Over the years, I’ve worked with all kinds of entrepreneurs: coaches, consultants, ghostwriters, designers, architects, startups, healthcare, web developers and yoga teachers and SaaS founders: there’s been quite a bit of variation in terms of type and size of business.
And on the surface, that looks like bad marketing, because if I am ‘for everyone in general’, my marketing would say "I’m not for anyone in particular".
Except I’m not for ‘everyone in general’.
Sure, I like working with coaches and consultants and nerdy people in tech – but I don’t necessarily think in terms of ‘niche’ or ‘industry’ or ‘demographic’.
What my clients do as a business owner can be whatever you want – but I can only work with you if you and I have shared views on items such as values, integrity, and truthfulness.
And, very importantly, I will only work with people for whom their business needs to do something useful: a business that exists for more reasons than just to make money.
That’s how I define my ‘niche’: the psychographic make-up that you and I have, and whether or not we’re aligned in how we see certain things that matter a lot to us.
That’s who I’m for: people who see business and service and money and marketing in a way similar to me: a force for good, to be used strategically and with purpose and intent and integrity.
Here’s why this is useful for your own marketing:
Your values, and those that your company embodies, influence the experience your clients have with your business.
When you then lead with those values, in all your marketing and sales efforts, you’ll start to attract the kind of people who seek a provider who has certain values in common with them.
So when I work with clients to grow their business, an important job is to figure out what experience your customers have had, what that says about your values, and how that informs the communication (i.e. marketing and sales) you should be putting out in your messaging.
Because when you have the right values in common, the sale is already half closed, before you even talk to a new customer, because you’ll already have a lot of rapport.
That’s why I believe an ethical, for-good business should always lead with values.
Makes the entire process of marketing and selling so much easier – and, you’ll consistently end up talking to people you love dealing with.