Lesson 3: Niching

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00:01 Do not skip this one. I know you've heard everything about niches. I know you're like, I don't want a niche or I want a niche or I don't know how to pick my niche.

00:10 Do not skip this one. Because if you are debating on whether you should niche or not, or whether you're debating on what your niche is, this is going to be helpful.

00:17 Please do not skip this one. I understand you've heard everything. Everything about niching and you're worried about people not working with you because you haven't niched.

00:28 I want to give you a different way to think about niching. I promise you may get something out of this.

00:33 Maybe. Hopefully. Fingers crossed. Okay. So, here's the next question. To niche or not to niche. What is a niche? Niching is a way of communicating.

00:42 To the world, you specialize in a specific area for a specific audience. Instead of being the jack-of-all-trades, master of none, you are establishing yourself as a master who exclusively performs this one thing.

00:54 You're type of service. I don't necessarily mean you only perform bookkeeping, you only perform advisory, but there is something that you do extremely well.

01:02 For example, for me, it's Squarespace. I do Squarespace really, really well. I know I am I know all the buttons on Squarespace It's not the only thing I do, but I am definitely a advanced Squarespace designer.

01:18 Real-life examples. Let's talk about, uh, hopefully a lot of you know, In-N-Out versus McDonald's. On average, an In-N-Out restaurant makes two times as much as a McDonald's restaurant.

01:29 Um, so here's a fun story. Back in the day, uh, McDonald's had a, had this, like, fun, uh, oh, fun, uhm, pro-promo where you could go to a McDonald's restaurant and choose your bun, your patty, uhm.

01:46 Different aioli sauces and vegetables and all the stuff that you wanted to put on your burgers, uhm, and it tanked.

01:53 It did. Terribly. Uhm, no one wanted to go to McDonald's and, like, pick and choose their different, you know, things, uhm, and you'll notice that they don't have it anymore.

02:04 In-N-Out, if you're unfamiliar with it, it's a kind of West Coast burger chain that is just really, really good. I know the fries aren't good, but if you get them animal style, they're really good.

02:14 Uhm, In-N-Out has a very, very simple menu. They have, like, three, like, I want a number one, a number two, they have, like, three packaged menu items, uhm, shakes, burgers, and fries, like, that's it.

02:27 They have a few secret menu item things, but they're not even listed on the menu. You've got to, like, know a guy.

02:32 When you compare the two different brands, and when you compare the two different promos that they've had, In-N-Out hasn't really done anything that unique, but they make a ton of money because when you go to In-N-Out, you know exactly what you want, you don't really need to look at the menu, uhm, and

02:47 it's the same every time. Versus McDonald's, who, when they did this promo, they lost sight of who comes to McDonald's and why they go to McDonald's.

02:56 I, I love the fries at McDonald's, but if I go to McDonald's, I know what I'm getting. I'm not going there to make some fancy burger.

03:03 I'm not going there to have a special aioli. You're going to McDonald's because you're on a road trip, or, you know, you had too much fun last night and you need fries and chicken nuggets.

03:15 No one's going to McDonald's for their fancy burgers. And McDonald's lost sight of that. And this kind of comes back to our brand conversation.

03:22 Your brand is your business's personality. And when you do something strange, like McDonald's having some fancy gourmet burgers on their menu, people are confused.

03:31 And it's not necessarily that people don't want a gourmet burger, but it's not why they go to you. It's not who, it's not what they go to you for.

03:38 So, if I liken this to an accounting firm example, it'd be like if you started offering, uhm, legal services to write contracts.

03:48 It's not necessarily that business owners are your clients don't need contracts, but they're thinking you're an accountant. Why would I go for you to write my contracts?

03:59 I'd, I'd kind of rather go to a lawyer. I don't, do you, do you have a law degree? Like, do you understand, like, what I mean?

04:05 I, am I gonna be covered? Uhm, yeah. It's strange. It's off-putting. And so that's why having a brand, having a niche, understanding your audience, understanding who you provide services for, understanding what services you provide, it all kind of comes back together.

04:21 It creates a clear understanding for you as far as what services you should come out with, and a clear understanding for your audience as far as why they are going to you.

04:29 So, next thing I want to talk about is possible niches. Uhm, this is kind of the area where people get a lot of tripped up when it comes to okay, I think I want a niche, uhm, but I don't really know what to niche in.

04:42 Uhm, that's it. There's not always a good spot for my bubble, uhm, I'm just gonna put it there. Possible niches.

