Your Niche is Not Your Client

by Kendall Summerhawk

If you have resisted picking a niche because you thought
it would limit your options, I have good news. Choosing a
niche can give you more flexibility than you thought possible,
and more options for new business than you can imagine!

Here's how - your niche is not who you work with.
Your niche is not your marketing message either. Okay.
SO what is a niche? Sometimes the easiest way to
describe something is to say what it's not, so here goes:

• Your niche is not who buys your service - that is your
Choice Client.

• Your niche is not your tag line - that is your Key
Overriding Message.

I define your niche a little differently than a lot of other
marketing folks, but the way I define it gives you loads of
flexibility and creativity instead of trying to box you in.

Your niche is the heart of what you do. It's the core result
you deliver to your clients. I call it your Core Deliverable.
For example, my core deliverable - my niche - is making
marketing easy. It's not a fancy tag line and it doesn't say
who I deliver my service to, but it is the heart of what I do.

Right now I'm in the middle of teaching the concept of Core
Deliverable and Key Overriding Message to a group of Interior
Redesigners. Here is an example from one of the course
participants that perfectly illustrates the difference between
them -

Virginia's core deliverable is:
"Achieving a comfortable, attractive home you love to spend
time in."

Her Key Overriding Message is:
"I turn an 'okay' room into an 'I love it!' room!"

Sometimes, you can get lucky and both your Core Deliverable and
your Key Overriding Message are one and the same. Debra's
example is a good one. Hers is: "I turn mundane space into
sacred space."

You'll notice that none of these examples includes a title.
Being a coach, a designer, a broker or an agent is not a core
deliverable. It's just a title that's feature-rich but
benefit-poor.

What's so exciting about focusing on your Core Deliverable as
your niche, is that it leaves you free to create many ways of
delivering it, and to create many different choice clients.
Core Deliverable melts any resistance from niche skeptics about
limiting their choices.

So what is your Core Deliverable? Remember not to make it a
marketing message that comes later. And don't be surprised if
figuring out your Core Deliverable is easier than you think.

Now it's your turn!

About the Author

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