispanics
asians
indians
TASTES:
tea lovers
wine lovers
LIFESTYLE
travelers
outdoorsy folks/back packers
exercise nuts/health conscious
acreage owners
PETS:
dog lovers
cat lovers
DIET:
vegetarians
vegans
raw fooders
macrobiotics
SPIRITUALITY:
Yoga
tai chi
buddhist
christian
moslem
hindu
shamanism
new age
pagan
VALUES:
environmental
traditional “american”
COMMUNITIES:
immigrant
indigenous
LGBTQ
club scene
rave scene
electronic music scene
INDUSTRY & POSITION:
financial advisors
lawyers
accountants
holistic practitioners
secretarial
doctors
dentists
nurses
doulas
midwives
naturopaths
aromatherapists
salespeople
esthetician
teachers
entrepreneurs
CEO’s, CFO’s etc.
publishers
writers
HANDICAPS & SITUATIONS:
chemically sensitive
non-english speakers in english speaking areas
physically handicapped
blind or seeing impaired
deaf or hearing impaired
autism
highly sensitive people
caregivers to the ill or elderly
* * *
So, that’s it for this week.
And next week . . .
THE "NICHE CHALLENGE": I'm going to invite you to email me your attempt. If you do I will give you free email coaching to help you tweak and refine it and send those out in the next edition of Your Niche. I'll also put your website or email with it so that if anyone reading this wants to reach you they can. Fre*e advertising.
After we’re done with the niche we’re going to move into working with Hubs.
We’re going to look at “how do you attract your niche to you?”
I think you’re going to love it.
I hope you're well.
Warmest,
Tad
p.s. EDMONTON EVENT - I have an event coming up in Edmonton March 31 – April 1 – and it’s starting to fill – only 10 spots left. www.tadhargrave.com/RBI
p.p.s. For back issues of my newsletters - and more - just go to - www.radicalbusiness.blogspot.com
* * *
radical business: marketing consulting for hippies
a blog for green business, eco-business, ethical business, conscious business, sustainable business, and community-minded entrepreneurs who are struggling with their cashflow, not attracting enough clients and have mixed feelings about marketing - www.tadhargrave.com
I just finished a weekend workshop in Calgary.
And it taught me a lot of niches and targeting.
On the Friday night, I had everyone write out their niche in a single sentence (like we described last week). After they left, I reviewed them and wrote my commentary all over them. The next morning, from the front of the room, I reviewed them - giving people targeted coaching on their niche.
Then I invited them to take another crack at in on the Saturday night if they still wanted help. And Sunday morning, I gave more notes from the front of the room.
It was a really valuable exercise and I saw people's niche's become clearer and clearer over the weekend because of it.
But it also taught me a lot about what makes a good target and what doesn't.
It prompted me to write out the following distinctions.
Important Distinctions:
• ideal client: your ideal client is sort of a subset of your target market or chosen community. While most folks in the community your choosing to serve would likely make fine clients - would they all be your ideal clients? Probably not. Your ideal clients are the ones you wish every client was like.
• explicit vs. implied niche: your product might only be used for a very specific purpose (e.g. menstrual pads).Your product might come with a predefined niche. This is an implied niche - you don’t even need to say who you’re targeting - it’s implied in the type of product. Even so, you can often afford to narrow the niche down even further or at least come up with other ways to differentiate your product or service (e.g. organic cotton, chemical free menstrual pads). And differentiating your product may actually change the niche. Sometimes it can be very powerful to pick your niche indirectly like this. There’s a chain of boutique hotels that each have their own very distinct flavour (each on modeled after a different popular magazine). The vibe and aesthetic each hotel has is so strong that the niche is implied - instead of overtly selecting their niche - their niche sort of selects them. But most products could be used by a variety of people in a variety of contexts. For example: who is massage good for? Who needs a realtor? Who could use a car? A blender? Lots of people - there’s no one implied niche. In these cases, it’s recommended to select one or two that you will focus on.
• geography vs. affinity: there are two central dynamics in picking a niche these days. In the old days you had to work in your community of geography. You did business where you lived. We lived in communities defined by geography. But, now, with the internet, ubiquitous travel and postal service we are living increasingly in ‘communities of affinity.” In fact, as the internet becomes more well defined, we are seeing the rise of what is known as the Micro-Niche - this is a group of people who are obsessed with the most bizarre and minor of things (e.g. a certain movie or even a certain scene of a movie). The point is this - the narrower your geography - the wider you will have to cast your net in terms of affinity. The wider a geography you work in - the more narrowly you can likely afford to focus. In other words - when working locally you need to be more of a jack of all trades. When working globally you can afford to be an ubernerd.
• targeting individuals vs. groups: one of the core premises here is that it’s much easier to find clients if you can find the places they already hang out together than to try to find them and sell them one on one. So, when we refer to a ‘target’ - we’re referring to a group of people not an individual. A target is a group. What kind of group? You know it’s a good target when people in the group all share similar situations and experiences. You know it’s a group when membership to that group means something to them.
