How to niche WITHOUT niching
Amanda C. Watts
I help accountants , bookkeepers and CFO's productize business advisory services #ProductisedAdvisor and add 500k of revenue with client delivery in less than 10 hours a week.
I struggled for 5 years wondering why I just couldn't make money in my marketing business.
I lived in Salisbury and I was well known in the area, even to the point that at a weekend I would go out on the town and everyone would know me because they would see me on social media every day.
But despite being famous I still didn't get good quality clients. I attracted those who had little money and didn’t see my true value.
Then one day I decided enough was enough and I invested in learning how to grow my business. £7000 later and the first value bomb was dropped.
My marketing was talking to everyone about everything to do with marketing and I was not a specialist. I had no specific expertise and I was not an expert in one kind of business and their problems.
I was not making money because I did not bring enough value to one kind of person/business.
I was not niching.
The moment I decided to niche I went all in… I decided I was going to help restaurants with marketing and this would be my niche.
I spent money on a logo, a website, social media profiles dedicated specifically to the niche, I created a brochure, and I branded myself as a marketing for restaurants expert.
About now you might think that I am going to share with you my success. About how from that moment I became a millionaire and haven’t looked back. But that is not true.
I did in fact make money fast. In 7 months I made 100k. And it was purely because I niched. But after 9 months I found myself crying in the bathroom hating the business I had created for myself.
The niche I had chosen was not a wealthy niche. They were time-poor. They had a volatile business and they always wanted a deal.
I couldn't get them on the phone as they were busy working all the time. Meetings were cancelled and my diary was unpredictable.
The restaurant owner was always stressed and there was no joy in working with them.
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The riches were in the niches as they say, but I was miserable.
So I quit. Overnight I decided to pivot to a different niche. And again the same thing happened, I made money but got burnt out and I didn't enjoy what I was doing.
And then the penny dropped for me. Niching was the holy grail when it comes to effective marketing, but it wasn't the holy grail when it came to happiness in running the business.
So I tried something new. I niched my marketing, but not my business.
I decided to run marketing campaigns to a new audience, whilst still working as a generalist in the background. I carried on working with businesses that were local to me and came through referrals, while my marketing (not my website just my LinkedIn content and my webinars) was specific to one niche.
Anyone on LinkedIn thought I was a specialist just working with them. And in a way I was… the more I worked with the new niche the more I learned about their problems and their pains.
The better I got at helping them, the better results we started to get. The more time I spent with the niche on LinkedIn the more I loved them, and ironically a year later after niching my marketing I did decide to go all in and have a professional website designed and changed all my social media and my business.
But it took me 4 attempts to find my “niche” and I wish someone had taught me the “niche your marketing, not your business” when I first started my niching journey.
Now I am all in, that niche I fell in love with was the accounting and bookkeeping niche and I have never been happier, I have amazing clients and have made some beautiful friends.
I learned a lot from my niching journey and this is why I teach my clients how to niche their marketing, not their practice.
It doesn't mean that one day you won’t go all in. You will always have that option. Whilst niching IS the holy grail to having a successful client attraction machine, I suggest you start by niching your marketing, not your practice.
At Oompf.Global we show you the exact branding and marketing strategies needed for you to turn your accounting/business advisory services into a unique VITAL product that you effortlessly market and sell for 5 figures We help accounting firms go from overlooked commodities to “VITAL” assets – differentiated positioning, productised offer, unique brand, happy clients and founders with freedom. If you would like to delve deeper into our content here are a few ways you can do that.
1. Watch our 28-minute free training on 3 ways to differentiate your accounting firm. Check it out here:?https://oompf.global/decommoditized
2. Watch an overview of the power of UPLEVEL software by clicking through here:?https://uplevelbyoompf.com/
3. Read about our flagship programme Momentum by clicking through here:?https://oompf.global/momentum/
I help food & beverage operators gain control over their finances and achieve better profitability | You take care of your business - I take care of your numbers | Founder at Accountific.co
3 年Yes - 100%. If you try and market to everyone at once, your message will NOT resonate with anyone.
I help dentists to retain more of their income with tax lead advisory services
3 年I loved this article really connect with me as I’m making a pivot from a general Micro Business accountant to specialist in dentistry. Thank you Amanda.