Now that we know why niche marketing works, it's time to look at why it can also fail so you can be wary of the traps and avoid making expensive...
Now that we know why niche marketing works, it's time to look at why it can also fail so you can be wary of the traps and avoid making expensive mistakes.
These are the main reasons why you can fail as a niche marketer:
- Marketing a product - not a niche. One of the tricks with niche marketing is to find the "market" first, then find or create an offering that serves the market. You're not starting with a product and then trying to find people interested in buying it.
- Choosing too large or too small a niche. If you don't specialize enough, you'll find you can't meet the needs of your prospective customers and they'll look elsewhere. Too small a segment means although you may build clientele and make money, it won't be a big enough slice of the pie to generate serious income.
- Lack of market research - not identifying what your market is looking for, where they're looking and how to talk to them. Without accurate information you're just taking a stab in the dark and you could be lucky, but mostly it'd be wasting your precious time (and money later).
- Not using the information you've researched properly. It's not what you've got - it's how you use it. Make the most of your hard work in researching your target market by speaking their language and marketing to them effectively. Otherwise you'll lose your money as well as research time.
- Lack of niche know-how and/or technical expertise. No one expects you to know everything there is to know. If you've got the niche expertise, but not the technical know-how (or vice versa) find someone who does. You can even partner up with someone who has complementing skills.
- Not providing value - if you don't offer valuable content and a solid reason for prospects to buy from you and customers to keep coming back - then they won't!
- Lack of willingness and the commitment to make it work. Niche marketing does require some time investment, analysis and work on your part - it's not a get rich quick scheme (although it does help to strike it lucky!)
- On that note - thinking short-term, rather than seeing the long-term "big picture". While there may be trends within micro niches, you don't want to pick a niche that's just a trend if you want long-term gains. You're building a lasting business that you want to generate income for you in many years to come. Keep the mindset that you're investing in your own business (both money and time) for financial independence - permanently!