• the target vs. the problem: identifying your niche is really a two part equation. You must first identify your target - your target will be some subset of ‘everybody’. See the end of this workshop for an extensive (but by no means exhaustive) list of potential targets. Secondly, you must identify a problem that they are currently experiencing that you can help them with. Target + problem = niche.
• a bad target vs. a good target: how do you know if you have a good target? You should be able to describe an average day for them with relative accuracy. You should be able to tell me about their life and the struggles they have. With a good target, this is easy to do. A good target will share common needs, values, experiences and situations. They would be able to relate and empathize with each other if they met. You’d hear them saying things like, “Me too! I totally know what you mean. I’m dealing with the same thing.” This shared experience is the bottom line of a target - without it, you have no target.
• a good target vs. a great target: a great target will not only share a common set of needs that you can help them with - but they will also share two other critical characteristics. First, they have already established communication hubs - meaning: you can find them. They have common places they spend their time, money and attention. Second, there are enough of them.
• a great target vs. a perfect target: a perfect target will meet all the criteria of a great target - plus about 4-5 others (see: Niche Criteria from "Your Niche - Part 4 of 7").
**BUT!**
None of that is what I wanted to write you about.
Many people have a hard time picking a target. That's pretty normal. Most people can't even think of what a target would look like. So, below you'll find a menu of options to get you started.
**Menu of Possible Target Markets:**
This list is not meant to be exhaustive or complete. It’s just meant to get you thinking.
A few key points here:
1. many of these target markets can be combined.
2. these are only half of the equation. To be a really complete niche, you also need to add a ‘problem’ or ‘need’ to whatever combination of these you come up with (i.e. not just single mothers but ‘single mothers who struggle to stay in shape.’)
WOMEN:
single women
new mothers
single mothers
expecting mothers
bride to be
MEN:
single men
single fathers
new fathers
expecting fathers
groom to be
SEXUAL ORIENTATION:
(LGBTQ) Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Transgender/ & Questioning
BDSM
STAGE OF LIFE:
infants
small children
teenagers
high school students
college students
newly weds
homeowners
renters
condo owners
recently divorced
widowed
retiring
grandparents
ETHNIC:
blacks
hispanics
asians
indians
TASTES:
tea lovers
wine lovers
LIFESTYLE
travelers
outdoorsy folks/back packers
exercise nuts/health conscious
acreage owners
PETS:
dog lovers
cat lovers
DIET:
vegetarians
vegans
raw fooders
macrobiotics
SPIRITUALITY:
Yoga
tai chi
buddhist
christian
moslem
hindu
shamanism
new age
pagan
VALUES:
environmental
traditional “american”
COMMUNITIES:
immigrant
indigenous
LGBTQ
club scene
rave scene
electronic music scene
INDUSTRY & POSITION:
financial advisors
lawyers
accountants
holistic practitioners
secretarial
doctors
dentists
nurses
doulas
midwives
naturopaths
aromatherapists
salespeople
esthetician
teachers
entrepreneurs
CEO’s, CFO’s etc.
publishers
writers
HANDICAPS & SITUATIONS:
chemically sensitive
non-english speakers in english speaking areas
physically handicapped
blind or seeing impaired
deaf or hearing impaired
autism
highly sensitive people
caregivers to the ill or elderly
* * *
So, that’s it for this week.
And next week . . .
THE "NICHE CHALLENGE": I'm going to invite you to email me your attempt. If you do I will give you free email coaching to help you tweak and refine it and send those out in the next edition of Your Niche. I'll also put your website or email with it so that if anyone reading this wants to reach you they can. Fre*e advertising.
After we’re done with the niche we’re going to move into working with Hubs.
We’re going to look at “how do you attract your niche to you?”
I think you’re going to love it.
I hope you're well.
Warmest,
Tad
p.s. EDMONTON EVENT - I have an event coming up in Edmonton March 31 – April 1 – and it’s starting to fill – only 10 spots left. www.tadhargrave.com/RBI
p.p.s. For back issues of my newsletters - and more - just go to - www.radicalbusiness.blogspot.com
* * *
radical business: marketing consulting for hippies
a blog for green business, eco-business, ethical business, conscious business, sustainable business, and community-minded entrepreneurs who are struggling with their cashflow, not attracting enough clients and have mixed feelings about marketing - www.tadhargrave.com
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Your Niche - in a Single Sentence - part 6 of 7
I used to be really confused about how to tell people who my niche was. It used to take me a whole page to do it.
* * *
radical business: marketing consulting for hippies
a blog for green business, eco-business, ethical business, conscious business, sustainable business, and community-minded entrepreneurs who are struggling with their cashflow, not attracting enough clients and have mixed feelings about marketing - www.tadhargrave.com
Now I can do it in a sentence.
Now, in a single sentence, people I'm talking to know if they're in my niche or if they know anyone who is.
Here’s a shorthand way of identifying your niche that many of my clients have found to be profoundly useful. In fact, I would go so far as to say that, until you can do this exercise, you don’t really have a niche.
