Clients and students often ask me if it isn’t better to be a stress manager generalist and widen the market rather than be a niche specialist and shrink the market. There’s something to be said for both approaches. The generalist stress manager could scoop up anyone for stress management (and who wants to miss out on a potential client!). However the marketing strategies for this approach are incredibly wide and in this economic climate, you need to focus your marketing budget. The niche stress manager targets their market very specifically and consequently has more chance of takers. TOP TIP: People tend to prefer specialists as opposed to generalists when seeking a service professional.
Some example of domestic niche markets for stress managers:
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Then you have the niches of stress-related conditions and conditions which are exacerbated by stress:
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Other niches include stress-management techniques such as:
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Examples of corporate niche markets for stress managers:
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NOW WHAT?
1 – Find a niche passion
To improve your chances of being successful, you need to devote time and effort to creating your marketing plan and it helps to enjoy what you’re doing. What floats your boat?
2 – Develop your niche knowledge
Consider what you know most about or identify an area you are prepared to do extra training in. What do you want to know more about?
3 – Define your niche market
Do the necessary research to see if there is enough demand for your niche. If you choose a field that is too broad, it is difficult to stand out from the competition. Unless you are a well-known business, you won’t stand out from the crowd either. Your niche market needs to be large enough so you have enough people to market to, but not so large that it includes too many people and ends up lacking focus. Who is your ideal punter? Are there enough of those types of punters to sell to?
4 – Assess your niche
Assess your potential market to determine if there is a need for your service. Talk to the people in your targeted community. Does your target market want what you have to offer?
5 – Create Your Unique Selling Points
Study your competition to find out what they emphasize about their niche which makes them stand out from the crowd. Then decide on something that will make your business unique from them. What makes your service better than anyone else’s?
A benefit of having a niche market is that it is much easier to get known in your field when you are seen as an expert, potential clients are more easily able to decide whether your services will meet their needs and desires or not.
You can have more than one niche just as long as you make them different enough, so they don’t steal each other’s thunder.
Good luck!
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