Effortless Networking

People are often encouraged to define their target market and/or niche when they start their own business.

And it certainly does help to have a clearly defined niche, when it comes to business networking and marketing — because then you know whom you’re talking with and, more importantly, what to say to them and how to say it.

However, here’s an interesting perspective. If you haven’t defined your niche yet, or even if you have, this article will give you food for thought.

Where in the Wheel Are You?
by Kim Castle, BrandU®

In the midst of the ongoing confusion between branding and marketing there is the elusive idea of finding a niche. This concept is held up like it’s the holy grail. As in, “If only I could find my niche, I’d have all the business I could want.”

From a brand perspective, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, if you niche too soon, it will hurt your business — eventually.

Before your marketing mind starts to smoke, allow me to explain.

First, with an at-a-glance meaning of branding and marketing:

Branding is the process of creating precise and pin-pointed communication of your business (product or service), the value for which it stands, and the feeling customers consistently get from it.

Marketing is the act of taking a specific product offering out to as many people as possible in a way that elicits their attention and makes them eager to buy.

Both are vital to the building of a successful business.

In order to do both effectively you have to be extremely clear about the specific place (or person) you are aiming towards and the very foundation from which you are operating. It’s also critical to focus on the right one at the right time.

Developing your niche falls under marketing because it allows you to define who you are marketing to. And when you know who are you are marketing to it’s easy to determine where your marketing energy and dollars should be spent. The strategy of defining a niche is a very important component of marketing.

But… what are you marketing?

Here are four reasons why choosing a niche before you define your brand could hurt your business — eventually.

1. Putting the Cart Before the Horse. Armed with an idea of business, entrepreneurs often rush to make that idea solid by defining a specific person to sell it to; it’s general “idea” being sold to a specific target. How can you define “who” you are selling to before you define “what” you are selling in specifics? Defining “who” before the “what”, will cause you to have to do a lot of explaining and convincing.

   From a brand perspective: It is far more powerful to make your idea solid first and then find the right people to sell it to.

2. Looking for Unique in all the Wrong Places. In an effort to differentiate themselves from their competition, entrepreneurs often look to a niche to establish their uniqueness before instead of giving themselves the op*portunity to define it from themselves — from within the business. They put the power of their business “out there”. By far, the question that I am asked most is, “How do I find my business uniqueness?” My answer, “You don’t. You establish it. It’s not in your niche, it’s in your business.”

   From a brand perspective: It is far more powerful to define your uniqueness of the business from within the business and then draw those specific people to it.

3. The Target Keeps Moving. Excited by the possibility to sell somebody a product born from their business idea, entrepreneurs often look to make their possibility more tangible by fixing the definition of their business in a niche, as if that niche would give them clarity. Unfortunately, while it may give you momentary clarity, that target can move at anytime causing you to re-think your business at the whim of a moving niche. Trying to gain stability of your business by a niche is like building a skyscraper on sand.

   From a brand perspective: It is far more powerful to establish your stability within the business, that way you are always in power.

4. No Room to Grow. Establishing a successful system of business is challenging enough to do once. Often entrepreneurs that do accomplish success in a niche, before defining the full vision of their business first, find themselves, in just a few years, out growing the very box that they put themselves in. This critical point in a business often comes with pain, uncertainty and collapse; even if the business has experienced success on a small scale to that point.

   From a brand perspective: It is far more powerful to establish the full vision of what your business is first, that way you will always have room to grow.

Another way to understand this is to think of a spoke wheel.

The many points on the outer ring of the wheel are the niches but there is only one point that they ALL connect from — that point is the center. That’s the true strength of the wheel. Without that center point, all the outer points are meaningless and have no connection.

The question is: In your business, where in the wheel are you?

When you realize that looking for your niche puts the power of your business outside your business and takes you away from the success that you know is possible, you come to understand that success in your business can only come from the center of it. The best way to find… is to define your brand.

© Castle Montone, Limited

Author and Brand Visioneer, Kim Castle teaches entrepreneurs and small business owners how to tap into the full power of their business— the power behind their brand. If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank™ go to www.whybrandu.com