Find your Niche IN Marketing
While the term "niche marketing" refers to focusing on a
particular segment of the marketplace (i.e., athletes for
sporting equipment, etc.), finding your niche IN marketing
addesses the more personal decisions marketers are faced with in
their work. The first thing any marketer learns about are the
tools at their disposal. For internet marketers these tools
include opt-in email lists, banners, links, article placements,
forums and joint ventures. Does this mean that a marketer should
use all of these tools?
In theory, yes. The ideal marketer writes one clear,
sought-after article per week, has a newsletter subscription of
active, opt-in readers of 5,000 or more, has at least 100
quality reciprocal links pointing to their site, participates in
and contributes to several forums weekly and has at least two
joint-venture deals. Plus, they regularly run classified ads,
solo ads and FFA ads... they also update their site, their blog
and so on and so forth, ad infinitum.
If this "ideal" sounds overwhelming that's because it is. No
single human could do all that work in one week, never mind
every week. Nor would they want to. What's more, successful
marketers never do that much work. But many marketers,
especially those new to internet marketing, in an attempt to "be
all things to all people" feel compelled to try. Which is the
real reason so many marketers work so hard, but fail to make the
kind of sales they should.
Because in the process of doing all this work, they are actually
scattering their efforts and, as a result, weakening its
effects. It is better to focus on using one or two tools -- a
much more realistic goal -- than to try to please everyone.
Think about it. Of the two, which would YOU choose: To do five
things poorly or two well.
But which tools should one choose? Ah, that's the question.
Successful marketers know: They have the answer. And the answer
is annoying, being at once both complex and simple: Whatever
works best for the individual.
Let's face it. Not all of us are natural-born writers. While
some marketers seem to churn out articles as easily as cows
produce milk, others struggle with simply writing the proverbial
"full and complete sentence," never mind putting together an
article or, even more so, a whole article campaign. And a few
would rather drink bleach mixed with hot coals than write an
article.
This is not to say one must have years of writing experience in
order to be successful with writing articles. If a marketer has
always found writing ideas down as a good way to clarify things;
if they find it easy to think of ideas; or even if they just
always considered themselves a frustrated writer, then chances
are, they will flourish if they focus on articles. For others
articles may only prove to be a colossal waste of their time--
time that could be better spent marketing successfully.
And, essentially, that's the key.
The tool that works is the one that appeals to the marketer, the
one that they find is easy, natural, and enjoy using. It doesn't
even seem like work. Finding those tools, focusing on them and
going back to them again and again is why the successful
marketers become so. New marketers need only explore the various
options and watch their own responses to know what will work for
them.
But what about those that can't seem to find ANY tool that
works? Are they hopeless? Not at all. One fellow marketer
recently said that he didn't feel like he was marketing. All he
did was visit forums and place his link in his signature file.
That was his only form of advertising and he makes a good income
from his site. He hadn't thought of it as marketing because it
was something he did anyway-- he loved visiting forums and spent
hour upon hour at them, each and every day.
But he wasn't marketing.
Instead, he organically created his own version of marketing.
Best of all, he found a successful marketing tool through his
individual preferences. For some people that's the answer:
Finding an entirely new or little used form of marketing that
works and optimizing it. Many gurus start out with just that
problem. They end up 'gurus' because they found a solution.
Another important point that needs to be addressed is the "Focus
Factor." The Focus Factor is two-fold:
LEARN TO WEAR BLINDERS. So many new marketers lose steam when
they see an ad for, this or that "NEW Unbeatable System To Drive
Traffic To Your Site..." We've all seen them. Many of us ARE
them. And each marketer has followed at least one or two of
these at some point early in their careers, until they realize
there IS no quick, magical way of side-stepping the basic
process.
REPETITION One of the best pieces of advice there is in internet
marketing is, "There's Strength in Repetition". That is, if it
works, do it again. And again and again and again. The classic
line of advertising (and, thus, marketing, too) is, "It's all a
numbers game: Create enough traffic and the sales will come."
Because the audience is so much bigger, this is even truer with
internet marketing. It's all about creating enough links (using
whatever method you prefer) to bring enough traffic to create
enough sales. And that takes many links, links everywhere. The
more links (and the more permanent the links) the better.
So the most important factors to remember are:
1) Find what works and it won't feel like work. 2) Put blinders
on rather than be distracted. 3) Strength In Repetition.
So whether it is article writing, creating a newsletter
subscription base or some entirely new form of marketing, each
marketer can succeed by finding their niche IN marketing and
making the most of it.--mo