"Niching Doesn't Work"

Thanks Suzanne! More room on the non-Niching Bus!

You typically hear in many marketing circles that the first thing you need to do is identify your niche. This terminology of a ‘niche’ doesn’t work for me because it feels very much like, “Find a group of people to sell to.” I’ve found that a better way to identify these people is to ask, “Who needs me most?” We all have a gift to share, so ask yourself “Who needs me and my gift the most?”

This concept is part of what I call ‘authentic marketing’ because it’s got to come from your heart. It’s got to be client-based and heart-centered for it to really work.

When you look at who needs you most and you can recognize what your ideal client is, it’s very important for you to be aware that you shouldn’t work with everyone.

I was once at a networking group and someone asked this gentleman, “So who’s an ideal client for you?” and he answered, “Anyone breathing.” That’s so not the case. If you agree with the fact that you have a unique gift and if you try to use that gift to serve everyone, you’ll quickly see that it’s just not possible. It’s simply not possible.

First of all, you can’t do your job well when you try to spread yourself that thin. You just can’t do everything, you can’t please everybody and you don’t have the skill set and the energy to try to spread yourself that thin.

The second part is that if you can focus on what your real gift is, combined with the people that your gift can be served by, that makes you really powerful.

It’s important to understand these prospects, these people who need you most, and to develop yourself as a perceived expert. Being an expert in your field is something that you really want to work towards not because you want to know it all, but because it is a way that you can make your clients feel comfortable and confident with you.

I have asked clients this question before – “If you need brain surgery and you’re given the choice of two doctors, and one doctor does brain surgery only and he’s really great at it, and the other doctor does hip replacements, knee replacements, and some brain surgery, who are you going to pick?” It is so obvious.

When I ask that question, it’s always obvious to the person I’m asking, but we don’t do that with ourselves and within our own businesses. We tend to ignore the fact that if we were looking for anything else for ourselves – from plumbers to brain surgeons to a designer – we would look for the best of the best that is specific to the area that we’re working in.

We need to really relate that to ourselves, strive to be the best of the best and develop the skillsets and connections necessary to be considered an expert in our area. Then focus on, “Who needs me most?” which will be a more useful guide in developing our businesses than stressing over finding our ‘niche.’

When you spend time delving into these areas as they apply to your business, you too will move past any fears about marketing in ways that feel uncomfortable for you, and into authentic marketing that naturally attracts your ideal clients and builds your business.

In success,

Suzanne Evans
Helping Profession Expert

Tel: (917) 385-1385
Email: Suzanne@HelpMorePeople.com
Web: www.HelpMorePeople.com
Blog: www.SuzanneEvansCoaching.com

P.O. Box 1073
Maplewood, NJ
07040
US

Affiliate Slime Upgraded to the Zombie Zone

I highly recommend this article. Nathan captures another perspective on launches gone insane.

Want some tips on how to do it differently? Click Here.

Heidi Sue

Feed Your Head--With New Ideas

I frequently experience tech-envy. Like right now I really miss having a SmartPhone. I was an early adopter years ago when they first arrived. These days, as much as I'd love to have one and believe it would be crazy convenient, my existing phone works just fine. And I've gotten annoyed about eWaste, so I'm sticking with the boring, basic one I got a few years ago before ramping up my Biz Chick self again.

Today, however, is my first experience with CHAIR envy! That's an entirely new experience. (Guess I missed the ruckus over these units last year. Oh well.) You see, I know first hand that keeping your perspective and thoughts fresh is one of the most important things you can do to build your success as an Entrepreneur. Even if you are doing a business that isn't specifically unique to you, you want to have a unique perspective and message regarding that familiar business.

One of the most common mistakes I see when meeting and working with entrepreneurs who have had a business a while is they've lost the ability to see and consider through fresh eyes. This is a deadly flaw for any business. While I advocate choosing a business you're passionate about and is connected to your values, the real point of what you do is your customers. Whatever form that takes. And when an Entrepreneur stops attempting to see through the customers eyes or flat out asking them for their opinion, the result is a cancerous business. You may find that it's a slow-growing form or a fast-growing disease, and the end result is the same.

