How to Find Your Niche Part 2: How to Stand Out
Last month, we shared our tips on how to find your niche as a wellness practitioner.
That article was targeted towards new business owners and wellness entrepreneurs in the early stages of their journey, either in the planning stages or shortly after launching their business.
If you have found your niche, it is good news for your business.
But it doesn’t mean that you can take your foot off the gas. You still need to take concrete steps to make sure that you stand out in a meaningful way.
Here’s how to stand out, no matter what niche you find yourself in.
Becoming Aware of Your Market
Before you stand out, you need to learn what you are standing out from.
Here’s an exercise you can use to determine what other businesses exist in your niche (and adjacent niches).
- Find Similar Businesses in Your Area
Use Google, social media, and local business directories to find all similar businesses in your area. If you are a Reiki practitioner in Boulder, this means writing down all other practitioners within a reasonable driving distance of your business.
These are your core niche competitors and community. Record their business names, social media handles, and the kinds of services they offer.
- Expand Your Horizons
For many small wellness practitioner businesses, the first step may not return many results. A bodyworker in a small town in Idaho may be the only qualified professional within one hundred miles.
Even if you aren’t that isolated, find and write down other practitioners outside of your region. Although these aren’t your direct competitors, it’s useful to know about them.
Record their business names, social media handles, and the kinds of services they offer.
- Find Model Businesses
Now it’s time to look even further afield. Find a few businesses or individuals who are so successful in their craft, that they have built a following that extends far beyond a typical wellness practitioner.
Social media makes this task much easier. Some wellness practitioners are killing it on Instagram and TikTok, and the algorithm rewards them. Use the search function to find people in your niche, and don’t be surprised if you land on the profile of someone living thousands of miles away.
Record their information. These are your model competitors.
With these three groups outlined, you can start to get the process of learning what it will take to stand out in your niche.
Define Your Branding
Now that you have a list of social media accounts, you can start to identify one of the first differentiators within your niche: branding.
Look at the logos and colors that your direct niche competitors (and others in nearby regions) are using. There’s a good chance that you will start to see some patterns.
As an example, most naturopaths will incorporate shades of green, with “earthy” symbols like leaves into their brand.
Record the patterns that you see, and note which ones seem to stand out more than others. Your goal is to find a way to make your brand stand out from similar brands, but is still similar enough to what customers are used to in the industry.
75% of people recognize a brand by its logo, and 60% will avoid a logo that they find ugly or unappealing. First impressions sure do matter in the business world, so don’t cheap out when it comes to logo design.
FInally, once you have determined your brand colors and associated design, make sure it is consistent across your website, social media accounts, and any other digital platform.
Communicate Your Focus
Last article, we talked about the importance of finding a unique, distinct group of clients to focus your business on.
Now, it’s time to find a way to communicate this to your audience.
But this has to be done right. If you are a wellness coach with a target niche of stressed out professionals like lawyers and business executives, you probably don’t want to write it in your Instagram bio.
This could deter other clients from adjacent niches. These audiences can still help your business – beyond putting money in your pocket, they can expose you to all new networks of clients.
You need to find effective ways to communicate your focus without alienating anyone. Here are a few ideas:
- Post success stories or useful tips for your target niche: Research what model competitors are doing using Instagram Reels and TikTok, and be sure to include relevant keywords when you post.
- Offer referral deals to target clients: Have you met an ideal client with the exact background that you want to target? This can be a valuable connection for your business. Offer them personal deals for bringing in their friends and colleagues, and mention that you are eager to find more people just like them.
At a certain point, communicating the focus of your business may mean saying no to potential clients who are not the right fit.
You should only do this if 1) You have the financial security to confidently pass on new business, and 2) You can refer this potential client to someone who is better suited to them.
Express Your Personality
Your secret weapon as an entrepreneur and wellness practitioner is YOU.
Even when you design a logo and build a website, you are still the face of the brand.
Be authentically yourself, and find consistency in how you interact with your clients.
Your marketing strategy can be copied by your competitors, but nobody can do a better job of being you.
Want to learn more about successfully finding your niche and using it to your advantage, stay tuned for the next post in this series on the Symmetry Collective Knowledge Hub.
