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Niche to Survive: 3 Important Things you Must Know and Do

Guest post by: Susan Friedmann

Article Overview: Do a search on Google for the term “niche to survive” and you'll come up with advice from industry pundits who all preach the same message - to make it in today's tough economy, it's a survival of the most niched! If you want niche to survive, you must know and do 3 important things.

Niche to Survive: 3 Important Things you Must Know and Do

Do a search on Google for the term “niche to survive” and you'll come up with advice from industry pundits, from freelance journalists, to machine tool manufacturers, travel agents to wine makers, booksellers to banks, and many more. They all preach the same message - to make it in today's tough economy, it's a survival of the most niched!

But what does this really mean? It means that you can't afford to ramble around your industry trying to be all things to all people, grabbing any work that comes your way, simply because it's work and it pays bills.

Let's look at three important things you must know and do to survive and thrive:

1. Be Courageous

The generalist needs the courage to don the mantel of the specialist, which means being an expert in your profession. This sounds easy enough, but people often shy away, and fear taking on this essential role. Why? Because being an expert in a niche market means that people turn to you for thought leadership - help, advice, innovative ideas, and more. They want answers, and they expect you to have them. It's much safer playing the generalist game, where you can get away with knowing a little about a lot of things. Generalists are a dime a dozen in any industry. However, specialists stand out from the crowd with their expertise.

2. Be a Voracious Learner

As a specialist in a niche market, automatically means having to stay abreast of anything and everything that concerns your niche. Some industries, such as hi-tech move at the speed of light (or so it seems), while others, such as landscaping, appear to crawl along at a snail's pace. Wherever your niche lies on the change spectrum, your job is to constantly be in the “know.” This means reading, learning and constantly finding the best solutions for the challenges that your niche market faces. For example, if your niche industry is governed by certain governmental legislations, and these change for better or worse, what questions or concerns will your niche market face? As an expert and thought leader in the industry, people will turn to you for answers.

3. Be Discerning

An important characteristic of any specialist is the ability to be discerning. To be discerning means, being insightful, making careful judgment and evaluation before taking action. The more you know and understand about your niche market, the better able you are to discern the best course of action for your niche market clients. In today's marketplace, your clients are faced, almost daily, with an onslaught of new and shiny, gizmos, gadgets, software and more, that claim to solve their every need. As an industry expert, you have the power to recommend resources. However, realize that everything you advocate to your niche market carries your reputation. If you suggest a program that helps your client, you're seen as a savior, but endorse something that doesn't work, and your credibility can suffer, and your “golden child” status can plummet overnight. Once you make a bad referral, your niche market will think twice about taking your advice in the future.

It takes courage, learning, and discerning to be the expert in your niche market, but where there's risk, there's reward. Get rich in your niche!

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Article Tags: find a niche, niche, niche expert, niche ideas, niche marketing, target marketing



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