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"Here a Niche, There a Niche.........Everywhere a Niche" By Jeffery Greer

Success in Business Depends Upon the Successful Targeting of a Strong Niche Market with a Product/Service that this Market Demands. Within every market there usually exists many varied, smaller "niche" markets. Webster's Dictionary defines the word "niche" as: a cavity, hollow, or recess within a larger mass. The term "Niche Marketing" therefore applies to business marketing by identifying a certain audience within a larger audience with special needs/wants/desires that will be an active and receptive purchaser of goods or services. Identification of a niche market and identification of the marketing techniques that will successfully reach that niche is absolutely crucial to the success of any business, offline or online. It is not enough to simply decide upon a product/service, however, and find a niche market that "seems" to need this product/service. Some guidelines for success do exist and following these guidelines will prevent a lot of heartache and wasted time and money:

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1. A target niche should have a reasonable size. Although
the term itself, "niche" insinuates a very small market, if
the niche market chosen is too small, not enough sales will
occur to keep the business alive and well revenue-wise.
Conversely, too large a niche market will lead to severe
competition against larger businesses, and may very well
be too untargeted for advertising to be effective.

2. A target niche should be relatively easy to reach with
the proper marketing. Although this will take some trial
and error to find the "perfect marketing mix", once this
mix is found, the target niche will view the advertising
easily and respond consistently.

3. The USP (Unique Selling Proposition) of the company
should reflect the needs and desires of the targeted niche
market. A USP is the concept the company carries to the
consumer, and it is what makes a product/service "stand out
from the crowd". The USP, if it matches the needs of the
targeted market, would ultimately furnish the "perfect
solution" to their problems, and the target market, of
course, would then be actively searching for this perfect
solution, and hungrily buying once they find it!

4. A target niche should match the knowledge and skills of
the company. It is incredibly difficult to effectively sell
something that you know little or nothing about, or that
you have little to no actual interest in. The old marketing
proverb, "You have to like a product/service in order to
sell it", comes to mind immediately here.

5. Proper research and due diligence should be done into
any possible niche markets before deciding on the selection
of a niche market. This is an extremely important step, as
the product/service offered to a chosen market must meet
some of the needs of the market explicitly. This research
should include:

A. Research into the demographics of a market: which
products the market needs and why, as well as their
problems/needs/wants/desires. This would also include
research into their buying behaviors.

B. Research into the viability of the product and service.
If there are no apparent competitors within the market,
this can raise "red flags" as this can occur when there is
no need for a particular product/service within certain
markets.

C. Research into existing competition. If a market is already
glutted with other competitors, the establishment of a
business and its products and services will be indeed,
more difficult.

As you can see, simply following some very easy guidelines can
increase the chances of identifying a target niche market, as
well as increase the effective promotion to this chosen niche
market. Identifying your own particular niche, and speaking
"to this" niche will return a hungry market each and every time!

Jeffery Greer is the author of "Ever Enterprise Marketing Tips",
an online marketing newsletter. You will receive Down-to-earth
practical marketing tips and advice you can duplicate to propel
your business into the spotlight and snowball your online
profits, delivered to your inbox weekly!
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