Why Trying to Sell to Everybody Is a Great Way to Sell to Nobody
One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is believing everyone is a potential customer.
Really? Everyone?
That’s like opening a restaurant and announcing, “We specialize in everything from sushi to spaghetti, with a little plumbing on the side.”
Good luck with that!
Yet businesses do this every day. They cast their marketing nets so wide they’re practically fishing in the parking lot.
Here’s the problem: When you try to be everything to everybody, you usually end up being nothing special to anybody.
And nothing special isn’t exactly a winning business strategy.
Enter Market Focused Planning
Market Focused planning starts with a radical idea: Stop chasing customers who don’t particularly need you and focus on those who desperately do.
Imagine two marketing consultants.
One announces, “I help businesses grow!”
Wonderful. So does half the internet.
The other says, “I help dentists attract patients who need expensive dental implants.”
Suddenly, every dentist with an empty appointment book is paying attention.
That’s the power of a niche.
Find Your Starving Crowd
If you’re selling hamburgers, what’s your greatest competitive advantage?
A secret sauce? Fancy packaging? A dancing mascot?
Nope.
A starving crowd!
The smartest entrepreneurs identify customers with urgent problems, money to spend, and a willingness to act.
These are your early adopters. They’re not waiting for another glossy brochure. They’re looking for someone who can solve their problem yesterday.
Three Questions That Could Save Your Business
Before spending another dollar on marketing, ask yourself:
- Who needs what we’re selling badly enough to pay for it?
- Why should they choose us instead of our competitors?
- Can we serve these customers profitably without working ourselves into an early retirement?
If you can’t answer these questions, your marketing strategy might be better described as an expensive hobby.
Small Pond. Big Fish. Bigger Profits.
Market Focused Planning isn’t about thinking small. It’s about focusing your resources where you can create the greatest competitive advantage.
Become the obvious choice for a specific group of customers, and you won’t have to compete with everybody.
Remember: You don’t need the whole market. You need the right piece of it.
Because the riches really are in the niches.
And chasing everybody?
That’s just expensive exercise.
