You know that client you just love and wish you could replicate? Well with focus and determination, you can feel the same about most of your accounts. 

How do I niche?

When I started asking myself these 3 questions and narrowing down my niche market, I realized I needed to let go of old beliefs to welcome new opportunities. The week after I focused my business, I signed 3 new clients. 

• Do you like providing all of your services or is there something you could focus on that you provide best?

• Which of your clients do you enjoy working with?

• Which clients has your work had a tangible impact on?

When you evaluate the answers to these questions, look for any patterns that emerge. Is there a certain industry your clients are part of? Is there a preference for B2B or B2C? Is there a business need that they have that you can fill?

Still feel overwhelming? Here are potential patterns or “niches” to consider: 

• Industry you serve (Healthcare) 

• Service you provide (Tax preparations) 

• Platform you specialize in (Webflow websites) 

• Season of year you help a business navigate (Holiday sales promotions) 

• Specific timeframe you provide services (One-week websites) 

Or maybe there is no pattern yet but these ideas spark an idea of a unique niche for your business. The more you dive in, the more you’ll really learn about your business, and yourself!

Evaluate all areas of your business.

We recently spoke with a client who had a great website experience twenty years ago. But over time, their focus and site needs have changed. Our focus at Murphy Marketing is copywriting so we prefer to bring in partners with other focuses to continue to offer a full-service website experience to our clients. When we heard more about this client’s design needs, we reached out to one of our partners - Canvas Branding. (SPOILER! If you haven’t seen my brag on LinkedIn yet, we just launched a new site with them, targeting our market niche. Check it out here.) 

Canvas focuses design and development of sites in a specific platform, Webflow, that provides functionality that is hard to get on many other platforms. After working with them, partnering on a client site, and sending more leads their way, we’re familiar with their design and capabilities. Whether it was intentional or not, as they niched into using a specific platform they’ve positioned themselves as a preferred partner when we hear specific keywords as needs from our clients. 

Treat your clients like people, not business names.

Your niche isn’t always specific to a business or industry type. You may be targeting a market of people like female entrepreneurs, franchisees with 5+ locations, or employees who need the extra help or expertise your business can offer. While we narrowed the industry we would like to serve, we also focused on the type of people we would like to serve as well. We still work with and bring in clients every so often outside of the cybersecurity industry. 

You may find that you have such an outstanding relationship with a client or someone new was referred to you and even though they are outside of your niche, you want to help them, that’s okay! But it’s important to also keep in mind that each opportunity taken is an opportunity missed. Consider the hard conversations you may need to have, either passing on a new lead or letting go of an existing client. Any time we determine a client isn’t the right fit for us, we ensure that we have a conversation with them and bring alternative resources to the table so they aren’t back at square one Googling who to find next. 

They might have been a good revenue source at one point but as you’ve grown, they don’t fit well with your team or you don’t enjoy working with their type of business anymore. Reflect on how to have those conversations and who or what you might suggest to replace what you’ve been providing.

Is it working?

One of the most common questions we ask ourselves as business owners is: How do I know this will work? How do I measure this to ensure I made the right decision? How long do I give it?

Everything is measurable. All you have to do is set goals or specific values to what makes it worth it. Maybe you tell yourself you won’t let any old clients go until you book a new one to replace that revenue. But you still have to jump on board to get your messaging done to be able to measure if it worked and ask yourself these 3 questions once it’s complete: 

→ Are people interacting with your content?

→ Are you attracting the right kind of clients?

→ Does your work feel easier or more enjoyable? Less forced?

If you’ve tried on your own and said no to any of those questions, ask yourself if your messaging appeals to your target leads. 

If it’s not or you’re not sure, schedule a call with me. Our team starts with messaging first to ensure we never miss the mark with your content.