Niche-Picking Your Way to Success

February 2, 2005 – To succeed in any business, you need to find a niche that you will be able to fill. "Build something and the rest will come" doesn't anymore hold true when it comes to creating a name for yourself in the industry that you have chosen.

Your niche is the key to getting the success you want. So when it comes to creating your own place in the sun, you need to niche-pick your way to it. If you don't find your niche market for your product or services at the start, you will most probably fail.

Most startup businesses often make the mistake of assuming that when you cater to a general target market, you'll probably end up doing business with most of them. However, with all the Tom, Dick and Harry already doing what you have just started now, how will you be able to get a piece of the action?

The Law of the Niche
One of the fundamental principles of marketing is the Law of the Niche. Big companies already have the market for whole segments of almost all the industries out there. Small businesses won't be able to compete and survive if they insist on going head to head with the giants.

The only way that small businesses may succeed is to find a niche that are either unfilled or only partially filled, and filling it with excellence. Small businesses need to know and consider the niche that they would most likely serve. After finding their target market, they have to scout for the technology or product that will provide them with the capacity to do better than the other competitors. Notice that almost all that stand out above the crowd are those that are different from the ordinary. Rule of thumb is to get out of the rat race and differentiate yourself from the crowd.

For web marketers, even if you have the most exciting and wonderful site in the whole Internet world if people do not stop by and admire and purchase from it, your efforts are wasted. Similarly, when you market your products and services, you have to fill the gap that the clients are looking for. Whether you have award-winning advertisements and media materials, you would not be able to make a sale if you have the same products as that of the other companies that are already in the market before you.

For example, a company saw an unfilled niche in selling sports equipment. Instead of trying to grab the whole market of the sports industry, they opted for a piece of the action by setting up a business on balls. Their marketing theme boasts of being "The Biggest Ball Store on the Net." They sell all kinds of balls—sports balls, fitness balls, toy balls, and any other balls that one could imagine. They want to be remembered as the company that sells balls.

Your Unique Selling Proposition
One digital printing consultant that I've come across the Internet explains the principle of the Unique Selling Proposition or USP. According to him, the key to creating great niche marketing is to carefully map out a business plan that clearly defines where your company is unique or distinct from every other company in your field. It identifies the precise niche you want to fill, and how you intend to fill it.

When people see something different in your services, you suddenly become newsworthy. People begin to mention your business to their friends, and most definitely this will start the ball rolling. Before you know it, an avalanche of purchases will come knocking at your door. When you give clients a reason to come, they most probably will. And when you developed that niche with real excellence, chances are good that you would be able to carve out a very profitable business.
To succeed in any business, as the digital printing consultant would say, be it on the Web, on the street, or in an office— you need to spell out your precise USP. Knowing your USP would make it easier for you to provide service that the clients want and look for.
But this is not the end-all and be-all of marketing. There are still other tools for your business to find its place in the sun. The Law of the Niche is just one of them. Combined with other laws of marketing provided by experts, you might just be on the path towards creating a successful business in your chosen market.

About U Printing

U Printing is an online printing company that offers four color process printing, digital printing, large format posters printing, and variable data printing. For inquiries on online shopping, visit http://www.uprinting.com

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