Confused about picking a niche?

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To niche or not to  niche, that is the question. Depending on who you follow, you will hear that you absolutely must choose a niche, or you positively do not have to, no way, no how. No wonder this is one of the most common questions I hear from small business owners. Whether you pronounce it nitch (American) or neesh (this is how most Canadians say it) it’s one heck of a confusing topic!

I like to keep my advice simple. So here it is. No matter what you call it, picking a niche, or not, does not have to be the compelling all-consuming decision you might think it is.

A niche is just another way of defining who is in your primary customer base for a specific product or service you offer. Your market is that identifiable, visible and locatable group of ideal clients – and the group is made up of real, living and breathing people. The trouble with most marketing textbook language is that it sounds so much like warfare – with words like target, market penetration, critical mass, tactics, and so on, that it’s easy to forget that your business depends on one individual making a highly personal decision to spend money on your product or service.   

So picking a niche just means defining the characteristics of that ideal customer, in a way that you can collectively reach more of them.

To answer the question, do you need pick one, the answer is, yes. The reason you need to start with one is that you have to be able to find and reach potential customers. To do this in any organized, clear and efficient fashion you need to know who they are, what problem they’re trying to solve, and where they hang out.

 Obviously, the clearer you are, the easier it will be to find them, and to get your message out to them. The better match your message is to their needs, the more likely you are to attract them as clients. And since you have limited time, money, and ability to provide these services or products, you want to have your marketing efforts as focused as possible.

Here’s where the confusing part comes in. You might resist choosing a niche. You might hear the term multi-preneur and see yourself fitting into this group. A multi-preneur is simply a label for a business owner who has more than one type of business. These are business owners with multiple passions and service offerings. They have more than one niche. You might even hear them say they refuse to stick to a single niche.

So if you’re wondering if you have to pick just one, the answer is no. You don’t have to pick just one, but your marketing has to be focused ON each one.

Here’s a real life example. I know a business owner who is a reflexologist, massage therapist, and marriage commissioner. She ‘s also a nurse. She has multiple interests and services that she provides, so she fits the definition of a multi-preneur.

However, she doesn’t market all of these services at the same time to one niche. She has separate marketing materials for each service, and they are each focused on a specific niche of customers. It wouldn’t make any sense to someone reading it if she had one website or brochure that tried to speak in a compelling way to seniors needing specialized health services and alternative therapies like foot detox, working women who want massages and pedicures as break from their routine, and brides-to-be  planning their beautiful wedding ceremonies.

So if you find the thought of having to pick just one niche for your business confining, just remember, it’s not the number of niches you have that counts, it’s how well you connect with each one of them.