Think Small
Archives: Daily Issues
- WEALTHY: Zeroing in on business success (Bob Bly)
- HEALTHY: Stay mentally and physically fit into your 80s
- WISE: A leading sports attorney on developing expertise
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- You don’t have to be a natural to be a natural (Michael Masterson)
- My biggest gift-giving challenge (Alexis Siemon)
- Add "protean" to your vocabulary
15 Minutes A Day To Personal Freedom…
Just think, reaching your goals this year could make the difference…
Between retiring with just enough to get by… or with a millionaire’s portfolio…
Between having a job you dread going to every day…. or the job you’ve always dreamed about…
- Charlie Byrne
"Very narrow areas of expertise can be very productive. Develop your own profile. Develop your own niche."
Leigh Steinberg
Think Small!
By Bob Bly
Over the years, I’ve met dozens of people who want to become speakers, consultants, coaches, TV show hosts, or best-selling book authors. Nine out of 10 have told me that they want to speak, write, or coach people in "leadership" … "success" … "motivation" … or some similarly broad topic.
These wannabes are thinking big – pursuing broad areas in which millions of potential readers, clients, and customers are seeking advice. And I can virtually guarantee you that most of them are going to fail miserably.
The problem is that they are thinking big – when they should be thinking small.
What do I mean by "thinking small"?
"Micro-niching."
My friend, speaker Wally Bock, defines a micro-niche as "the intersection of a skill or discipline with an industry."
So "customer service" is not a micro-niche.
"Banking" is not a micro-niche.
But "customer service skills for bank tellers" IS.
Why should you narrow the focus of your business – and target a small micro-niche – rather than offer a big idea, service, or product that everyone wants?
There are two reasons why micro-niching is a smart business strategy.
The first is competition.
If you want to position yourself as a "customer service guru," there’s a lot of competition. Everybody and his brother are trying to cash in on the need for customer service training. And the barriers to entry in this field are low.
On the other hand, if you want to become known as the "customer service guru" in the banking industry, there’s a lot less competition – because it’s a narrow niche.
The second reason why micro-niching is a good strategy is credibility.
Let’s say you have worked as a bank teller for the last 11 years. If you proclaim yourself to be an expert in customer service, I’m going to be skeptical. And, more than likely, you’ll have a difficult time proving your claim to me, your skeptical prospect.
But if you proclaim yourself to be an expert in customer service for the banking industry … AND you tell me that you have over a decade of experience in retail banking … well, you’re instantly credible and believable.
As Michael Masterson said in Message #1865, generalists are going the way of the dodo and the dinosaur. Customers want to deal with vendors who are perceived as experts in their field.
A few years ago, I opened the newspaper to the "Dear Abby" column and saw that a reader had written to express his disapproval of the way Abby had answered a particular question. His letter began with the most wonderfully sarcastic line: "Dear Abby – How nice it must be to know everything about everything!"
Your customers are smart. They realize that no one can possibly know everything about everything, or even about most things. The broader the area of expertise you claim for yourself, the less believable you are.
By micro-niching, you become the "credible expert." People believe you more readily … and want to do business with you because you’re a specialist in exactly the service they need.
It’s a win-win situation.
They get more accurate advice, better service, and confidence in you, their expert advisor.
You get more business, at higher fees, with clients who respect you and listen to what you tell them.
By the way, the narrower and more specialized your micro-niche, the higher the fees you will command – and the easier it will be to get leads and close sales.
For instance, offering your services as a "marketing consultant" is a tough field to break into, because so many people peddle marketing advice. Positioning yourself as a "software marketing consultant" has been a great micro-niche … except more and more people are doing it, so the field is getting crowded.
But my friend Fred Gleeck positions himself as a marketing consultant for the self-storage industry. There is little or no competition – and Fred owns most of that market. After all, how many marketing advisors are interested in self-storage – or even know anything about marketing self-storage services?
Precious few, of course.
So the demand for self-storage marketing advice greatly outweighs the supply – and Fred can pretty much name his own price.
Now, maybe micro-niching won’t bring you the fame of a Dr. Phil or a Dr. Ruth. But other than that, what’s not to like?
So take my advice – and find yourself a micro-niche today.
It will do your business good.
[Ed. Note: Bob Bly is a popular Early to Rise columnist, self-made multi-millionaire, and the author of 70 books. He is also the editor of ETR's Direct Marketing Masters Edition - a program to help you start your own successful direct-mail business.
Check out Bob's website to sign up for his free e-letter.]
Uncover Your Fortune In This Hidden Real Estate Bargain Town
Real estate markets go through cycles. Today, many US markets have hit their highest peak, while others are just starting to climb. Right now, I’m building fortunes not just despite of, but because of this fact.
Following vigorous research and travel, I’ve managed to sift through hundreds of local US real estate markets…and uncover the 12 Best Value Markets in the nation. Find out which surprising cities made the grade, why…and how you can cash in today.
Justin Ford
Editor, Main Street Millionaire
Can Practice Turn You Into the Next Tiger Woods?
By Michael Masterson
In Message #382, I talked about Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan. If you had to make a list of the greatest athletes alive today, these two would certainly be at or near the top. But what is most remarkable about them is not their natural talent but their work ethic.
