Mass marketing is dead. Or so that’s what everybody says. Although I wouldn’t call mass markets non-existent (there’s a good reason the big television networks and telcos are still raking it in), there is no doubt there’s been a proliferation of niche markets as never before.
For sure, prosperity and technology have given rise to niches. As economies develop, so do people’s income. And with that comes choices. Think “tall white chocolate mocha Frappuccino – no whipped cream, please.” Technology, particularly the Internet, has also facilitated the surge of niches, which author Chris Anderson referred to as “The Long Tail” in a distribution curve, where there’s an infinite number of songs, movies, books, and other products that have found a tiny but constant market demand.
That is why regular folks, including many Filipinos, are able to sell rare collectibles, obscure items, and all sorts of stuff online, because the cost of marketing and distribution is so low and somewhere out there is a potential customer interested to buy.
So here’s my point: to succeed in today’s world, you have to find your own profitable niche. Whether it’s your career or business, being all things to everyone doesn’t work anymore. It may be good to be a generalist in terms of broadening your skills but to stand out, you have to find your specialization.
Personally, I have found my niche in the information business as a magazine editor, conference/seminar producer, and training provider focused on three areas: personal finance, human resources, and marketing.
So if you want to be a chef, you should be a pastry chef specializing in wedding cakes. If you want to be a lawyer, specialize in intellectual property law for the information technology sector. If you want to be designer, focus on sustainable furniture design. If you want to be a motivational speaker, focus on leadership. If you want to work in financial services, become a fund manager. If you want to be a YouTube celebrity, stick to online gaming.
It doesn’t mean you can’t do anything else. Of course, you can get into another niche business or start another niche career, but you always have to think in terms of finding a niche. So how do you find your niche?
- Find something you really love and you’re really good at and then drill down on more specific talents or skills that make you stand out (e.g. if you love writing, you might realize what you really love is copywriting, not writing poetry).
- Find a sector you want to get into that’s growing and then break that down in sub-sectors (e.g. if you want to get into the real estate sector, you might discover your best bet is in renovating and selling dilapidated apartments, not building houses from scratch).
Riches really are in niches.