It’s deceptively simple, you just need to complete the following sentence . . .
“I help __________ kinds of people with ______________ problems.”
Ahh. It looks so simple. But the key here is that you don’t go into the RESULTS you offer people right away. At this point, all you’re doing is telling people two things: who you help and what problems you help them with.
Mark Joyner has something he calls “The Great Formula” which is probably worth mentioning here.
1. Create an Irresistible Offer
2. Bring it to a thirsty crowd
3. Offer them a second glass
Let’s talk about that second one: the thirsty crowd. What’s the point of offering water to someone who isn’t thirsty? Is that the best use of your time and money? Developing marketing campaigns in which you attempt to convince them that they are, in fact, thirsty? You could spend your days trying to sell ice to Eskimos or a double bed to the Pope and well . . .
That’s one approach.
Here’s another: identify upfront which sorts of people are likely to already need and want what you’re offering. The thirsty crowd.
This is the formula:
an underserved or ignored group + an unsolved problem = a thirsty crowd.
You want to find a thirsty crowd. It’s much easier to sell water to them.
NOTE: The niche is all about THEM. It's not about YOU. At this stage you do not talk about the results you produce for them. You don't talk about the methods and techniques you use (they don't care yet). You name who they are and what their problem is. Period. Later you will need to articulate the results, solutions and benefits you offer. But not now. For now, stay 100% focused on the pain, problem or need they are experiencing.
A niche is not defined by what you have to offer them, but by what they are needing.
EIGHTEEN EXAMPLES:
1. Radical Business: We help green, community-minded, conscious, holistic and locally owned businesses that are struggling with their cashflow, not attracting enough clients and keep 'meaning' to handle their marketing - but end up putting it off.
2. Massage Therapist: I work with people in the Seattle BDSM community who feel embarrased when they go to a massage therapist because they have to explain the bite marks and bruises on their body.
3. Realtor #1: I work with dog owning families in
4. Realtor #2: I work with people with disabilities-- who struggle to find a home that they like and can afford and who feel overwhelmed and confused about where to even start in applying for financing.
5. Printing Company: We help the traveling business man who shows up in
6. Low Impact Living.com: We help homeowners who want to become more green and energy efficient in their homes but feel totally lost and overwhelmed with where to even start.
7. www.unlockthegame.com: We help salespeople who are in tremendous pain when it comes to selling. They hate doing it. They are secretly scared to pick up the phone. They hate being rejected but also hate using the manipulative sales techniques they were taught. They feel trapped because they need to make a living but they can’t find a way to sell that doesn’t feel like they’re also selling out their integrity.
8. Rapid Fire Theatre (an improv comedy company): Main Niche for our weekly shows: high school, college and university students. Niche for Gigs: event organizers for corporate events who need a show that is guaranteed to be entertaining and tailored to the client.
9. D-Tox Salon: We help chemically sensitive individuals who can’t go into a regular salon due to the amount of chemicals used. And they feel so frustrated because they’d rally love to get a salon treatment but they can’t. They’ve got nowhere to go.
10. New Leaf Paper: We help graphic designers who are frustrated by the amount of paper-waste in their industry and who are looking for something special they can offer to their clients to set them apart as a graphic designer.
11. Rad Dyke Plumber: I work with women in the lesbian community who are having trouble with their pipes.
12. Joie de Vivre Hotels designs each of their hotels on a particular niche. They do this by picking a magazine (e.g. Rolling Stone) and then picking five adjectives that describe that magazine (e.g. funky, cool, young-at-heart, adventurous and irreverent). And so, people who love Rolling Stone magazine will love this hotel. They called this particular hotel “The Phoenix”. Each hotel was individually branded.
NOTE: If you find your description of the kind of person you want too vague - you might consider adding 2-3 more adjectives to describe them further - or you might reevaluate whether or not your niche is that strong.
A FEW MORE:
Robert Middleton of www.actionplan.com recently sent out an email in which he shared what some of his clients had come up with. Robert is the person I got this notion of the niche being a combination of the Target + Problem from in the first place. Check his stuff out.
13. Healthcare Consultant: We work with healthcare organizations, who struggle with hiring and keeping really good people.
14. Financial Planner: I help people with a six figure incomes who are getting clobbered by taxes, staring at college and retirement and wondering how in the world they're going to pay for it all.
15. Management Consultant: I work with CEOS of small to medium sized businesses who are experiencing a steady decline in productivity with their management teams and employees and are finding training programs ineffective. Lack of personal accountability and self- management skills has led to something that looks like procrastination and productivity loss.
16. Life and Relationship Coach: I work with individuals who have been unsuccessful in finding their ideal partner and with couples who struggle to keep their marriage intact.
17. Retail Consultant: I work with independent retailers who are frustrated with trying to get shoppers to buy.
18. Management Consultant: We work with busy entrepreneurs and business owners of
successful small and medium companies who are frustrated because they are leaving money on the table because they are not getting important back-burner projects completed.