04:51 Your niche should do not have to be something super specific like photographers or specific, I mean, here I have a list of specific niches.

04:59 Restaurants, blue collar industries, shopping boutiques, digital marketing agencies, real estate agents, products, service-based businesses, e-commerce, artists, sports. It doesn't always have to be super specific.

05:08 It can be more general like a startup, a small business, a local business. The idea here is to figure out how to talk to your audience, um, how to create content, how to figure out what am I supposed to say to them because you're going to find down the road, down this course, when you're writing content

05:26 , how you talk to a restaurant is going to be very different than how you talk to a startup, which is going to be very different than how you talk to a product-based business.

05:36 Well, unless it's a product, product-based business startup. Uhm, but that's also going to be very different from how you talk to artists.

05:42 All of these different people are going to have different pain points. And here's the thing, if you're, let's say you go through each list and you create a post addressing every single pain point.

05:52 In order for someone to find a post that eventually resonates with them, they're going to have to read through all 15 of your posts.

05:58 And the idea that someone's going to read through all 15 posts and randomly land on the one that resonates resonates with them is unlikely.

06:06 As opposed to writing 15-15 posts that target one specific audience, and that specific audience lands on a post, and it always resonates with them.

06:16 Do you kind of see where I'm going with that? When you have a post, when you're writing content that always- these relates with your audience, they're more likely to engage with it consistently, and you can build that relationship a lot quicker.

06:26 Benefits of niching. So, like I said, I mean, stand out. Your content is going to stand out as they're scrolling through their feed.

06:37 When they have a post that's written specifically to them, that's going to resonate. Expert. Since you work exclusively with a specific group of people.

06:44 We'll see you you will be seen as an expert in their industry. All of you have purchased, um, admission to this course.

06:51 There's a million other marketing courses out there. But the reason you're here is because I am an expert in marketing for accounting firms.

06:58 That is why you are here is because I am an expert. In this specific field and, and addressing your specific need.

07:05 And so when you're an expert in that specific field, in that specific need, people are going to come, you've come to you for that specific reason.

07:13 And what we're trying to do is trying to make that connection. But if you don't establish. If you yourself as an expert in anything, then you're going to quite easily get drowned out with all the noise around you.

07:23 Quicker conversion. Just the best example I have of this is, uh, we have a two week web design process. That is unheard of in the world of web design.

07:32 There are so many times I've had consultations with clients where they're like, oh, like, debating back and forth and, um, they're like, okay, like, maybe I'll do it or, you know, I'll get back to you in a little bit and by time they get back to me, we could have already built their website.

07:44 We build websites very quickly here and that is because we have worked with so much. We've been doing this for five years.

07:52 When you work with ones, and the same is going to apply to a bookkeeping room. I'm not just saying this because it's marketing.

07:57 When you work with one specific client with one specific audience, you're going to know the apps. You're going to know all the pain points that are going to come up.

08:04 You're going to know. You're going to be able to address those before they even happen. So, for example, let's say, I know this is a wild example, but let's say you've niched in people that exclusively, I think, well, uuuh, Wells Fargo was the bank.

08:18 There's one bank that is really terrible for accountants to work with because there's no, like, accountant login. Let's say you niche it with specific, well, specifically Wells Fargo client, like, bank account owners.

08:32 And you know the pain points that are going to come up when you try to pull bank statements from Wells Fargo.

08:38 You already have an e-book downloaded that you send to your client saying, Hey, this is, these are going to be the issues that come up.

08:43 Here's how we're going to handle it. You already have a process for like, Hey, here's how I'm going to need access to your bank account.

08:49 You're. You already have a process for here, though. How I'm going to need to pull bank statements because you already know the issues that come up when you work with Wells Fargo.

08:56 Quicker conversion. You're eliminating pain points. They don't exist because you're an expert in that niche in that field. Lastly, you can charge more. Thanks for Because you stand out as an expert because you have quicker conversions because you can address pain points before they even come up.

09:12 You can charge more. People are going to pay you not to have all these headaches and all these little issues that come up that are so frustrating.

09:20 It is going to be worth it. I mean, I work with accountants. My background is in accounting.

09:33 I I chose this because it's a, it's an industry I like. It's my preferred clientele. I have education in it.

09:42 Um, but you can also pick your, pick your, uh, niche based off your expertise. So theoretically, I could also niche myself, media books as.

09:52 guys. A Squarespace, uh, Squarespace Expert. No specific industry. Just I'm a Squarespace Expert. And you can do the same thing.

