The Importance of Niche

In the highly competitive world of today, having a strong personal brand is what makes you stand out among the rest and be successful in your chosen field. It’s not enough to have the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the job anymore, when there are others out there who say the same thing about themselves. To classify yourself as the true expert, you need to offer something unique and different, something that only you can provide, and this is basically what personal branding is all about.

One of the first things you need to do in order to establish your personal brand is to identify your niche. Whether you’re a direct seller, an executive, or a small business owner, defining your niche market is the essential first step before going ahead with the rest of your personal branding campaign. This will essentially be the foundation of your personal brand, and without it, your brand is simply going to fail.

Why exactly is this so? Why is finding your niche so important? Here are the reasons:

1.   It gives you a clear vision of what you need to do

People are bombarded with so much noise and information nowadays that if you don’t clearly define what you want to do, then they’re just going to move on from the products or services that you’re offering. Knowing your niche will give you a clear vision of what goals you want to achieve and what steps you need to take to achieve these goals. You also have a clearer vision of how to tailor your products or services to suit your target audience.

2.   It gives you a specific topic to focus on

The market is so highly saturated that you really need to have a specific topic you want to tackle in order to stand out from the crowd. Maybe you want to focus on blogging, but can you just imagine how many people out there are already talking about blogging? How do you differentiate yourself? This is why you have to choose your niche carefully. Narrow down your focus. Blogging for stay at home moms, for example, would be a better market because it is a lot more specific and targeted. You can now go into detail about this topic because you clearly have an idea about the niche market you’re targeting.

3.   You can more easily position yourself as the expert

When you find your niche market, it is a lot easier to position yourself as the expert that people look up to. First of all, there’s less competition – imagine the number of bloggers out there compared to bloggers who are also stay at home moms. Second, a niche market will give you more focused topics to talk about, which makes it easier to become the go-to person for your chosen niche. Third, with a clearly defined niche market, you would know exactly where to go to find your target audience. It’s a lot easier for you to find related groups, blogs, communities, networks, and so on.

Now that you understand the importance of finding your niche, how exactly do you define who your niche market is? Here are some tips:

·         Know what you’re passionate about – though you may be interested in a lot of topics, there is surely one topic that you find yourself very passionate about, and this should be the basis of your niche market. When you’re passionate about something, it clearly shows in what you do, and this is what you want your target audience to see, so they can share in your passion.

·         Know what makes you different – to effectively position yourself in the market, you need to identify what separates you from all the others who may be offering similar products or services. What can you bring to the table that no one else has? This is basically your unique selling proposition, which is a vital part of your personal brand.

·         Know your target audience’s pain – What do you need to address? What is it that you offer that can solve problems or offer solutions to your target market? You need to be able to offer your niche market something of value, something that they need, that only you can give.

The importance of knowing your niche for your personal brand cannot be stressed. It can be the difference between success and failure. So make sure you clearly define your niche market before proceeding with the other steps of your personal branding campaign. 

Author:
Maria Elena Duron, is managing editor of the Personal Branding Blog, CEO (chief engagement officer) of buzz2bucks.com – a word of mouth marketing firm.   She helps create connection, credibility, community and cha-ching through mobile marketing and social commerce around your brand. She is co-founder of #brandchat - a weekly twitter chat focused on every aspect of branding.