* * *
radical business: marketing consulting for hippies
a blog for green business, eco-business, ethical business, conscious business, sustainable business, and community-minded entrepreneurs who are struggling with their cashflow, not attracting enough clients and have mixed feelings about marketing - www.tadhargrave.com
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies - Interviews with Don Schaeffer and Michael Shuman, President of BALLE
One of the most inspiring things I've come across in working with green businesses is BALLE - the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies.
Check out these two youtube videos for more info:
Interview with Don Schaeffer - President of BALLE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_oKBqJg9vA
Interview with Michael Shuman - Author, "Going Local" and "The Small Mart Revolution"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9YUxYXG678&mode=related&search=
enjoy.
-tad
* * *
radical business: marketing consulting for hippies
a blog for green business, eco-business, ethical business, conscious business, sustainable business, and community-minded entrepreneurs who are struggling with their cashflow, not attracting enough clients and have mixed feelings about marketing - www.tadhargrave.com
Check out these two youtube videos for more info:
Interview with Don Schaeffer - President of BALLE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_oKBqJg9vA
Interview with Michael Shuman - Author, "Going Local" and "The Small Mart Revolution"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9YUxYXG678&mode=related&search=
enjoy.
-tad
* * *
radical business: marketing consulting for hippies
a blog for green business, eco-business, ethical business, conscious business, sustainable business, and community-minded entrepreneurs who are struggling with their cashflow, not attracting enough clients and have mixed feelings about marketing - www.tadhargrave.com
Your Niche - 10 Questions to ask Yourself to Identify Your Perfect Target Market - Part 5 of 7
So, we know that having a niche is important.
And now we know how to identify a good one.
So, this is all great in theory - but how about in practice? What about in your particular situation.
So, where do you even start?
This is the hardest part. Identifying your niche(s). After all, you could choose any one of hundreds of possibilities. How do you choose?
The following ten questions are based on the assumption that you don’t already have a strong implicit niche for what you do - that there’s the possibility to choose a more narrow niche.
They’re also based on the idea that you want to choose a niche that is a natural fit for you - a niche that’s an extension of you somehow. You want the niche to be fun. In truth - it doesn’t need to be for the success of your business - but it likely does for your own fulfillment. So, these questions are often about you - getting to know yourself.
First of all, if you feel uptight about making the choice - relax. You’re not crazy. It’s a tricky question. And you’re not alone. A lot of people feel this way. And also relax because - you don’t have to figure this out over night. It’s okay - and often important - to take your time.
When I teach workshops – this is where people get stuck. All the theory I covered before is fine. It’s logical. It makes sense. They love it. And then I invite them to pick a niche to focus on for the weekend – and they freeze up or freak out.
I’d suggest that there’s at least ten primary ways that I’ve seen people use to pick a niche that fits the eight key criteria.
Now, not all of these will make sense or be a fit for your situation - but I invite you to sit with each question for three minutes - take 30 minutes with this - and see what comes up. You might just be surprised. Come up with your answers and then let yourself steep in them. Write the answers down and then schedule to revisit them in a month. Actually schedule it.
Here’s the ten themes and questions.
1. personal tragedy and defining moments: if you’ve been through breast cancer and you’re a holistic practitioner, you might feel passionate about helping other women going through that process. If you’ve been through a painful divorce and you’re a life coach - you might feel inspired about coaching women who are going through one themselves. Some people find that helping others through painful events that they’ve gone through is actually very healing for them. Personal tragedies can often be a source of immense passion and purpose. The defining moment might also have been a very positive thing. Maybe you climbed
THE QUESTION: What have been the five most defining moments or personal tragedies of your life?
2. community you’re a part of or want to serve: if you’re a part of the reiki community and you’re a massage therapist, why not serve the community you’re already a part of? Maybe you love the green business community and want to focus your accounting skills there. The point is that sometimes your niche is staring you right in the face.
THE QUESTION: What groups, networks or subcultures are you already a part of?
3. time of life (e.g. retirement): most people will go through certain events - transitioning from one career to another, becoming a parent, retiring, divorcing etc. You might decide that your niche is based around one of these transitions. You might be a “retirement coach”. You might have a boutique furniture store and do some promotions for new parents - or parents whose kids are “finally” leaving home. Remember: a niche can be for your whole business or just a simple promotion.
THE QUESTION: What life transitions do you think are the most natural fit for what you do?
4. profession & industry: Perhaps your niche is based on working with a particular industry. Maybe you’ve decided to work specifically with Ice Cream shops or maybe you’re going to sell your products and services to doctors and hospitals. You might decide that you’re going to do a fitness package for accountants. Sounds weird - but it can work.
THE QUESTION: What professions or industries are you a part of or think might be the most natural fit for what you have to offer?
5. hobby/lifestyle: Maybe you’re a realtor who focuses on dog lovers. I know one life coach who is a tea geek - he has a socially unacceptable knowledge of tea. But he’s building a whole online business with himself as a tea sommelier.
