Get Clear on Your Niche, Claim Expert Status and Get More Clients

One of the most important things you will ever do in your business is to decide on your niche or specialism. Having this pinned down is vitally important, yet many people try to be far too general in what they offer. When you ask some people what they do they reel off a long list of different services or products. There's an old saying in marketing circles: "A confused mind always says no." One of the best ways to stand out in a crowded market is to be very specific about what you do and who you do it for. As a result you'll attract more of the right clients.

Some clues to help you find your niche:

What type of clients do you enjoy working with most? Often your best client is in your own mirror! You'll generally enjoy working with people who are like you; who have the same challenges, ambitions and enthusiasms as you do. Make a list of all your past and current clients and prioritize them from favorite to least favorite. Notice what patterns emerge.

Remember a niche can be a niche market - that is, the type of people that you serve - for instance in my case - self employed women and small business owners. And within that niche you may also have a specialism, mine being: I teach self employed women and small business owners how to do their own marketing and publicity and how to be confident while they're doing it.

Someone may be a career coach but specialize in working with IT professionals. A literary agent may specialize in cookery writers or children's authors. A life coach may work with teens or parents of teens. Do you start to get the picture?

Some of the key benefits to having a niche are:

· It radically simplifies your marketing

· It makes it so much easier to say what you do and who you work with

· It builds your reputation as an expert

· It also builds your confidence

· People can refer potential clients more easily because they understand what you do

· You develop a "Personal Brand"

· People prefer to work with a specialist and expert

· You can more easily identify your target market and where they congregate

· And - you get to work with your ideal clients

If you do several different things but for a specific target market, remember to concentrate on one offering at a time. When you are networking or writing pages for your website, be very clear on which service or product is on offer. If necessary have separate websites for different sections of your business.

So pick your specialism and stop trying to be all things to all people. Make a decision and choose your niche. It really will pay huge dividends.