That's why reading, studying, listening to training that moves you is so important. Fortunately, my partner David is also an avid reader. So I would probably have to fight him to sit in this chair. Heck, we probably need two. Take the best of sitting to read AND storing your books, magazines, and other items in a handy way...and you've got down right brilliance.

Whether you get one of these chairs--please invite me to see it in person in you do--or simply visit the public library, make a plan today for time and focus for feeding your head, your reality with new ideas.

Wishing you Success & Heart,

Heidi Sue

Heidi Sue

What Does Success in Reverse Look Like?

Have you paid much attention to some of the colorful details of how Richard Branson made his way to success? While I don’t endorse specifically breaking the law, Mr. Branson clearly understands the value of doing things in the unexpected, unendorsed way.

Early on he signed music groups that were controversial and others were unwilling to take risk on. From odd music (have you checked out Baa, Baa, Black Sheep) to obscure musical styles, Branson stepped into places that others were not willing to explore. In fact, professional music probably would’ve told him NOT to take these risks and go to these places to succeed.

And you can see how well it has worked for Branson and Virgin brand, right?

So what places, people, and directions that you are seriously interested in that people consistently tell you won’t work, is the wrong direction, or a bad idea?

Here are a couple of quick tips to figure out if this is true, or not…

· Search the Internet for competitors: if you find none or a lot, those who think it’s a bad idea just might be right. If you find only a few, you could very well be on to something.

· Imagine who might want to buy this “bad idea”—and then go talk to at least 30 people who have the need , problem or pain that this bad idea could solve. Find out if the customers you imagine are actually out there any where.

· Answer this question: “What is the gap, lack or need that will never be filled if I don’t go after my ‘bad idea’?” Then hit the Internet again and see what else is out there and how much different is your idea? When your idea is very different from what you can find, the success potential is huge AND it’s going to be a lot of work to get there. If your idea is some easier, you’re looking at less work to get it in the market and more work to sell enough versions to make a good amount of money.

Once you done all—yes all!—of this investigations you’ll have a baseline sense of where you’re at and if you want to pursue this specific idea. Or put your creativity back on and come up with more ideas.

Here’s to the rule breakers! Tradition has value and so does operating outside the box.

Wishing you Success & Heart,
Heidi Sue

Go in Reverse to Succeed--Start a Business During the Recession

Starting your business in a recession may seem counter-intuitive. In some ways you’d be right. In others, however, you’d be completely wrong.

One of the things I enjoy doing is seeing when different companies were started as reported on the Wikipedia listings. A quick scan of the years from the Great Depression will show you how many turned into Big Dogs that we all know. I realize your dream may not be founding the next megalithic international conglomeration, and I can relate. That’s not my thing either. What this does highlight, however is that even the worst of times can be a good time to start your business.

One of the reasons this is true is most of your competition is pulling in, doing less, getting smaller. When you find creative, inexpensive ways to promote your business, you can actually acquire customers for less money that during a growth cycle. Statically, the clients who come to you during a down market are very loyal.

In fact, the Challenger, Gray & Christmas report indicated that over 8% of people who were looking for jobs during the 2^nd quarter of 2009 employed themselves: they started a business. Owning your own business has the potential to be like beginning to the famous story: it can be the best of time, it can be the worst of times. And many people, myself included for over 20 years, prefer to make our own version work that rely on others to maintain employment status.

So why do you hear so much about how many businesses fail and how hard it is to start you own business?

This question gets right to the heart of the matter for me. Typical business experts and advisers are steeped in the perspective of the wisdom of Large Business. From structure and organization to priorities and timelines, most of the advice you can get is driven from the definition that being like and getting to Fortune 500 is success.

Imagine if Warren Buffet had simply followed the standard advice about investing and managing money? He has completely revolutionized this reality for those willing to listen.

One of your challenges as a Bootstrap Entrepreneur in this market is NOT thinking and doing like the established methods. Even Einstein told us that the thinking that creates a problem isn’t going to solve it. One of the easiest ways to make this work for you is to go in the opposite direction from all the advice. Most people are going that direction...consider going in reverse.

