I Show You How To Earn Money From What You Know

“If you want to go broke, sell to lots of folk. If you want to get rich, find you a niche.”

Stephen Pierce, Internet marketer extraordinary

If you are trying to reach everybody, you are sure to reach nobody. Here’s why you should find and focus on a niche, the narrower the better:

1. The customers in your niche are a tribe. They have common interests and gather in places that can usually be identified. By “places,” I mean real and virtual–online and offline. Knowing where your customers gather is more than half the battle.
2. You can become an expert in a niche. You can’t become an expert without one, in fact. And becoming an expert in more than one niche is difficult. But in one niche, you can start from scratch, study the lore and the gossip, interview the leaders, and quickly gain name recognition. Interviewing experts is a great thing to do anyway; they make you look good and sound smart. So interview experts, even if you are an expert; it will only elevate your expert status. Then publish the interviews–in blogs, newsletters, ebooks, podcasts, the works. Even if the expert won’t mail their list for you (and initially, they won’t–because who are you?), their name is of great value to you in attracting attention from the tribe.
3. It is quicker and easier to build trust in a tribe. Word of mouth is very powerful. (It’s also powerful in a negative sense, so don’t be evil, and always keep your promises.) Once you gain the trust of a community, cherish it. Give away lots of value; then an occasional pitch will not be perceived as annoying. Trust may be your most crucial asset. Work consciously at keeping it.
4. If you become a member of a tribe, you will learn quickly what the points of pain are. That makes it possible to create good products. Remember, you can hire people to produce the products, and you can hire people to provide the solutions. Your job is to identify the pain points, identify possible solutions, then produce and sell the solutions. It’s a simple dynamic, but if you master it, you will build a good business.
5. The tribe has its own lingo. It can be learned. Ignore it at your peril. Study and find out what things are called, how they are referred to. Get an insider to vet your writing before you plop your foot into your mouth on a forum. Knowing the lingo of your tribe is another quick way in.
6. The narrower the niche, the better, as long as it still has a reasonable number of customers for your services. It doesn’t have to be very large. A friend told me that her sweetie restores old Ferraris. A typical restoration runs into tens of thousands of dollars. I don’t know how many prospects are in his niche, but I do know he can only handle about three jobs at a time, and they tend to be multi-month.But “automobiles” would not be his niche. Even “sports cars.” Even “high-end sports cars.” In fact, even “Ferraris” might be a bit broad to define his market. “People who have old Ferraris they want to restore (and can afford to)”–I think that’s who he’s about.
7. If you are passionate about your niche, and you focus on it, you can have the time of your life. You can be engaged in something you love, and be appreciated for it. And make a good living.