THE QUESTION: What hobbies, interest or bizarre fascinations do you have?
6. specific unsolved problem: maybe your niche is based around a particular, very specific problem that people face. It could be a specific issue people have with their kidneys, it could be ‘how do i get my videos online?’, it could be ‘how do i get my website to sell more products?’ The key is to look at a problem that a group of people are frustrated with.
THE QUESTION: Is there a very particular problem that your product or service solves particularly well?
7. your strengths: all of us are strong in some area. We have certain qualities that make us who we are. Maybe our strength is that we’re really sensitive. Maybe it’s that we’re really good at diffusing conflict. Maybe we’re naturally entertaining or a great problem solver. I noticed years ago that I was really good at leading workshops and was entertaining - and that I was good at coaching people. So, I asked myself, “What kind of work could allow me to do that?” That was a big part of Radical Business starting.
THE QUESTION: what are you really, really good at?
8. your passions: I think that the best niches are built around some passion that you have. For me, I’m passionate about alternatives - but even more so I’m passionate about helping friends of mine get over their marketing hurdles and frustrations. I really love doing that. I’m passionate about leading workshops. I’m passionate about tinkering and improving the workshops.
THE QUESTION: if you could do anything with your life what would it be? what topics, activities etc. are you most passionate about?
9. the underserved: In almost any marketplace - there’s some folks who are getting ignored who would immensely benefit from your product and service. When I used to do workshops for Student Councils in High Schools across
THE QUESTION: Who aren’t your competitors serving? Who could benefit immensely from your product or service that isn’t being actively courted?
10. the one’s you already got: If you’ve been in business for a few years or more - you might notice that you seem to attract and retain a certain kind of person. It can be interesting to look at what niche or community you seem to be attracting most easily. It’s interesting to notice who you enjoy most from the people you’re attracting.
THE QUESTION: Who do you seem to be already, naturally and effortlessly attracting? Who seems to be showing up?
* * *
radical business: marketing consulting for hippies
a blog for green business, eco-business, ethical business, conscious business, sustainable business, and community-minded entrepreneurs who are struggling with their cashflow, not attracting enough clients and have mixed feelings about marketing - www.tadhargrave.com
Sunday, February 11, 2007
You Niche - 8 Criteria of Your Perfect Niche - Part 4 of 7
Hey all,
I just got back from Eugene, Oregon where we had a wonderful weekend workshop with some really fantastic folks.
March 2-4 will see me in Calgary - the event is three weeks away and there's only 7 spots left.
You can sign up by going to www.tadhargrave.com/RBI (or spread the word by sending your friends there).
I'm really excited about this issue of "Your Niche".
This was actually the topic I wanted to send out first.
I think you'll find it really, really, really useful and clarifying. Enjoy.
Warmest,
Tad
* * *
How to pick your perfect niche:
So, we know that having a clear niche or target market is essential, but, how do you know if you’ve got a good niche?
It’s one of the biggest fears people have - “what if I pick the wrong niche?”
And the fear is justifiable. After all, if you pick the wrong niche and spend a lot of time, money and energy in trying to reach it . . . and it doesn’t work out. Well, you’d probably rather not go through that.
The truth is, you could pick a perfect niche and still fail. A strong niche isn’t a guarantee of success, it just makes it a lot more likely is all.
So, what constitutes a good niche?
Luckily for you, it’s extremely easy to tell whether your niche is a good choice or not. There’s eight specific pieces of criteria you can use to judge any niche by.
And let me make a few predictions.
First: I predict these will all make a ton of sense to you.
Second: I predict you will agree with and really like these criteria.
Third: I predict that these criteria will give you some ‘aha’ moments of why past marketing efforts of yours have failed.
THE EIGHT QUALITIES OF YOUR PERFECT NICHE
1. they are experiencing a common set of easily identifiable needs you can fulfill or problems that you can help them with (and they are, at least, open to the notion that these problems can be solved and ideally they are passionately committed to solving it now - it’s a ‘must’ for them, not a ‘should’ that they’ll get to someday).
If they don’t have a common problem - it’s not a target market. And if you can’t help them with the problem - there’s simply no basis for any conversation. The problem or need is the basis of all your marketing. Most people make the mistake of thinking that people are buying their products or services - but that’s not true.
People couldn’t care less about your products or services (owch. the truth smarts) they just want a solution to their problems, they want relief from pain, they want to meet a need of theirs. Your products and services are merely a means to an ends.
So many entrepreneurs I know can talk for hours about the features and benefits of their products but if I say, “why do people need this? What are they buying it for?” they totally blank. They don’t know how to answer it. The ‘problem’ is not only the basis of your marketing message - it’s the white hot center of your niche.
2. common lifestyle: desires, passions, values, interests, hobbies, a common bond that you can cater to.
Some problems are so specific that only a narrow niche of people will suffer from them (e.g. a particular problem with a highly specialized computer application).
