Question: “Dear Ali, I train and keynote in how to communicate and I help business people connect with colleagues, clients, employees, and bosses. How do I narrow down my niche and identify my unique offering?”
— Marion Grobb Finkelstein, Marion Speaks, Ontario, Canada
Ali’s Answer: “First of all, I love that you have the same name as my mother, Marion! 🙂 (She says hello from Palm Desert, by the way.) You are smart to be carefully considering how to niche, because these days people will not respond to generic offerings or messages.
Generally there are two ways to niche: 1) by your offering itself — your specialty, and 2) by your target market. An intuitive hit I’m getting for you is you already have a specific industry you have worked with often, that you naturally resonate with, who is easy to target, and has money to spend. If this is the case, I would make this your niche market. There are other ways to niche, but this should get you thinking in the right direction.
The bigger issue I see based on your question and your website is conveying the VALUE of what you offer. You may help me connect with my employees, clients, etc. as you promise, but what does that really get me? More clients? More money? A better performing team that gets more done faster? See where I’m going? People don’t buy communication skills. They buy results. It’s like the saying people don’t buy a drill for the drill, they buy it for the hole that is the result.
So what is the result? Don’t rely on your prospects to add it up in their heads. You have to instantly convey what you are offering and in a bold way. If you need help narrowing this down, which many people do as you are too close to it yourself, round up a small group of your past satisfied clients and ask them about the results your work helped them achieve for themselves or their organizations. Best of luck!”
Love and success,
==========
Have a question for Ali?
Send her your question about business and success now via this form.