As I said in that article, "I think it’s fair to say that anyone who gets to the top of his field is a hard worker. And that’s probably why most Americans admire people who work hard. I certainly do. … I believe there is a direct relationship between hard work and success. Those who work harder achieve more.
"Yes, talent helps. But talent is not something we can choose.
"You can’t increase your natural talents, but you can work hard to get better. And sometimes if you work hard enough, you will arrive at a point where your skills will look like natural talent."
In Message #1875, I told you how memory expert K. Anders Ericsson discovered that people who work the hardest at perfecting their skills become the top performers in their fields. He also discovered that these top performers practice differently than most of us. He noticed that they are very focused and attentive during practice, and that they have the habit of setting specific objectives and analyzing their performance accordingly.
Ericsson calls this self-checking, goal-oriented process the "secret trick" of their talent.
Learn to practice this way, and you will reach your personal goals that much quicker.
Make sure you set aside ample time in your schedule to practice the skills you need to achieve your goals – whether that means making cold-calls to potential clients … reciting an upcoming speech in front of the mirror … or playing the trumpet for 45 minutes every morning. And don’t just put in the time. Aim for perfection. Pay close attention to what you’re doing. And keep track of your progress.
You may not become another Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan … but you’ll be the best you can possibly be. And to the outside world, you’ll look like a "natural."
Reader Feedback: "Thank you for a fabulous newsletter."
"Just wanted to thank you for a fabulous newsletter. It’s informative, short, easy-to-read, and filled with useful information. I look forward to reading ETR every morning."
E.L.
Toronto, Ontario
Exercise for Your Body Creates the Building Blocks for Your Brain
By Jon Herring
Walking home from work last week, I passed my neighbor, Tom, out for his brisk daily walk. We stopped to chat for a few minutes. Tom’s 86 years old, and I’m not only impressed with his fitness (he walks two to three miles most days), but also with his mental sharpness. He is always quick with a joke, he remembers the details of conversations we had weeks ago, and his questions about my fiancee and my work are insightful.
I thought about Tom when I read a recent article in The Wall Street Journal about our brains and aging.
It’s well known that our brainpower (and brain volume) begins a slow, natural decline starting in our 40s, with memory and cognition suffering the most. Popular belief is that challenging our brains – with exercises like crossword puzzles, reading, playing musical instruments, etc. – helps keep us mentally sharp in old age. I believe this is true. But we now know that physical exercise can be even more effective.
Until just a few years ago, it was held that old brains do not grow new neurons. But that assumption has now been overturned. And a new study published in Gerontology has shown that, in elderly patients, as little as three hours a week of aerobic exercise increases the brain’s volume of gray matter (neurons) and white matter (connections between neurons). Not only did the researchers notice these differences in MRI results, they found that their subjects also improved in memory and cognitive scores.
So if you want to be able to do mental gymnastics into old age, it might pay to take up real gymnastics today. Or at least, to get out and take a brisk walk five or six times a week … like my spry neighbor Tom.
The Worst of the Holidays: The Secret Santa Nightmare
By Alexis Siemon, ETR’s Search Engine Marketing Specialist
My most dreaded holiday tradition is the Secret Santa. Whether it be at the workplace, school, or with family, the ritual of the Secret Santa is a total nightmare. This is mainly because of the inevitability of reaching your hand into that hat, bag, or box and pulling out the name of a person you know very little about. With name in hand and a $20 spending limit, you are equipped to say, "I care barely enough to give the most mediocre."
I married into a large extended family that participates in the Secret Santa every Christmas. This year, all I know about the person I’m buying a gift for is that he is a NASCAR fan. Buying this person a piece of NASCAR memorabilia seems to me the most blatant way to say, "Merry Christmas, guy. I hereby celebrate your one-dimensionality." I’m determined, however, to do a little covert research about him and try to find the best Secret Santa gift ever.
Start Making Money Today
Interested in getting a nice little side-business going on the Internet? Or maybe even from your living-room table?
But you don’t have too much money, you don’t have too much time, and you’re not exactly Bill Gates when it comes to technology. Sound familiar?
A lot of people are in the same boat. The good news is that ETR has heard you. And now we’ve done something about it…
We’ve asked our colleague Marc Charles to be on the lookout for profit opportunities that can be run from a kitchen table, your desktop or out on the road.
Criteria? They’ve got to be inexpensive, easy to start, and still have great income potential, but without a lot of red tape.
They say when you’re first getting your feet wet with a side-business, the most important dollar to make is the first one. Well, Marc is an expert at taking beginning entrepreneurs and showing you how to make that first buck. He knows, because he’s done it dozens of times for himself, his family and his friends.
If you’ve been dreaming about starting your own business … now you can get started for about the price of 2 lattes.
And get this – you could be making money literally just hours from now. Imagine the feeling of finally getting a side business launched -TODAY!
- Patrick Coffey
Word to the Wise: Protean
Something that’s "protean" (PRO-tee-un) displays considerable variety or diversity. The word is derived from Proteus, an ancient Greek god who had the ability to change shape at will.
Example (as used by David Maraniss in The Clinton Enigma: "He was a protean character who constantly adapted to his environment."
Michael Masterson
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2006
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