“Every single person I know who is successful at what they do is successful because they love doing it.” ~Joe Penna
I can’t help but notice a trend among web-based businesses when it comes to branding and marketing. There are more and more niche-based services that target a very specific audience. I’m talking about experts that offer “marketing courses for jewelry designers” or coaches that focus on people in “executive leadership roles”. I see hair stylists who exclusively blog about easy hair care tips for stay-at-home-moms and artists who paint and sell acrylic portraits of cats.
An entire generation has embraced creative self-employment
It makes sense. Here’s what happened: Over the past few years, an entire generation has embraced creative self-employment and as a result the web space has become overcrowded with solopreneurs, freelancers and professionals who discovered the beauty of working from home by selling their works and services (mainly) online. In order for these businesses to thrive, many self-employed creatives took to carving out a market niche for themselves. They focused their business on a market that was yet untapped or at least less crammed with competitors.
Thanks to genius social media apps, easy to install shopping cart systems, pre-designed website templates and drag-and-drop email marketing software, the world of online commerce has become a playground for all of us (including myself). And admittedly, the niche-thinking seemed to offer a great way to stand out from the crowd.
Market Niche Strategy: Intuition versus rational thinking
Only that we didn’t reckon with our intuition. You see, the intuitive mind is a gift and a powerful force when it comes to leading us to a place of belonging and purpose.
As a self-employed species we’re in charge of operations, marketing, administration and business development – in other words, we’re responsible. What often happens when you hold yourself accountable is that you start letting rational thinking take over. It happens gradually and unconsciously.
Let’s take, for example, the artists who identified a market niche and got into the “acrylic portraits of cats business.” To him, it was the smart thing to do. Maybe he took the advice of a trusted mentor who suggested filling a niche in the market. Or maybe our painter attended a marketing seminar for creative entrepreneurs; the seminar leader recommended against adopting a shotgun approach and instead encouraged participants to narrow down their audience. And our painter took that advice to heart. (Or was it his rational mind that pretended to be his heart?)
Creating a business that’s aligned with your purpose
Let me be clear. I’m not against discovering a market niche. However, if you enter that niche market with the sole purpose of carving out a way for your business to succeed, you’ll most likely end up with the opposite result. Maybe you’ll still see a nice turnover, but at what expense? Feeling unsatisfied and unfulfilled?
Building your business on counter-intuitive decisions carries the risk of you feeling discontent in the long run. However, creating a business and a brand that’s aligned with your purpose and your mission provides a breeding ground for self-fulfillment AND business success.
So next time you’re stewing over a market niche that you could enter ask yourself: “Is my heart in it?”
photo credit: flatworldsedge via photopin cc
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