onestepfurther.co.uk - Quickstart - Have You Gone Niche Yet?



	Quickstart - Have You Gone Niche Yet? (Please add bev@onestepfurther.co.uk to your address book so your issue of *Quickstart* reaches you each week. *Quickstart* *Grow a Profitable Consultancy and Still Have Time for a Life* In this issue Note from Beverley - Can You Help? One Step Further - Have You Gone Niche Yet? Upcoming Events - Workshop and Phone Conference Personal Reflections - It's Not The Quantity... Note from Beverley I'd like to ask for your help this week. You may know that part of my marketing strategy for this year is to do more speaking engagements. I offer to speak on the 6 core strategies that I work with consultants on to grow a profitable consultancy and still have time for a life. So... * Who do you know that organises business events and is looking for a speaker? * What business groups, clubs, and associations do you belong to that are looking for speakers? * Would you make an introduction for me to help me get more engagements? "Beverley's succinct, articulate and humorous style encourages you to think about your business, why you set it up, and where you want to go. I really enjoy her presentations, her experience and knowledge come through and I know I will always take something new and useful away with me." Joy Sanderson RCS Many thanks and have a good week Beverley bev@onestepfurther.co.uk +44 (0) 1344 625713 www.onestepfurther.co.uk Author of Take Control of Your Time: 7 Straight Shooter Strategies for Success Buy the ebook and/or become an affiliate and earn some extra cash One Step Further "Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all your energies on a limited set of targets." Nido Qubein Whether you are in big business or run a sole business consultancy, ultimate success from a financial perspective, comes down to profitability. Turnover is all very well but it is profit that matters. Profit = revenue - costs. In order to generate a good profit you need to have the "right" kind of clients and minimise your costs. I make no apology for stating the obvious because I have found that although it seems obvious, when I ask people who their ideal clients are they can't tell me or they say anyone! And as you know "anyone with a pulse and a chequebook" is not the right answer. The future for consultants in an ever growing market is to discover and dominate a niche So why is it so important to "go niche" and know who your ideal clients are 1. Trying to be all things to all people doesn't work 2. You are not a specialist in all areas and therefore can't successfully serve everyone 3. You need a focus for all you sales and marketing efforts 4. Once you develop a specialism for successfully serving a niche - a defined group of people, you become known by more of the same type of people 5. When you run your own business you only want to work with people you like, trust and respect and who like, trust and respect you - don’t you? Trying to be all things to all people is not an effective or successful strategy. It just puts you in the "me too" category, so you need to get more focused. You need to define your niche and become a specialist problem solver to that niche. Of course there are many ways to define your niche and many marketing books, courses and gurus that will tell and show you how. However, here are some simple starter questions for you to consider. They focus first and foremost on what YOU want. When you run your own business, as many of you do, you can choose who your ideal clients are and how you work with them. 1. Who do you want to work with and why? 2. What are the problems you want to solve for your clients? 3. How many clients do you want to work with in a month or a year? 4. How much revenue/profit do you want to generate from those clients? 5. What criteria do they need to meet before you say yes? 6. What will make you say no? 7. What are the criteria you will use to prioritise clients? 8. How will you "sack" clients? 9. What are the socio/demo/psycho graphics of your ideal clients? 10. Where will you meet and connect with them? Once you have defined your niche and ideal client, use this simple test to qualify that you actually have a viable niche market. 1. Can you find them? 2. Are there enough of them? 3. Do they have a problem worth solving? 