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THIS WEEK
Crawling Into a Niche - Why a Small Piece of Pie is Better than No Pie At All
ALSO IN THIS EDITION
Crawling Into a Niche – Why a Small Piece of Pie is Better than No Pie At All
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Many businesses struggle. They are always on the lookout for the next "big idea" or new invention. They believe that unless they can come up with something new and previously unseen, then they will be doomed to a life of "average".
Well I have to tell you that in marketing terms it is a heck of a lot easier to launch a product on a market that already has some understanding of what you are on about, than educate consumers first about the new invention and then get them to buy it. All of this extra work comes at a cost, which is why generally big business launches all the new initiatives and innovations – they have the money to educate the market.
This is great news for small business. It means you don't have to compete at that level. You can keep your precious resources and spend them only on people who already get what you are on about.
The population of the world is so huge that no one service or product can satisfy every person. The world would be very different if everybody was happy driving the same car, wearing the same clothes and eating the same food. People all have different needs, wishes and requirements – so there is always going to be a need for options.
 There will always be people who are looking for something in a different colour, style, with different functionality, with different bonuses and presented in a different way. Your job is to find enough of the people whose needs are not yet being met, and meet their needs. Simple.
Often businesses start with "I have this product/service – how can I make people buy it". The question they really need to be asking is "What need is not yet being met well. How can I help these people meet their needs with the skills and products I have?" By coming from a space of service, then both the market and the person providing the product/service has their needs met.
Before you leap out and launch your product/service, take the time to go back and do some research (or have someone do it for you). Find out how many people per day are looking up your particular service/product on Google. Find out how much competition there is. Find out what particular groups or niches are not yet being served. Some basic market research before you start your business or expand your business will pay massive dividends down the track.
But what if there are already thousands of similar products/services out there? If you are in a bricks and mortar business, you need to highlight to the market what is different, better and more special about your product or service than other similar products on the market. If you are clear enough about your difference, then the people with those particular needs will select your business.
A few tangible examples. There is a specialist real estate agent in New York that just deals with pet friendly properties. One of my favourite coaches only works with "conscious entrepreneurs and hippies". I have seen gay dating coaches and shops catering only to "Goths". These people know that their market isn't everyone. They are very specific and as a result they thrive.
Of course just catering to a niche doesn't necessarily apply on the net. Just this week someone contacted me wanting help because his website appeared on page 189 of Google. We did some basic research and found he had over 10 million competing webpages in Australia alone for the particular service he was offering (and the keywords he was targeting), with only 329 searches per day to go around all of those pages. This was what is termed a "mega niche". Yes, it was a niche service offering, but the competition for that niche was fierce.
My advice to him was ... go smaller. Find a smaller piece of the pie and target that. Plan B was to go bigger and spend some serious money with specialist search engine companies over a number of years. I suspect he will take the more budget friendly option.
Businesses need to find their niche, their angle and their unique take on the world. After all, if you are a water company who wants water more – the person with a water cooler near their desk or the thirsty person. Your job in business is to find the thirsty people. Do your homework and find those people.
| HR Tip of the Week: When to Change Passwords |
Most small businesses are very trusting. Although they have a vague understanding of the risks posed by hackers and viruses, the more common risk is when an employee leaves your business. Disgruntled employees have been known to use their still active passwords to "look around" your business to see what has been happening.
If you have an IT person on your team and they leave, you can pretty much guarantee that when they go they will still have the passwords to your company's computer servers in their pockets.
Even your normal team members will still have passwords to all sorts of things including your business banking, security codes and email accounts.
 Part of every exit procedure needs to include procedures to change passwords of all mission critical pieces of your computer system when people leave. If you don't know how - find out!
While we are on the subject of passwords, given the recent publicity around the release of a stack of stolen passwords from major email accounts make a rule in your business not to use 12345, password, all rude words and body parts, the month or the business name. There are hacking computer systems out there that just go silently through all the common permutations to see if they can break in.
In terms of physical security, if you check the top right hand drawer of pretty much every admin person in a business you will find the passwords written down somewhere. Some even go so far as to stick it on a post it note on their computer or on the wall. Burglars understand this fact.
For maximum security, passwords need to be a combination of letters (both upper and lower case), numbers and ideally symbols such as &*%$#@, and ideally be changed at least monthly.
A little bit of attention to password security will go a long way to reducing risks of cyber crime for your business.
I do a lot of presentations and training sessions for different groups ... hand me a microphone and I am off. But many managers struggle when they have to speak in public. They get butterflies, dry mouth and generally stammer over the words.
Being able to speak confidently in public is a skill that can be learnt just like any other skill, so when a few managers asked me recently where they can learn to hone their speaking skills, I went on the hunt.
For those that need the interaction of groups, then you can't go past Toastmasters and the National Speakers Association. Both have excellent programs and will build your skills.
If you are someone who prefers to watch, practice in private and then refine your skills, there are some great online products out there. One of my favourites is the Step Up and Speak program. It is a practical program packed with lots of useful information.
Whichever way you go, learning the skills to confidently stand up in public and speak will benefit your career (and your social life). Presentation skills are definitely skills worth learning.
If you are in business you need to keep your skills current. I also believe every business owner needs to understand the internet. In this post I share some of the lessons from a few recent courses I have been taking - they have been eye opening!
exuberantly yours
Ingrid
Heart Harmony
PS: This week's Small Business Tips blog included a post about "Ring Ring - Why Don't You Give Me A Call ".
Legal stuff: This newsletter is intended only a general guideline for Australian businesses. You should seek specific advice for your situation rather than relying only on this newsletter
Earnings disclaimer. Some of the content may include advertorial information, which means I may receive financial compensation for the products I recommend. But - unless I know and trust the product, I will not recommend it.
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