Reader Stephen asked:

I’ve been reading a lot about finding you niche (I have a copy of your book) and positioning, and a lot of what I’ve read seems to suggest working within an industry sector, but I don’t have a industry I like working in. I’ve built web apps for many different types of client (small businesses, startups, government departments and single person entrepreneurs). All working in different industries.
What I do like is building web apps using a certain technology (Angular).
My question is, is it possible to still position yourself if you focus on a single technology, set yourself up as an expert in the field of a certain technology (e.g. Angular). Or is this still to generalised? And if so how can you niche down further if, like me, you’ve worked in a variety of industries for a variety of clients?

Looking at the early results of my ongoing content survey (yes please fill it out if you haven’t yet) one of the top interests is finding your niche. There are two ways to niche your business, and each is a valid option.

One, you can niche down into a specific market, say CNC machine manufacturers. This allows you to target your marketing only to those businesses. Attend only those conferences. Cast a tight net and capture clients that fit well within that niche.

Two, you can niche down into a technology or service. My friend Jason provides Drip services. I’m niched like that for Membership sites over at sfndesign.ca. I don’t concentrate on a certain market so much as helping you gain and keep members.

On this site, I focus on technical men that want to run a great business and still hang out with their kids. They want to be good parents as well.

Do I have female clients? Yes. Do I have female clients with no kids? Yup. In fact, 50% of the coaching clients I have are not men.

Even though I try to speak to men. Heck one of my coaching clients isn’t in a technical field at all, and she’s a she.

Having a niche doesn’t mean that you don’t deal with anyone outside it. In fact, one of my female clients says she loves talking to me because I don’t get as concerned about her feelings, I just shoot straight. She has been coached by women before, and she was always frustrated by all the punch-pulling that happened.

Am I for every woman? Nope. But I’m not for every technical man with a family either.

Still, having a niche gives me focus. It means that I have three persona’s for men in business at different stages and I can target my content towards them.

So, yes it’s valid to niche around a specific technology. That gives you the focus to write about only that technology. To become an expert in it and thus attract clients.

Have an awesome day!

Curtis

PS: I wrote a book called Finding and Marketing to Your Niche that addresses building a niche following in your business. There is also a whole section in BootCamp on your niche and finding it.

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