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What Niche Do You Serve? Don't Make This Mistake

by Joshua Uebergang
4 replies
I often see digital marketers who provide services to any offline client they get. "You need a website? We make great websites." 95% of freelancers do the same.

I've done this and am currently correcting it. It can work, but you can charge a lot more when you're the national/global expert - partly achieved by serving a niche.

It's not new hearing you can't be everything to everyone - even though most of us end up doing just that for a service.

In the past few months I've had the experience of seeing a small agency design websites and digital strategies for the travel niche in their home country for over $200k. A lot of freelancers dream of doing one for $10k.

I see the power of nich-ifying your clientele as it helps you:

- serve a niche who profits from your work (depends on your niche of course, but you should have this figured it).

- understand the unique problems within the niche, which lets you speak their language and get good at solving their problem. Your proposals become stronger and you become more convincing, All your marketing collateral and content speaks to your niche

- discover where your clients hang around. They read specific industry websites and magazines

- build a client base where people in the niche see "oh wow, you worked with that guy who is similar to me".

What are your thoughts on this? Do you serve a niche rather than do SEO or websites for anyone based on their budget?
#make #mistake #niche #serve
  • Profile picture of the author savidge4
    An interesting question to say the least. I personally do not serve a niche. I try to stay away from service industry based business'; Plumbers, Electricians, Doctors, Lawyers, etc. These fields are obviously lead generation, and they tend to take on a added level of system engineering.

    I focus on clients that fit the e-commerce model, or sometimes just commerce in general. Regardless of what you are selling consumers... the principles are always the same.

    I chose this direction for a number of reasons, but the primary reason is the level of control and accountability of the situation as a whole. You can build a site that directs customers to the store itself and or buys product online. You can set systems in place that track everything. At the end of the month you can hand the client a nice and tidy report of what their online venture produced for them.

    Sure there are nuances with each business type that needs to be learned, but for me personally that is half the fun of it all.

    Originally Posted by Joshua Uebergang View Post

    I often see digital marketers who provide services to any offline client they get. "You need a website? We make great websites." 95% of freelancers do the same.

    I've done this and am currently correcting it. It can work, but you can charge a lot more when you're the national/global expert - partly achieved by serving a niche.

    It's not new hearing you can't be everything to everyone - even though most of us end up doing just that for a service.

    In the past few months I've had the experience of seeing a small agency design websites and digital strategies for the travel niche in their home country for over $200k. A lot of freelancers dream of doing one for $10k.

    I see the power of nich-ifying your clientele as it helps you:

    - serve a niche who profits from your work (depends on your niche of course, but you should have this figured it).

    - understand the unique problems within the niche, which lets you speak their language and get good at solving their problem. Your proposals become stronger and you become more convincing, All your marketing collateral and content speaks to your niche

    - discover where your clients hang around. They read specific industry websites and magazines

    - build a client base where people in the niche see "oh wow, you worked with that guy who is similar to me".

    What are your thoughts on this? Do you serve a niche rather than do SEO or websites for anyone based on their budget?
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    Success is an ACT not an idea
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    • Profile picture of the author Joshua Uebergang
      I'm appealed to ecommerce for a similar reason as you. I've increased ecommerce visitors and sales by 30% in months doing basic strategies. What you said actually checks the first two, and most important, bullet points about profitability and solving their problem (of online sales).

      they tend to take on a added level of system engineering
      What do you mean by this?
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      • Profile picture of the author savidge4
        Originally Posted by Joshua Uebergang View Post

        "they tend to take on a added level of system engineering"

        What do you mean by this?
        When you are dealing with lead generation there is generally a complex system in place to #1 get the lead. #2 Qualify the lead, and #3 sell to the lead.

        Ive read the some of the recent threads where people are giving up on the "Process" and making the call to action the phone number. This basically leaves the qualifying and selling up to the client. For me personally I would rather control this a bit more and get consistent results.

        There has always been a disconnect of sorts between "Online" traffic and "Offline" action.

        More so in the days of "Dial-up" for obvious reasons.. they were using the phone line. In todays world people are just more inclined to text or e-mail or Skype before actually making a call.

        A while back I did a site for a massage therapist. It was your basic site.. hours, service etc, but there was a twist. You can actually book an appointment online, and pay for it in advance right then and there. A novel idea if I say so myself. And I will tell you it far more effective than just having a phone number to call.

        That business went from a kinda sorta 5% trackable appointments from the website, to 23% the moment the system was put in place. Overall appointments increased 310%. And it basically happened over night. Needless to say they had to increase their staff.

        My theory behind this success, was that it removed the Online Offline disconnect.
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        • Profile picture of the author Joshua Uebergang
          Google AdWords recently launched call tracking where you can track calls on your site. This is breakthrough for the reasons you mentioned with generated accountability and showing the value of your work. Bit off topic, but wanted to share.
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