But some problems (e.g. back pain) are really generic. So, some problems have a sort of implied niche to them. Others don’t. If the problems that you solve are widely held - then you should likely consider selecting a particular community to work with and develop packages for.
A couple examples: a massage therapist who works with the BDSM community in Seattle. Sure, lots of people need massage - but when she caters her business to this community - she can cater to their particular needs, values and vibe. I saw an ad once that just said, “Rad Dyke Plumber” - a lesbian plumber. Now, it’s not like she’s dealing with different piping issues in any technical sense - but she is dealing with a different subculture with its own sense of esthetic.
If the problem is widely held - pick a particular community to serve. For example, if you’re tennis player and a massage therapist, you might consider becoming a massage therapist that caters to tennis players. A good niche shares a certain lifestyle.
Maybe they’re clubbers, maybe they’re weekend warriors who love to go camping each weekend, Maybe they’re all theatre buffs. Maybe they love to read comic books and play Dungeons and Dragons. They’re dog owners. They’re parents. They’re grandparents.
3. established, high quality hubs, communication networks etc.
Basically, this means that you can find them and reach them easily.
What is a hub? Think of it like the hub of a wheel. It’s the only point on the wheel where all of the spokes come together and meet. A hub is any place where you can find your niche. It might be an association they belong to, an event they tend to go to.
I can’t tell you how many times I hear people get excited about a niche they have little hope of reaching. Before you commit a dime to any niche ask yourself: Do they tend to hang out in the same places? Do they read the same magazines? Do they spend money in the same places? Are they a part of the same groups?
There are seven main categories of hubs (e.g. events, businesses, groups, publications, individuals, support systems, and websearch related). The more hubs that your niche has, the easier they will be to reach. The fewer hubs there are, the harder it will be.
Why do you want to find hubs?
Why do they matter so much?
Well, consider this - you can spend all of your time trying to find your clients individually, or you can just go to where they already are. You can spend all of your days trying to win the trust of the individuals in your niche one at a time . . . or you can secure the endorsement of someone they already trust and win over all of their trust at once.
The latter is far easier in the long term. When I go to a new town I could spend hundreds of dollars postering the city about my workshops, or I could just call up the local progressive, local business network and get their endorsement. Much easier.
4. there’s enough of them to meet your needs. While most people don’t niche narrowly enough, you can make your niche too narrow. If there’s only three people in town who fit your description you may need to broaden your reach. You need to be really honest with yourself here. And challenge yourself: if you think there’s enough people - what are you basing that on? Hope? Or have you actually done some research?
5. they’re fun to work with and in alignment with your nature (these are likely the kinds of clients you most easily and naturally attract and the ones to whom you feel the most attracted - it’s a niche or community that you want to see thrive).
Who would really excite you to work with? Is there a particular niche or community of folks that you just naturally seem to love working?
I’ll tell you something I’ve noticed: there is a deep connection between your ideal niche and your nature as a person. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people in my workshops say, “well, basically, my niche is people just like me!” And that’s not a crazy response. It makes sense.
6. they are underserved: the niche is often based on what your competitors aren’t doing.
If they have a need but are being ignored by your competition, that can be a goldmine. If they’re already being courted for their business by dozens of other businesses then that niche is less than ideal **unless** you are able to offer something so unique and so clearly more valuable that it will blow the competition out of the water.
If you’re able to do that then you’re in a good place.
If they are overserved - if they are inundated with options then you need to do one of three things: be the only option that focuses just on that niche exclusively (e.g. the only massage therapist in town who works only with mothers).
If there’s already a lot of other businesses focusing exclusively on that niche then you might consider picking a sub-niche - focusing on one particular sub-group of people in that niche (e.g. be the only massage practitioner in town that works exclusively with new mothers). Or third - you will also need to distinguish yourself in some other way.
You can differentiate yourself by: what you do, how you do it. how much you charge, who you offer it to, when you offer it and where you offer it.
7. they can afford to pay you full price for your products and services. It’s important that they are able to pay you an amount that feels good and meets your needs. That may be a small amount or a large amount. That’s up to you - but if it’s less than you really want and need you will begin to resent them.
It will drain your energy. And you won’t have enough money to sustain yourself. It will start out as a gesture of goodwill, but will end in bitterness.
8. they are in alignment with your long-term business goals - if you know where your business is headed long term, it’s just smart to pick clients that will fit with that (e.g. if you do eco-lawn care and want to work with “Golf Courses” eventually, but now need to do residential, it might be wise to focus on people who golf for now so that you can bridge into that later).
Says Dominic Canterbury: “Let me give you an example: In my recent weekend seminar one of the attendees was an in-home physical trainer.
His target: affluent middle-aged Eastside women. He was flummoxed. He'd tried all the traditional forms of marketing but nothing was working.
So wielding my magic wand of marketing I says to him, "How about targeting affluent new moms. That way you can develop a set of services to meet their specific needs and you can cross promote with OBGYNs, Dulas and baby stores, and you can get them to pay attention to you by holding informative events or writing an article for local parenting magazines. You might even consider a blog."
