In order to beat the big boys and online businesses a small business must have or create their own niche. Your business has to be better than the others. This can be achieved by quality differences, service, price, product selection, uniqueness, convenience or a mixture. There has to be something that will mean your existing customers will come back to you, and recommend your business to others.
This extract from the article (below), well it’s more of an advertorial by Molly Mosher really rang some bells.
Wendy and Jean-Noel Mignot’s La Vie Est Belle gallery opened in Seaside in 2008. The small family business showcases the signature pearl and leather jewelry, which has become indicative of life along 30A.
“Their one-of-a-kind jewelry became a trademark of Seaside, a ‘tracking device’ as Wendy calls it,” according to the artisan’s website. “If you are wearing pearls and leather, you’ve been to Seaside.”
Here the business has built a brand, or trademark ( not in the legal sense) that people recognise and immediately associate with where the product came from. This must be the ultimate in brand awareness for the store. The power of this is huge. After all, the best & cheapest advertising of all is referrals and recommendations from existing customers.
You could argue that if they knew about the product they must have already been an existing customer . Not necessarly. Some marketing experts advise that it can take 7 key contact points before a customer will take action and buy. So this could be the day that makes the difference between knowing about a brand or product and actually seeking out & purchasing.
I also like the wording ‘ tracking device’. It brings to mind the visual of tracking devices built
Find your Niche & use as a tracking device
into phones, computers, tablets, navmans and the like. How we want our brand/ product/ service to behave and look in the market place, to act like a beacon. If only there as an actual device that could force them into the store.
The importance, im my opinion, is a point of difference, a niche, something that set syour business apart from the others.
I would love to hear if you have any examples of this that you would like to share with us
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