If narrowing down your target market in order to increase revenues, price, status, and clients sounds counterintuitive, Episode 9 of Market Inside Out, “The Niche Mindset” will help you overcome your fears so you can niche the hell out of your target market. Especially if you’re a small business owner, the idea of niching can incite a lot of fears. Fear of commitment. Fear of excluding potential customers. Even that big-F-word fear—failure!

Before you take that deep niche dive, tune in to Suzanne Longstreet, Emma O’Brien, and Michelle Tresemer, who will allay your anxieties with this been-there-done-that conversation about adopting a niche mindset. They speak with sage experience about why niching is scary, what niching does and does not mean, the process of niching, and why you should take a deep breath and take that dive into your niche.

Takeaways

• Niching is hard, especially for small startups. Be gentle with yourself.
• When you appeal to a smaller, defined section of the market, you’re narrowing your type of client and you’re focusing in on who you really want to serve.
• Accepting Seth Godin’s “Everyone is not your customer” is a good first step to developing a niche mindset. Even though you might technically be able help anyone out there to a certain extent, you’ll be able to help your ideal client perfectly—like 100%. Since your time, money, and energy are limited, focus on those who will appreciate you, want to pay you for your services, and give you great referrals. 
• Picture customers in concentric circles on a bullseye: your ideal customers are in the center, potential customers who need coaxing are next, and the outer circle is comprised of floaters who are not ready to buy but they’ll need to know you’re there when they have cash in hand. Market for your ideal customers.
• Put your time, money, and energy into reaching the ideal customers.
• Get your niche as close as possible to your ideal customer, but be really open to that adjusting over time.
• Put your focus out there; appeal to that niche. If it doesn’t work, adjust.
• Finding your niche is a process, and one that you will be adjusting from here on out.
• For startups, think of your niche as your “not-forever niche.”
• For your customers, your specialization equates with a higher level of expertise. And they’ll be willing to pay for that expertise.
• When marketing to your ideal customer, be authentic and embed your passions and purpose into your messaging.