Coaches talk a lot about finding your target market and your niche. Sometimes people use the terms interchangeably, but they are not the same.
Understanding the difference helps you do a better job of marketing your business and selling what you offer.
Your target market is the group of people you show up for every day. They are the people who need and want what you do, and when the time is right, they seek you out.
You niche is what you do to serve them.
A clear focus on who you serve can keep you right on track and help you find the right audience for what you sell.
Do you like to sail? Do you own a sailboat? Do you own a sailboat and live in the city? Do you own a sailboat and live in the city and like to sail with friends?
A boat owner is different from a person who likes to sail, and a boat owner in the city is different from a boat owner in the suburbs. There is overlap and shared interests, but each audience has different needs.
Finding your audience, your target market, is all about going from big to small so you can be very specific about what you do. That way you build trust and authority.
Niche marketing author Lynda Falkenstein says, “Smaller is bigger in business, and smaller is not all over the map; it’s highly focused,”