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Welcome
A
few weeks ago, I noticed that my right front hubcap
was missing. Bummer! These days replacing parts on newer
cars is expensive. Being cost conscious, I called a
couple of junkyards to see if they had the part. No
luck. I broke down and called the dealer and learned
that it wasn't going to cost too much (yeah!), but that
there were several different types of hubcaps and I
would have to bring the car in. On the very day that
I was going to the dealership, I saw a hubcap leaned
against a tree on a major road. I sized it up and took
it home and it worked perfectly. If you're thinking
that it was my lost hubcap, no way: I hadn't been on
that road for months. I just hope whoever's hubcap that
I found, finds mine!
Afraid
to Niche?
Are
you afraid to niche? By that I mean declaring your "specialness,"
your uniqueness to the business world and turning away
clients that don't fit the bill? What a notion: turning
away clients!
When
I first started out my virtual assistance practice,
I posted a list of the services that I would provide
on my website. I'll bet the list had 20-30 items; how
versatile I was. And as a new business person, I was
willing to take on almost any client and do almost
anything.
After
a few "less than ideal" clients and getting
asked to do activities on my list that felt like drudgery,
I reevaluated. I started being more selective and only
working with my ideal client. Then I trimmed that services
list on my website to the activities that I really love
to do. I did that months ago and I don't think I went
far enough toward creating a niche. (By the way, the
correct American pronunciation of niche rhymes with
itch according to my language usage expert Richard
Lederer.)
I've
heard no fewer than five presentations by marketing
experts about the importance of forming a niche. I don't
think I really got the message until Michael
Charest's presentation. He illustrated his point
by asking a volunteer to declare a niche. The volunteer
complied by saying that his niche was coaching nurses.
Then Michael turned to the audience and asked us to
describe our thoughts about a coach who had focused
only on nurses for 10 years. We all imaged what an expert
he'd be. Point made.
But
it's scary to think about narrowing your specialty to
one occupation, for example, isn't it? I'm afraid for
two reasons:
| 1.
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When
I'm in front of potential clients in my niche and
I say, "My niche is your occupation,"
won't they think that I'm going after them and feel
uncomfortable with me? |
| 2.
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When
I'm at an event where there is no one in my niche,
won't I look too specialized, especially when they
don't understand what my niche is? It's hard enough
having an occupation that people don't understand! |
I've
decided that despite my fears, I'm going to go for it.
Dr.
Lynda Falkenstein talks about the fear of forming
a niche in her book Nichecraft. She describes
it as the most common affliction of the small business
owner. We can't be all things to all people says Dr.
Falkenstein.
So
here I go; I'm taking the leap: "I'm Kristy Schnabel
and I'm a virtual assistant. I help overworked coaches
save time and make their business dreams a reality."
There.
That wasn't so bad, was it?
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