I have a friend who, as a public health nurse, would give all sorts of advice to new parents. Then when she herself became a mother, she wanted to go back and apologize for all that she'd said to these new moms, because she'd found reality was very different to the textbook theories.
That's kind of how I feel after learning that perhaps drilling down to find your niche market, is not necessarily the way to go, and this was the advice I had been handing out to new entrepreneurs.
Why the change of heart? Because what I heard at Brendon Burchard's recent Expert Academy made sense. He was saying that instead of trying to reach one market, and be all things to them, it was better to develop one product or service and market it in different ways to different audiences. You just change the message to suit the market.
Somehow that seems much more practical. I mean what if you chose the wrong niche, and invested much time and money in trying to reach a narrow audience?
I like the idea of focusing on one concept at a time. So often we can take on too much, get ourselves caught up in maze, trying to find our way out. When it doesn't have to be so complicated.
Brendon shared the example of someone who discovered when he was asked to be the best man at his friend's wedding, that there was little out there on what should be in a best man's speech. So he developed one, put it up online and made a fortune on a very simple concept.
Of course, realizing he was on to something, he went on to produce speeches for the bride's father, maid of honour and groom, all showing that when you have a winning idea, it can expand and grow.
It is like a woman I know who loves to read and writes book reviews, selling them for a nominal fee to publications across North America. The price may be modest, but the amount she makes on writing that one review sure adds up and good for her.
One of the challenges we face when we start out, is we really don't know what will take off, so we dabble in a range of ideas, and I actually still believe this is a good way to go. But pay attention. Watch closely as to what is the most popular and perhaps, given my new insights, think about who else could benefit from what you are doing.
The key, according to Brendon, is to be consistent, to fine tune your brand and develop a campaign, not just a promotional piece, one which will share your story and move your business forward.