10:01 You can niche yourself as saying, you are a bill.com expert. You are. You are a gusto expert. You are ADP expert.

10:08 There is a market for those things. And if anything, you may even, may even be able to branch out beyond just people that need your services.

10:15 So for example, let's say you've niched yourself into ADP and you do payroll for. Or, you know, all these different companies.

10:24 But then you can also help bookkeepers and accountants who don't want to do payroll services. And maybe they outsource, like, white label that to you.

10:32 Or maybe they have questions about ADP and they're constantly finding themselves confused about the platform. You can offer, like, office hours or, like, consultations to bookkeepers for your knowledge in ADP.

10:45 Do not think of niching as you have to pick an industry and only work with that industry. Niching is being known as an expe- expert in something, something just beyond your industry.

10:56 Umm, this is kind of a fun little exercise. All right. So. Um, that'll sometimes do if people are debating between a few things.

11:05 Get Excel, list out your expertise, list out your hobbies and passions, list out your preferred clientele, and then see if there's kind of like a way you can.

11:14 Um, you mix and match that really makes it fun. Not saying you have to pull from every single category, but maybe you want to do bookkeeping services for, Spiritual women.

11:24 Maybe you want to do cost accounting for, um, local sports centers. Maybe you got a lot of sports shops. Um, maybe you want to do payroll for, um, tech savvy travelers.

11:40 Maybe you want to do payroll for nomads. They have all these, like, contractors and people. And you want to help them manage their systems more.

11:46 Or efficiently. Kind of play around with these, the, uh, little categories and they can kind of get your brain flowing, um, when it comes to brainstorming different options.

11:54 option. Let's talk about I'll see you Holly, our case- steady. Polly needs a niche. Polly's our case- steady. There's no way I'm letting her get away without picking a niche.

12:06 What do we know about Polly? Polly has 25 years- of experience working in corporate accounting. For much of that time she- brand the peril department of marketing agencies.

12:18 While she loves working with marketing agencies, she does not want to limit herself to one industry. I'm sure a lot of you can relate to this.

12:25 She also feels comfortable offering bookkeeping- services. She does not know if she wants to offer tax services yet, maybe just 1099s. Totally reasonable.

12:33 So, there we go. We have some fun facts about Poly. Umm, last bullet point, where should Poly niche? Now, here's a thing.

12:44 Let's kind of consider, there's no, there's no right answer. This is just kind of a fun exercise to kind of look through and think, okay, who is she?

12:52 Do I relate to her? How can we get her different services to work together? So, she has a bunch of experience working across corporate accounting, and a lot of that time she did payroll.

13:02 Um, while she loves to work with marketing agencies, she doesn't want to love it herself. So, maybe we don't want to pick a specific industry, but we know she likes payroll.

13:12 She knew we know she has a lot of experience in payroll. Just Just, She also has to offer bookkeeping services.

13:17 Is there a way that she can niche herself as a bookkeeper that offers payroll, or should she maybe niche herself as a payroll expert that also offers bookkeeping services?

13:28 For those of you that are maybe newer to the accounting industry, Umm, there's plenty of places that offer bookkeeping that also offer payroll.

13:35 Umm, plenty of places that specialize in bookkeeping that also offer payroll. There aren't a lot of places out there that specialize in payroll that also offer bookkeeping.

13:46 If polyd- All it will. Love's payroll and she wants to do more payroll. That's what she should lead with. She wants more of those clients.

13:53 She wants to be known as an expert in that field. Lead with payroll. And say you also offer bookkeeping. There's going to be businesses out there that have.

14:03 Messes of payroll departments. And then there's also going to be accountants and bookkeepers out there who don't want to deal with payroll.

14:10 She now has not limited herself at all. If anything, she has opened and expanded her opportunities to work with. Small businesses and a- accountants.

14:20 This is a win-win. This is a way that you can kind of have fun with niecing and try to figure out a way to make your niche work for you.

14:26 She does not know if she wants to offer tax services yet, maybe just 1099s. Fun fact, but okay, let's just focus on the payroll and the bookkeeping piece right now.

14:35 Like I said, there's no right answer. Poly success is going to be dependent on many factors. So whether Polly decides to niche in payroll or bookkeeping, it's not going to determine whether she's a huge success or whether she meets her goals or not.

14:49 Like I said, this is just one factor in the- I mean, long list of things that are going to determine that.

14:54 Um, they're like, there's going to be many ways she can niche and be successful. What is one way, not necessarily the right way, there's going to be multiple ways.

