Is my market just too small and too protected?

4 replies
Hello All,

First post here on WF.

I just finished development of a product for a very small niche market - law students who will be joining law firms as "summer associates" (i.e. summer clerks) - sort of like a legal internship. The product is an online course about how to be successful - it includes audio and text.

That's my background - I know the market - and I'm fairly confident that the product would get a decent reception from the market IF I CAN GET IT IN FRONT OF THEM.

But there are not more than a 3,000 - 10,000 people in the US that fit that description. That's my entire potential market.

So first problem - the market is small.

The second problem is that I cannot figure out a good way to target just my people. I can't think of a way to get much more narrow that "law student" in general.

And at that level of specificity, there is a TON of competition. No one that I know of competes with me exactly. But law students in general are a hot market to sell to - young, up-and-coming professionals soon to have too much disposable income.

So I'm swimming in a sea of others clamoring for the attention of law school students (in general - not my subset). I compete for a very small set of highly coveted eyeballs, not on my product per se.

I guess it's sort of like marketing to the wealty - even if your product is unique, if it's a lower cost product (mine's $55 right now) how do you effectively get attention in a market where people are willing and able to out-spend you?

I've not done a lot of marketing yet, but the first things I've done have come up very short - not a single sale so far and very little traffic - mostly because I can't even get it in front of my market.

I think my product is very attractive ONCE I GET THE TARGET MARKET TO VIEW IT. But I'm wondering if my market is essentially unreachable for the amount of money I can spend.

Finally, the market is very "identity based" - that is that market would be receptive (I believe) but they do not currently and actively search for my type of product - one of those, "didn't know they needed it till they saw it" kind of things. So SEO is a no-go because it's not a "search term" friendly product.

I've tried facebook, I've tried working through career counselors at Universities. I'm currently trying to do some guest blog posts (but even those opportunities are hard to find).

In short, though I believe in my product, I can't figure out how to get it in front of my market's eyes.

1. Any ideas? Am I missing something?

2. Is it ever the case that an otherwise good/viable product is unworkable simply because it can't effectively be marketed at the product's reasonable price point?

I'm wondering whether I just need to cut bait on this project and move to the next.
#market #protected #small
  • Profile picture of the author JOSourcing
    Banned
    Have you considered advertising in college newspapers, on college radio, in legal magazines, on legal intern websites, etc.?
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  • Profile picture of the author Jonathan Joseph
    Hi tentaguasu,

    I've studied some law in College, so I like this particular subject as well.

    What I would suggest is a few things:

    1) Call you're local newspaper provider and get in touch with an writer/ editor. Let them know that you'd like to speak to them for only about 5 minutes on how you'd like to help out you're local community of summer associates in law. Let him know about you're background and what you can bring. You need to sell yourself. Note: A quick way to find editors is to look in the newspaper section for similar written articles on law, etc. and there will always be the writers info at the end.

    2) Figure out if you can open your target market just a slight bit more - to bring in new prospects, without sacrificing you're integrity or offer value.

    3) Write a press release and launch it on PRWEB.com - it rocks, and will get you noticed.

    4) Contact you're local radio stations and repeat the principals in step 1.

    5) Finally, learn how to use Google Adwords. It may be the wisest move you make in marketing. Ever. I really like Parry Marshall's teaching on this.

    Keep in mind, that you don't want to ever try to come off as 'selling' something. Especially when you contact your local radio and newspaper providers.

    Create a free report or audio series to give out. Within that free offer you can suggest you're course. Focus on building RELATIONSHIPS first and foremost. Relationships are everything.

    All the best!
    Signature

    Jon

    "Success comes when people act together; failure tends to happen alone." -- Deepak Chopra

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    • Profile picture of the author Batou
      That seems like a tough one. Thats some good advice Jonathan.
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      • Profile picture of the author tentaguasu
        Thanks for the advice - it is very much appreciated. I will definitely try some of these ideas.

        That said, I'm still wondering if it can work. Any radio station or local paper will only reach at most a single law school campus which will only have a very limited number of potential targets.

        I think to be effective it has to target at least law students - a costly and geographically disperse market.

        Any other thoughts or suggestions? Does anyone have experience in giving up on a good product solely based on the difficulty in reaching potential buyers or do you all believe any good product can be successfully marketed if one is creative enough?
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