September
2003 ********************************************
IN THIS ISSUE
Welcome
Choosing Your Specialty and Niche
News and Announcements
Contact Information
********************************************
WELCOME
Hello everyone! School is back in session and
if you have teenagers, like I do, that comes as a
mixed blessing. On the positive side of things,
there is more structure to our children’s lives
during the school year (which can be wonderful
when you’re trying to enforce curfews!). On
the negative side of things, school brings lots of
homework and projects, school dances and
relationship drama -- all of which can be
draining (financially as well as emotionally)!
September also signals the end of summer and
in many cases the time when professionals shake
the beach sand off their shoes and go back to
developing business in a serious way. As we are
all busy, it’s important to make every minute
spent on marketing ourselves and our businesses
count. Honing in on our specialty and niche
market can help.
Are you trying to be all things to all people?
I’ll let you in on a secret. You can’t! In order
to maximize the effectiveness of your
business development efforts, it’s important
to choose a particular specialty and a niche
market. This month’s article defines these terms,
provides a starting place to help you choose
your particular specialty and target market, and
suggests specific actions to take to maximize
your business development efforts.
********************************************
CHOOSING YOUR SPECIALTY AND NICHE
It’s a fact that people prefer to buy services from
a specialist rather than a generalist. Think about it,
if you break your arm, do you go to a doctor who
is a general practitioner or do you see an orthopedist?
If you are like most people, you choose to see a
specialist if it is at all possible.
This is the reality of how people choose their
service providers. And it makes it absolutely
essential that you are clear on your specialty and
your niche market. A specialty is what you do,
such as real estate lawyer or insurance broker.
A niche represents the industry or types of clients
you work with, such as builders and contractors
or high net worth individuals.
So, how does one go about choosing a specialty?
One suggestion is to review your client base for ideas.
You may have worked with several clients in a
particular industry, or you may wish to look at
past job experience or hobbies to identify an
industry you enjoy.
Once you have chosen a specialty, consider and
narrowly define your niche market. If your
specialty is providing health insurance to
businesses, an example of an under-defined
niche is to think of business owners in general
as your target market. A well-defined niche
is more focused, like owners of businesses that
have over 100 employees. The more defined
your niche, the easier it is to locate potential clients.
Once you have identified your specialty and
niche market, focus your marketing efforts on
the trade and industry associations serving your
target clients. This will help you become known
as someone who practices or works in a particular
area. It will also provide exposure to potential
clients and enable you to build a closer relationship
to existing clients belonging to the group.
Attend meetings, join committees, and become
active in the group. Work toward becoming a
leader by chairing a committee or serving on
the board of directors. The more involved you
are, the more people will come to know you
and your capabilities. This is important because
clients want to work with someone they know,
respect, and trust.
Join the membership committee or the speakers
committee of the organizations. These two
committees provide the greatest exposure to
meeting new people. As part of the membership
committee you greet new members on behalf of
the organization. You will get to know them in
that context, rather than in a way that may feel
more like selling. Serving on the speakers
committee gives you contact with potential
experts in their respective fields on behalf of
the organization. This can be an excellent way
of developing relationships that naturally lead
to new opportunities.
Share your expertise by writing for the group’s
newsletter and giving presentations at monthly
meetings or the annual educational conference.
The additional visibility increases your credibility.
It can be difficult for many people to give up
the idea of being all things to all people. They
somehow think that by declaring a specialty or
niche market they will “lose out” on work. Quite
the contrary. Once you have clearly defined your
specialty and target market, you will find that
your business development efforts can be more
focused and hence more successful. In fact, you
may find yourself being sought out to assist
clients who do not necessarily fit into your
declared niche. It’s curious how this works, but
there is something attractive about a professional
who is secure in the knowledge of who they
help and what they help them with. Potential
clients want to know if you can help them too!
***********************************************
NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
I am so excited to share with you my new tips
booklet on the business development. This
particular booklet is written for lawyers who
want to build their practices and is the first
of a series of business development booklets
for various professions that I plan to write.
If you are a lawyer who wants to continue
a thriving practice or start one, this booklet
is for you. It contains tried and tested business
development tips that are certain to work for
you regardless of your area of legal expertise
and no matter how long you’ve been in practice.
The booklet should be available for sale within
the month. If you wish to pre-order, just send
me an email at Barbara@Rainmaker-Strategies.com
and I’ll make sure you get one just as soon as it’s
off the press. Cost is $5.00 for a single copy and
quantity discounts are available.
***********************************************
CONTACT INFORMATION
Barbara Nichols Mencer
Rainmaker Strategies
Barbara@Rainmaker-Strategies.com
www.rainmaker-strategies.com
If you’ve enjoyed this article and learned a valuable
business-building tip, please feel free to forward
this newsletter to your friends and colleagues.
************************************************
Copyright 2003, All Rights Reserved. Reproduction
in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