15:02 But what is one way Polly can find the most happiness and success. And this is the problem that I think we'll do when we're picking a niche or we're picking a business name or a domain or a brand.

15:12 We feel like this decision is going to be make or break. We feel like there's two right, two routes. One is right and one is wrong.

15:19 And that is not it at all. Both of the routes can be right. There may be. One that's a little bit better, but it is going to be determined on so many factors.

15:28 And even if you make the wrong decision, there are going to be plenty of opportunities down the road to make it right.

15:34 And what I want, what I really am trying to say here is do not stress so much about this decision.

15:40 That you end up not doing anything, that you're frozen and you do nothing. Um, because if anything, I see that more than people making the wrong decision.

15:50 People are so scared to make a decision that they do nothing and that is, that is the worst decision. Um.

15:56 You, they never build the website. They never give their business like a name. They just kind of operate solo. They never pick a niche.

16:03 They never do all these other things. Um, make a decision. Go forward with it. And just know that there are going to be so many opportunities down the road to compensate.

16:12 For maybe a little bad decision in the beginning, um, that you'll be able to make it right. So here's the thing.

16:18 Again, there's no right answer, but a good answer that seems like it could be a good route is for poly to niche and payroll.

16:27 And then just offer. Bookkeeping services. She can offer bookkeeping services and expand to tax if she needs, but branding herself as a payroll expert is going to attract clients that can likely afford her prices and bring in more of the work she loves.

16:43 Let's talk about So I totally understand the issue of, okay, I have no, like, this is all great information, but I still have no idea who I want to niche with or what I want to do for Niecing. Um, it's okay. You don't need to have a niche, like.

17:00 And start and open your business with a niche. Um, but I would try to make, take steps towards that. I would try to have a plan, try to have a deadline.

17:10 Let's say you want to have a niche within your first year or have at least be decided on a niche.

17:14 That is a good route to go. Um. You don't have to have a niche now, but actively really be working towards picking a niche.

17:21 Um, what if I want to change my niche later on? That's okay. There's nothing wrong with changing your niche later on.

17:28 Um, the only challenge, again, if you've listened to the. The lesson I did on branding, it can be like a rebrand.

17:37 Like I said, if I were to rebrand from doing marketing for accountants to marketing for photographers, that's going to be a rebrand.

17:44 So it is going to be a big decision to change your niche later on. But if you are going to change your niche, it's, again, going to be similar to rebranding.

17:52 Why are you changing your niche? Are you changing your niche because this audience truly cannot afford your services? Or are they truly not a good fit for you?

18:01 Because you don't like the work. Um, understand. That, you know, it's going to be a big change later on if you do have to change your niche.

18:10 Is X, Y, or Z a good niche? Um, now here's the thing. When it comes to picking, whether a good niche versus bad niche, just like high level.

18:19 Let's say you want a niche in, like, dog walkers? Okay, like, that's not a great. They probably don't have, they probably don't need book, I mean, I don't know, maybe they do, but they probably don't have enough income, um, where they need like, a bookkeeper specifically for their dog walking service

18:37 business. Um, there are going to be plenty of businesses out there that need bookkeepers, um, that can't afford your services.

18:44 There's going to be plenty of business out there that can afford your services. Um, really what is- what it's going to be is once you figure out your niche, figuring out a way to market it and figure out how to do what you want to do for those people.

18:56 So, like I said, I mean, if you pick a nation down the- down the line, you realize, okay, these people can't afford my services.

19:04 Is there something- else you can do with this niche where you can still work with them and it would avoid a rebrand.

19:11 For example, let's say, um, like, non-profits. Non-profits, there's a lot of people that really like working with that niche. It's a great niche.

19:17 Um, it's a very specific niche. They have a very- A lot of very specific needs, but they don't always have a huge budget when it comes to outsourcing their accounting.

19:29 Um, so that is a challenge that a lot of people face. And so what is another way that if you want to serve non-buzz profits, if you're finding this is an issue, what is another way that you can continue to work with them or bring in some income until you get that, that good client list where you feel

19:47 like, okay, I have a bunch of nonprofits that can really afford my services. Maybe you start a course. Maybe you start.

19:53 You start offering like office hours or consultations to help those nonprofits that need your help but can't afford your services and maybe it's just something you do in the meantime.

20:04 So along with that, getting to kind of really know your audience. Doing a lot of really great market research is going to be something that you want to do upfront.

20:13 Um, and when you're deciding on your niche.