If you’re considering starting your own business, or you know it’s something you really want to do but aren’t sure how to proceed, take a survey of the standard advice out there. And there’s a ton of it you can get for free!

Once you’ve gotten grounded in the typical stuff, you can be looking for ways that match your heart and dream that allow you to do it in a different way.

Wishing you Success & Heart,

Heidi Sue

Values: The Trust Antidote

This week I've shared ideas on how to change the selling process. I've suggested things like: "Stop doing it", "Don't close" and other things most people are tired of experiencing as part of the process to get what we want or need.

I realized that all of this continues to tie into the idea of value. What does it really mean to each person?

I ran into this head-on this week. Couple weeks ago I had my brakes repaired. As sometimes happens with an older car (7 years old) fixing one thing reveals another problem. While I wasn't thrilled to learn that my Baja needed more work despite being pretty low mileage, they gave me a quote and I decided to bring the car back after a few days so I could coordinate a carpool solution.

My car went to PepBoys on Sunday night. Monday morning I discovered I had a call authorizing the work. This didn't make sense to me since we'd already had this discussion.

Well, I had just started a trust roller-coaster. They came back and told me the price about almost $250 more than originally quoted. When I balked at the increase, the oddest things came up for the difference. And one thing in particular turned out to be completely unacceptable.

I COULD save $60 off the new, higher quote if I didn't want to pay extra for the warranty. Okay, what did that mean? I had to BUY peace of mind for the parts and workmanship for 12 months. I only got 90 days for free.

Excuse me? You're going to have my car for a day, take about $700 of my money, maybe more, AND after 90 days I'm SOL?

Well, you can probably guess what I said. I told them to put the wheel back on and I'd find someone else who would at least stand behind their work for a year.

This is a problem that is true for our culture right now at every level. Even at the most affluent levels of society, trust is pretty much shot. Time Magazine reports on the study that being wealthy and elite doesn't improve trust (click to read the article).

That's just one of the reasons it's time to stop selling. Stop traditional marketing behavior and a bundle of other things. The most important thing you can do is to do business from your values, your heart and your soul. Demonstrate that you are someone people can trust.

Until trust is part of the equation and potential clients agree they have a need that includes willingness to act, there's nothing to be done.

Value and Trust--the ultimate success combination and the Antidote for market exhaustion.

Wishing you Success & Heart,

Heidi Sue

Another Sales Secret: Don't Talk Price!

One of the most common mistakes you can make when having a conversation with a potential client, or even an existing customer (remember…not more sales, no more closing!) is to talk price. I see people do this all the time. This is one of the easiest rabbit trails someone can take you down where you are likely to get lost.

Regardless of the temperature of the economy, most people bring up the question of price way too early in the conversation. If your potential client brings it up, be sure this is a pre-signal that they want to end the conversation. You’re being prepped for a good excuse and brush off. When you bring up price before you’re clear about customer need and desire for a solution, you’re running your own pattern (one of a couple) that will make sure the conversation doesn’t succeed.

Please understand, in today’s world for many people right now money really is an issue. When you’re looking for work after months, can’t afford to fix your car so you can get to work, or choosing between food and insulin…money is a real concern and not just an excuse. And in my experience this past year, people who truly want help and find themselves in this problem are usually upfront about their struggles in 1:1 conversations. So when it comes up for other reasons, note that reality and choose to respond in a different way.

What is that different way? Change directions. Don’t engage in this conversation unless both of you are clear about what this person needs, you have something that’s a match and that they this potential customer has a meaningful level of commitment ot make a change. Without these factors, price really doesn’t matter. So change directions from price and ask a question about the previous factors.

“What else do you need to know?”

“How would you describe success?”

Of course, you can also make up your own questions that relate to your service or product. Unless a client or potential client is clear about a need and motivation, there’s no point talking about price.

So let it go. Most of the time when price comes up, it’s out of sync with a positive conversation that builds relationship and success. Spend more time on other topics. The time and way to ever talk about price is when both of you are crystal-clear that moving forward is the best answer. Until that moment, the price conversation is pre-mature. So don't talk price--not until after all the other questions are answered.

Wishing you Success & Heart,

Heidi Sue Roth