He loved the idea and immediately started coming up with excellent ideas on his own.
So, what makes this a good target and what makes the other suck? I'll tell ya.
The new target market passes my patented tripartite Target Market Test:
1. They have shared needs you can meet through your business
2. They have hubs of communication
3. There's enough of them to make it worth your time
The original target passed only #3, and I'm sorry folks, but you have to score high on all of them for it to work.”
* * *
In Part 5: we'll look at 9 ways that you might go about
identifying your niche (some of which are really obvious but
most people never consider them).
In Part 6: We'll look at how to describe your niche in a single
compelling sentence.
In Part 7: You'll get a tonne of real life examples of niches.
I hope you're well.
Warmest,
Tad
p.s. I'm leading a weekend workshop in Calgary, Alberta March 2-4. Feel free to tell anyone you know - there's only 7 spaces available. Just send them to: www.tadhargrave.com/RBI
* * *
radical business: marketing consulting for hippies
a blog for green business, eco-business, ethical business, conscious business, sustainable business, and community-minded entrepreneurs who are struggling with their cashflow, not attracting enough clients and have mixed feelings about marketing - www.tadhargrave.com
I just got back from Eugene, Oregon where we had a wonderful weekend workshop with some really fantastic folks.
March 2-4 will see me in Calgary - the event is three weeks away and there's only 7 spots left.
You can sign up by going to www.tadhargrave.com/RBI (or spread the word by sending your friends there).
I'm really excited about this issue of "Your Niche".
This was actually the topic I wanted to send out first.
I think you'll find it really, really, really useful and clarifying. Enjoy.
Warmest,
Tad
* * *
How to pick your perfect niche:
So, we know that having a clear niche or target market is essential, but, how do you know if you’ve got a good niche?
It’s one of the biggest fears people have - “what if I pick the wrong niche?”
And the fear is justifiable. After all, if you pick the wrong niche and spend a lot of time, money and energy in trying to reach it . . . and it doesn’t work out. Well, you’d probably rather not go through that.
The truth is, you could pick a perfect niche and still fail. A strong niche isn’t a guarantee of success, it just makes it a lot more likely is all.
So, what constitutes a good niche?
Luckily for you, it’s extremely easy to tell whether your niche is a good choice or not. There’s eight specific pieces of criteria you can use to judge any niche by.
And let me make a few predictions.
First: I predict these will all make a ton of sense to you.
Second: I predict you will agree with and really like these criteria.
Third: I predict that these criteria will give you some ‘aha’ moments of why past marketing efforts of yours have failed.
THE EIGHT QUALITIES OF YOUR PERFECT NICHE
1. they are experiencing a common set of easily identifiable needs you can fulfill or problems that you can help them with (and they are, at least, open to the notion that these problems can be solved and ideally they are passionately committed to solving it now - it’s a ‘must’ for them, not a ‘should’ that they’ll get to someday).
If they don’t have a common problem - it’s not a target market. And if you can’t help them with the problem - there’s simply no basis for any conversation. The problem or need is the basis of all your marketing. Most people make the mistake of thinking that people are buying their products or services - but that’s not true.
People couldn’t care less about your products or services (owch. the truth smarts) they just want a solution to their problems, they want relief from pain, they want to meet a need of theirs. Your products and services are merely a means to an ends.
So many entrepreneurs I know can talk for hours about the features and benefits of their products but if I say, “why do people need this? What are they buying it for?” they totally blank. They don’t know how to answer it. The ‘problem’ is not only the basis of your marketing message - it’s the white hot center of your niche.
2. common lifestyle: desires, passions, values, interests, hobbies, a common bond that you can cater to.
Some problems are so specific that only a narrow niche of people will suffer from them (e.g. a particular problem with a highly specialized computer application).
But some problems (e.g. back pain) are really generic. So, some problems have a sort of implied niche to them. Others don’t. If the problems that you solve are widely held - then you should likely consider selecting a particular community to work with and develop packages for.
A couple examples: a massage therapist who works with the BDSM community in Seattle. Sure, lots of people need massage - but when she caters her business to this community - she can cater to their particular needs, values and vibe. I saw an ad once that just said, “Rad Dyke Plumber” - a lesbian plumber. Now, it’s not like she’s dealing with different piping issues in any technical sense - but she is dealing with a different subculture with its own sense of esthetic.
If the problem is widely held - pick a particular community to serve. For example, if you’re tennis player and a massage therapist, you might consider becoming a massage therapist that caters to tennis players. A good niche shares a certain lifestyle.
Maybe they’re clubbers, maybe they’re weekend warriors who love to go camping each weekend, Maybe they’re all theatre buffs. Maybe they love to read comic books and play Dungeons and Dragons. They’re dog owners. They’re parents. They’re grandparents.
3. established, high quality hubs, communication networks etc.
Basically, this means that you can find them and reach them easily.
What is a hub? Think of it like the hub of a wheel. It’s the only point on the wheel where all of the spokes come together and meet. A hub is any place where you can find your niche. It might be an association they belong to, an event they tend to go to.
