EDITORIAL FEATURE
How to Dominate
Your Market and Get Rich in the Niche
By Howard Partridge
“If you try to be everything to everyone, you
won’t be anything to anyone!” - Zig Ziglar
I
f you want to dominate a niche, you
first have to know what your niche
is. Do you know that when you try to
be everything to everyone, you won’t
be anything to anyone? You want to be
a big fish in a small pond, rather than a
minnow in a huge ocean. So, who is your
perfect target niche client?
Positioning and domination is a result
of being UNIQUE.
Let’s look at three companies that have
done this well:
1. Whole Foods They recognized the
trend of natural food enthusiasts
(target market) and decided to take
up a position in that space.
2. Starbucks They created a unique experience around coffee, a commodity
that has been around for thousands
of years.
My good friend and business consultant, Ellen Rohr, explains a simple way
to find out. Think about your very best
customers. You know them; they never 3. Harley-Davidson Whether you’re a
biker or not, you must concede that
complain about price; they always pay on
there’s a unique experience around
time; and they are a pleasure to work with.
owning and riding a hog! That could
That picture describes your target niche
be good or bad, depending on your
market. Of course, in your phenomenal
view! LOL!!!
marketing plan, you will determine the
demographics (age, gender, income, etc.)
and psychographics (purchasing habits, Being unique means you can charge more.
etc.) of your perfect target market.
Why do you need to charge more? Because working 24/7 just barely scraping
by is not a phenomenal life. RememDomination is a result of positioning.
In the classic marketing book “Position- ber, the only reason your business exists
ing” by Jack Trout and Al Ries, they de- is to help you achieve your life’s goals.
scribe positioning as a slot in a target Why doesn’t the average person shop at
market’s mind much like a file in a file Whole Foods? The answer is because
cabinet. To illustrate this, let me ask you of the cost. I personally love to shop at
a couple of questions. When I say laun- Whole Foods when I am home because
dry detergent, what brand first comes to they offer the natural foods that I want. I
mind? For most, it’s Tide. When I say pay more but I get what I want all at the
soft drink, what brand comes to mind same place. My wife points out that I
could get certain items cheape