4. Do they have the money to pay (With acknowledgement to Chris Barrow) So I challenge you this week to take One Step Further towards going niche You can use this template as a guide Going Niche Here are some other article to help you "Go Niche" The Myths About Niches and Differentiating Your Self From the Competition Upcoming Events MORE THAN A PULSE AND A CHEQUEBOOK - 1 DAY WORKSHOP * Are you still trying to be all things to all people? * Are you frustrated by the lack of return for your sales and marketing efforts? * Do you worry how to get in front of the right type of clients and get them to buy? * Do you worry that having a niche will limit your business? You are not alone. From a recent survey of consultants these are some of the top challenges they said they faced. So in response I've decided to run a 1 day workshop, which will shed light on how you can overcome some of these challenges. Date: 26 April Time: 0900-1630 Venue: Heckfield Place, Near Reading Investment: Early bird saver of only £147+vat To find out more go to April Workshop or register your interest by emailing me at bev@onestepfurther.co.uk with "A Pulse And A Chequebook Are Not Enough" in the subject line, as an indication you would like to reserve a place. So go ahead and put April 26 in your calendar and send me that email. (I'd love to run this event in the North of UK too, so let me know if you're interested, where would be a good location and I'll see what I can arrange for May) ********************************************************************* Global Phone Conference** Are you a coach or a consultant that offers coaching as part of your services? Then you'll want to sign up for the Global Phone Conference on 5-7 April. Here are just some of the things you'll learn. * How to use the power of word of mouth recommendations to build your business * How to write newsletters effectively that produce readers and buyers * Advanced marketing skills that will grow your practice faster than you imagined * Easy to follow guidance on creating products that people want * Market your events so that they sell out time and time again * Find, win and deliver lucrative corporate contracts * Leverage your knowledge not your time * How to build your business by being an associate Find out more and register at Global Phone Conference P.S. Yours truly will be running a teleclass at the conference at 17.45 on 7 April called How to Leverage Your Knowledge Not Your Time Personal Reflections Last Wednesday we held another Business Unusual event. My co-host Linda Neve and I thought long and hard about whether to go ahead with the event because we had fewer sign ups than we had hoped for. We decided to ask those that had already signed up, for their thoughts and overwhelmingly, they said yes let's go ahead and so, in true "listen to your clients" style, we went ahead. I'm so glad we did. We had 10 guests in all plus Linda and I. The presentations and activities we had planned went down really well and the comments we received were great - constructive and without exception positive (except for the lack of sausages but that's another story!) Here's a few of the comments our guests gave us "I enjoyed the evening and very much liked the different format. I found it useful and got some good ideas, hope I was able to help other people. I would recommend it as being different, more interesting, and more likely to be of help to your business than normal events." "I just wanted to thank you both for a very enjoyable evening last night. It was a group that I felt really comfortable in and felt that I could contribute to. I know that this type of environment doesn't just happen, but takes a lot of planning and the right people managing the event too. I will definitely come along to another meeting and will also tell my network about your group." I learnt lots from this whole process... 1. Numbers aren't everything 2. Quality counts 3. Being different, in the right context, works 4. Messages need to be clear, obvious and repeated a million times 5. Helping people is attractive 6. Helping people creates a positive environment 7. Enthusiasm goes a long way 8. When you ask your clients they give you the answer We are still deciding whether Business Unusual will continue although my gut feel is * there is a need * there is already a small band of "raving fans" * there are huge opportunities to educate and inform about how business starts with making a connection * CARBing© will be the next big thing (If you want to know what CARBing© is come along to future events!) "Business Unusual is a fantastic opportunity to build relationships with, and tap into the resources of, like minded people. It's stimulating, fun and gives you a rare opportunity to network naturally without any pressure. The essence of Business Unusual is to be yourself and connect with others." So if you see Business Unusual in the future perhaps you'll consider coming along? Best Regards Bev bev@onestepfurther.co.uk +44 (0) 1344 625713 PAY IT FORWARD & Tell a Friend Who do you know that's left the corporate world and set up business as a consultant? Have you received *Quickstart* from a colleague and would like to receive future issues? We grow by recommendation so why not invite others to join the *Quickstart* community so they can subscribe immediately and get their free ecourse Discover the 5 Most Incorrect Assumption that Independent Business Consultants Make. Go to www.OneStepFurther.co.uk Thank you.





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