I can’t tell you how many times I hear people get excited about a niche they have little hope of reaching. Before you commit a dime to any niche ask yourself: Do they tend to hang out in the same places? Do they read the same magazines? Do they spend money in the same places? Are they a part of the same groups?
There are seven main categories of hubs (e.g. events, businesses, groups, publications, individuals, support systems, and websearch related). The more hubs that your niche has, the easier they will be to reach. The fewer hubs there are, the harder it will be.
Why do you want to find hubs?
Why do they matter so much?
Well, consider this - you can spend all of your time trying to find your clients individually, or you can just go to where they already are. You can spend all of your days trying to win the trust of the individuals in your niche one at a time . . . or you can secure the endorsement of someone they already trust and win over all of their trust at once.
The latter is far easier in the long term. When I go to a new town I could spend hundreds of dollars postering the city about my workshops, or I could just call up the local progressive, local business network and get their endorsement. Much easier.
4. there’s enough of them to meet your needs. While most people don’t niche narrowly enough, you can make your niche too narrow. If there’s only three people in town who fit your description you may need to broaden your reach. You need to be really honest with yourself here. And challenge yourself: if you think there’s enough people - what are you basing that on? Hope? Or have you actually done some research?
5. they’re fun to work with and in alignment with your nature (these are likely the kinds of clients you most easily and naturally attract and the ones to whom you feel the most attracted - it’s a niche or community that you want to see thrive).
Who would really excite you to work with? Is there a particular niche or community of folks that you just naturally seem to love working?
I’ll tell you something I’ve noticed: there is a deep connection between your ideal niche and your nature as a person. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people in my workshops say, “well, basically, my niche is people just like me!” And that’s not a crazy response. It makes sense.
6. they are underserved: the niche is often based on what your competitors aren’t doing.
If they have a need but are being ignored by your competition, that can be a goldmine. If they’re already being courted for their business by dozens of other businesses then that niche is less than ideal **unless** you are able to offer something so unique and so clearly more valuable that it will blow the competition out of the water.
If you’re able to do that then you’re in a good place.
If they are overserved - if they are inundated with options then you need to do one of three things: be the only option that focuses just on that niche exclusively (e.g. the only massage therapist in town who works only with mothers).
If there’s already a lot of other businesses focusing exclusively on that niche then you might consider picking a sub-niche - focusing on one particular sub-group of people in that niche (e.g. be the only massage practitioner in town that works exclusively with new mothers). Or third - you will also need to distinguish yourself in some other way.
You can differentiate yourself by: what you do, how you do it. how much you charge, who you offer it to, when you offer it and where you offer it.
7. they can afford to pay you full price for your products and services. It’s important that they are able to pay you an amount that feels good and meets your needs. That may be a small amount or a large amount. That’s up to you - but if it’s less than you really want and need you will begin to resent them.
It will drain your energy. And you won’t have enough money to sustain yourself. It will start out as a gesture of goodwill, but will end in bitterness.
8. they are in alignment with your long-term business goals - if you know where your business is headed long term, it’s just smart to pick clients that will fit with that (e.g. if you do eco-lawn care and want to work with “Golf Courses” eventually, but now need to do residential, it might be wise to focus on people who golf for now so that you can bridge into that later).
Says Dominic Canterbury: “Let me give you an example: In my recent weekend seminar one of the attendees was an in-home physical trainer.
His target: affluent middle-aged Eastside women. He was flummoxed. He'd tried all the traditional forms of marketing but nothing was working.
So wielding my magic wand of marketing I says to him, "How about targeting affluent new moms. That way you can develop a set of services to meet their specific needs and you can cross promote with OBGYNs, Dulas and baby stores, and you can get them to pay attention to you by holding informative events or writing an article for local parenting magazines. You might even consider a blog."
He loved the idea and immediately started coming up with excellent ideas on his own.
So, what makes this a good target and what makes the other suck? I'll tell ya.
The new target market passes my patented tripartite Target Market Test:
1. They have shared needs you can meet through your business
2. They have hubs of communication
3. There's enough of them to make it worth your time
The original target passed only #3, and I'm sorry folks, but you have to score high on all of them for it to work.”
* * *
In Part 5: we'll look at 9 ways that you might go about
identifying your niche (some of which are really obvious but
most people never consider them).
In Part 6: We'll look at how to describe your niche in a single
compelling sentence.
In Part 7: You'll get a tonne of real life examples of niches.
I hope you're well.
Warmest,
Tad
p.s. I'm leading a weekend workshop in Calgary, Alberta March 2-4. Feel free to tell anyone you know - there's only 7 spaces available. Just send them to: www.tadhargrave.com/RBI
* * *
radical business: marketing consulting for hippies
a blog for green business, eco-business, ethical business, conscious business, sustainable business, and community-minded entrepreneurs who are struggling with their cashflow, not attracting enough clients and have mixed feelings about marketing - www.tadhargrave.com
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