How You Know It’s Time to Niche Your Business

My business has gone through a few variations of niching down until I got to where I am today. Now, I’m specialized as a blog writer and SEO strategist. I was winging it until I learned the strategy behind how to niche your business and the right time to do it. And that’s what I’m talking about in this article today!

What Does it Mean to Niche Your Business?

Niching your business is simply the idea of identifying a target audience and creating marketing strategies that appeal to them. Have you heard the saying, “If you’re marketing to everyone, you’re marketing to no one?” It means if your messaging is too broad, no one will resonate with it. They won’t know who you’re talking to (you talkin’ ta me?!) If you talk to everyone, you talk to no one. 

Concentrate your marketing efforts on a specific demographic. That can look different depending on your business (more on that in a minute). Specialization allows you to differentiate your business from competitors. Imagine a business with the same offerings and pricing as you, but they only work with wedding professionals, while you work with construction companies. You will attract completely different audiences even though you offer the same services.

My Story with Niching My Business

When I first started my business in 2020, I was a general VA. I had a marketing background and degree but didn’t know the types of services I wanted to offer yet. I could do a lot of things, but I was still figuring out what I liked doing and the support my clients needed. I was also still learning about the world of entrepreneurship, and this was how I got my toes wet in the industry!

Two years later, I realized my greatest strength was writing. My clients valued this skill because they didn’t see themselves as good writers or didn’t have the time to strategically think about their content. 

So, I decided to call myself a copywriter. The problem is that ‘copywriter’ is so widely used and general that my clients were still using me for the same VA services. Calling myself a different name didn’t change how I ran my business. A copywriter can still offer social media, email marketing, blogs, website copy, etc. My clients didn’t understand what changed by me changing my title.

All this leads me to my recent rebrand. I decided to completely overhaul my business. New branding, new website, new business name, and new title. Everything changed. I wanted to make it clear what I do, which is blog writing and SEO strategy. I don’t want to offer social media marketing, email marketing, or website copy. That may change in the future, but I chose to niche my business via my offerings.

Luckily, some of my clients transitioned over with me, but others decided to part ways. That’s the hard thing about knowing when to niche your business. You might lose some clients along the way, but it always makes room for new clients who align with your offerings and values.

4 Ways to Niche Your Business

Service Offerings

I chose this one. I want to offer specific services which automatically cause some people to not work with me. They might be looking for a larger marketing agency that also offers social media management and email marketing. Or maybe they aren’t completely sold on the value of blogs yet and don’t want to invest in my expertise. 

I’m choosing to speak to the people who understand the long-term strategy blogs and SEO provide for their business. Not everyone is there yet, and that’s okay! I’m not marketing to those people. I’m speaking to business owners who want to invest in blog strategy.

Industry

I chose NOT to niche by industry because I love writing for multiple industries. I think I’d get bored of writing the same topics all the time (and not to mention running out of blog ideas). Niching by industry makes sense for some businesses. They have expertise in that area and can offer a ton of value to those businesses. 

Geography

You might want to only work with businesses in your local area. You can target local keywords to only attract those businesses. If you’re a brick-and-mortar business, you’re probably primarily focused on local traffic to your business. 

I don’t recommend niching by geography if you’re an online business. You can certainly find local clients, but don’t narrow down that much. You have much more opportunity by broadening your scope since you can work from anywhere!

Stage of Life

Some businesses might market to people who are in a specific stage of life. Think engaged couples, new moms, retirees, etc. People are coming into and leaving certain stages of life all the time. You’ll constantly have new business because you’re focused on a specific market.

5 Signs It’s Time to Niche Your Business

While I can’t give you a black-and-white answer as to when it’s time to niche your business, I can give you some signs it might be time to consider it.

1. Your growth plateaus.

If you aren’t seeing consistent growth in your business, you may need to specialize and niche your business. Specializing allows you to stand out from your competition and attract a specific audience.

2. There’s high competition in your industry.

A unique niche can help you differentiate your offerings from competitors. You’re specific on what you do and who you help.

3. You market to everyone.

When your target audience is too broad or you’re trying to talk to everyone, your marketing efforts are ineffective. As I mentioned before, you can’t talk to everyone and expect to attract the actual audience you want to work with.

4. Your services change.

As your business grows, your services will likely become more specialized, too. You have specific knowledge and skills, and leveraging your expertise can position your business as a leader in that niche. You may also notice there’s a high demand for your services now that you’re more specialized and market yourself that way.

5. Personal preference.

You’re a business owner – you’re allowed to offer the services YOU want to offer. If you’re passionate about a specific aspect of your business, focusing on that niche will give you higher personal and professional satisfaction. You’ll be more motivated in your business, which improves your chances of success!

Niching your business is a strategic decision. Think about how you want to position yourself to your audience and within the industry. Choosing a niche for your business can be scary, but it can improve customer satisfaction and increase profitability. I hope this blog taught you how to niche your business strategically!

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