10 Questions to Help You Define Your Niche

I recently posted a couple of articles about how “The Riches are in the Niches” and how to establish your target market by creating “An Ideal Client Persona.“ Rather than being a planner for everyone, having a defined niche marketing strategy can attract significantly more business. It also provides richer opportunities for self-expression and career satisfaction. You will only be working with the weddings and clients that bring you joy!

You may be saying, that’s great and all, but how do I figure out a niche? Here are 10 “where” and “who” questions to help you define your own wedding planning niche:

‘Where’ Questions to Help You Define Your Niche

1. Where do you consistently find kindred spirits?
2. Where are you most credible?
3. Where is there the greatest need, as well as, the greatest appreciation for your work?
4. Where do the people who need your help most often have breakdowns that would cause them to hire you?

‘Who’ Questions to Help You Define Your Niche

1. Who is naturally drawn to you and to your work?
2. To whom are the things that seem obvious to you a revelation?
3. Who is traveling a path that you have successfully walked yourself?
4. Whose language do you speak?
5. Whose concerns can you reliably anticipate and address?
6. Whom is it easy for you to serve?

Knowing and working from your strengths are essential parts of developing your niche marketing strategy.

There are probably several ways in which your strengths can add value to the wedding industry. Therefore, developing a niche is a process of exploring several possibilities and gradually refining them.

You might think about developing a market niche like planting a garden. You start by planting lots of seeds rather close together. As these germinate, you keep the strongest sprouts and remove the others. As your garden grows, you will continue to thin and prune until only the strongest and healthiest plants remain. Along the way you give away or compost the seedlings and trimmings; nothing is lost.

As you refine your niche marketing strategy, you’ll grow in integrity and confidence. With time, you’ll know with certainty which clients are right for you, and you’ll attract more of them.

Are You Afraid of Using Niche Marketing Because It May Turn Away Business?

As you “niche down”, you may worry that focusing on your niche will deprive you of needed business. What do you do if someone outside of your niche wants to hire you?

Talk to them. See how well you fit. There is nothing about a focused niche that says you cannot work with a variety of clients. The point of a niche is not to confine you, but to create the healthiest ecosystem for your business. Focusing on your market niche is like focusing a searchlight that can be seen for miles around. Your searchlight may attract people from beyond your niche precisely because you have defined that niche.

While you always have the option of working with anyone who is attracted by your focused niche, do beware of trying to be all things to all people. Not only are you likely to fail at this, but you run an increased risk of coming across as inauthentic and insincere. The longer you persist in marketing to everyone and anyone who could conceivably hire you, the more certain it is that you will burn out, leaving yourself and your clients dissatisfied. To truly be a niche wedding planner, you must be willing to say “no” to those clients and weddings that are not well within the scope of your passion and your expertise.

It is important to look to the market to see what your prospective clients want. But look with a keen eye for how the needs and desires of the market match your strengths, talents, and passions. Say “no” to the opportunities that are a poor match, so that your vision and resources can be focused on the projects and relationships that are most likely to succeed.