February 2013

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There’s riches in niches. Go narrow, go deep. These are terrific bits of advice.

They’re also very hard for people to figure out. I know because I’ve been helping business owners figure it out for a long time. It’s always (always) the first point of conversation, especially with business owners struggling to find a new level of success.

I now understand the dilemma better. I can’t fully explain it, but I do understand how it feels to be confused about a target market. I started looking in the mirror and realized I had no clue about my own target market.

My challenge was compounded due to my lifelong experience, my indifference to any particular industry or space and my utter contentment and satisfaction with just about any selected space. In today’s show I’ll explain my own situation in hopes you can look at your own, and better figure out a few things.

Just remember, it’s one thing to take aim at a particular target…it’s something different to actually hit it. That picture illustrates how many businesses aim and execute serving a target market. The target ends up with a bunch of holes all over the place. Part of that is the process necessary as we figure things out. We just have to make sure that we’re working to figure things out and not aimlessly throwing things toward the target. People often confuse them for the same activity.

Progress doesn’t have to be intentional. Sometimes we find success because we’re putting in the work and a happy accident happens. An accident that wouldn’t have occurred if we hadn’t shown up and put in the effort. But there are other times when we’re spinning our wheels by doing things without thinking…hoping something good will happen. Not a good way to go.

Like a good game of Battle Ship, we want to hit more than we miss!

Here were some of the things that were crucial for me. Your list might look very different.

a. Don’t want to be gone from home alot
b. Don’t want employees
c. Don’t want a long commute
d. Want high margins
e. Want to create digital learning (and help)
f. Want to be able to give more to causes

Later on I added a 7th – and very important – criteria. It’s a criteria that I think is worthwhile for anybody! The first 6 aren’t universal, but that 7th one is. It’s something that you must give lots of thought. And in thinking about it, you have to be true to who you are. It’s why I’m fond of various profile assessments that can help us know ourselves better. You don’t want to serve a market that isn’t a good fit for you.

P.S. Did I say “strategical” during today’s show? I certainly did. Come on, every podcaster makes up words. I’m adding that new word to my podcasting dictionary. 😀

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