In my work with women, a frequent question is, “How important is it for me to finely niche my marketing message?” My answer is always, “Extremely important.” The reason is 3-fold:
- You save more time because you know exactly who you're looking for.
- You save more money because you spend your marketing budget wisely.
- When you provide a great service, you'll get highly qualified referrals from your satisfied clients to people they know who have the same problem.
Here's a quick case study to illustrate how effective this is:
In our community, little league baseball is quite popular. From February through June, parents spend 6-10 hours a week taking their kids to and from practice as well as attending games. It's a huge commitment and one many parents take seriously.
Enter Yoga Johnny.
Yoga Johnny is a pitching coach. He works with children who have a desire to be a pitcher in little league baseball. Yoga Johnny is a very smart guy. Baseball is played in every area of Los Angeles however, Johnny understands that our community is one where parents will do (and pay) just about anything to help their kids stand on the mound and pitch.
Johnny knows exactly who his ideal client is. It's not children who want to be pitchers. It's parents whose children want to be pitchers and are willing to pay for this level of coaching. He simply hangs out at the park where all the games and practices are located. When I think about Johnny's marketing model, it's really quite brilliant:
1. He's saving time because he knows exactly where his ideal client hangs out.
2. He's saving money because he only markets to his ideal client. He doesn't need to spend time running all over Los Angeles looking for his ideal client. They are all nestled together right here in one community.
3. He continues to get a steady stream of new clients because everyone talks about the results their child gets when they work with Yoga Johnny.
Johnny also uses another effective marketing tool: Package pricing. You cannot hire Johnny one time. He requires that you commit your child to months of his training in order to see the desired results. He has a proven system that he uses and he doesn't deviate from it. He knows what works for him and the clients he serves.
I invite you to take a few minutes and answer these 3 questions:
1. Have I identified who my ideal client is? Can I describe her/him to someone? What problem do I solve for this person?
2. Am I spending marketing time and dollars wisely in places where my client will notice me?
3. Am I asking for rave reviews from my satisfied clients? Am I asking if they know others who might benefit from working with me?
Smart Women Entrepreneurs can learn a lot from a guy like Yoga Johnny.
Anything is possible. Everything is waiting for you.
*****
© 2011 Joy Chudacoff
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