Yes, I know that that statement is contrary to what many marketers would have you believe. They use the terms “niche” and “target market” interchangeably as if they mean the same thing – and they most definitely do not!
Let me explain with a true story. The full account of this story about a client is in the blog post you can read here.The abbreviated version here suffices to make the point.
My client, a financial advisor who for reasons of confidentiality I call “Tom”, who, heretofore had determined that his target market was “affluent professionals”, which at the time I advised was too vague.
He disagreed – until this event happened!
He pitched a proposal to a consultant obstetrician, after a detail analysis of the prospects needs, and was very happy that his proposal met the needs identified.
The prospect did not proceed, and after considerable digging Tom unearthed the reason – the prospect did not see him as a specialist who was focused on his needs and desires!
In other words he perceived him as a generalist, not a specialist!
Tom was flabbergasted – which prompted him to come back to me to dig deeper to identify his “niche”.
You see your target market is the group of people that you will work with – your niche is the specialist service you will provide to the subset of that target market, who have the need of your specialist service.
This makes your marketing and you focus so much sharper. And, let’s be honest, we all have a limited amount of time and resources (in other words, money!), so we need to make sure we are getting the best “bang for our buck”!!
This story is a sufficiently compelling reason for you to determine your “niche”. Tom has now sharpened his focus and is now generating significant higher levels of income with no additional effort. The power of focus!