Something about niches makes people cringe and break out in a cold sweat followed by lots of questions. I often hear:
• Do I need a niche?
• Can I have more than one?
• Why is a niche needed, at all?
• Can I change my niche or am I locked into this F-O-R-E-V-E-R?
All good questions and all things that need to be understood when determining the type of virtual business you, as a virtual assistant, will have/have. Once you understand a bit more about niches there’s no need to cringe when the subject comes up. If you haven’t formally declared your niche, by the time you finish reading this post I think that declaration will be easier to vocalize.
To get a better understanding of what a niche is let’s define it – paying special attention to number 2:
1. An ornamental recess in a wall or rock that is set back or indented, as for holding a statue or urn.
2. A special area of demand for a product, or service, or even an industry.
Ah, a special area of demand. Easy enough. That special area will center around what you offer. Some examples of service based niche businesses are: web design, internet marketing, administrative support, and copywriting. The focus is on the type of work being done NOT who the client is. Not on the business industry the client comes from. Not on if you work with professional resume writers, landscaping companies, curtain manufacturers, high powered speakers, or automotive parts distributors.
When your niche is service focused you can work with anyone who needs your special service offerings. Your client base can variety widely since the common factor is that all of these people are seeking the same types of services. Plain and simple. The key to your marketing is emphasizing what your service is, how it meets a specific need, and why working with your virtual business is the answer to receiving XYZ service.
If your niche is meeting the needs of a specific type of customer base then your niche is industry driven. You will be the expert and be well versed in what this chosen industry group would expect from someone who understands the ins-and-outs of being in this industry. A handful of examples of niches in this specialty area would be the hospitality industry, real estate industry, legal industry, and speakers industry.
Working in industry specific niches will center around working with one type of customer base. The types of services provided will focus on this industry’s interest points, strengths, and trends as it applies solely to them. For example, someone working solely with speakers will probably be skilled in auto-responders, newsletters, teleseminars, membership sites, ecommerce set up, and publicity services – all things that speakers do within this chosen field. The key to your marketing is advertising where these industry types hang out and interact. Get your message very specific and in front of only these types of individuals.
Does this mean if you elect to have an industry based niche you must offer all of these services? Absolutely not. You simply pick and chose your services and run with those. You can grow and mold your business model to your own likes and preferences.
By understanding that a niche for a virtual assistant is either service based or industry based I think you’ll agree that simply opening a business comes with a niche. The type of business and your offerings (service, product, or industry) will determine which niche category the business fits into. There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to a niche.
Note: I didn’t forget about a product niche as a possibility. As a virtual assistant you are the product who executes the service. Your customers are buying into your expertise and knowledge to execute the projects they need completed. You are the value they get. Additional products are tangible creations for an online or actual storefront such as ebooks, seminars, audio recordings, etc.
Which niche fits your virtual assistant business model and how you’ve been working? Service based or industry based? The next time some asks you what your niche is you can reply, “My niche is [fill in the blank with your service based specialty or industry based specialty].”