Own Your Niche by Building a Niche Community

In 1997, David Steele was making the transition from a professional therapist to relationship coach. Part of his strategy was to become a center of influence and THE Relationship Coach for his community.

David decided to launch his own virtual community as a weekly "Friday Night Social" singles gathering. After a one-month pilot program and some market research, he designed a community for the singles in his area, unlike any other setting available, that would meet their need to meet other singles in a safe, fun setting.

The community also furthered David's mission to provide relationship education and position his firm prominently within his target market.

Almost seven years later, his Friday Night Social continues to be a vibrant singles community that supports the practices of the four coaches who collaborated to make it happen. "It is a lot of fun, and the time and effort needed to make it happen is minimal," says David.

"We feature a guest speaker each week, a local professional who is usually a good referral source. We've become well-known in our community and have a loyal following of singles who sometimes continue to attend with their partners when no longer single!"

From Therapist to Singles Guru of Silicon Valley

Slightly Famous entrepreneurs are learning that in today's world, given that most of us have an unmet need for community, one of the greatest services you can offer your clients and prospects is simply to get them together.

The goodwill, contacts and status David has developed as a leader of a niche community has boosted his business. It has minimized the need to aggressively market his services by transforming into a guru and center of influence and trusted advisor to his target market.

Why does this work? There is a basic human need for community. We survive and thrive in relationships. We are social beings and cannot be fully successful or happy alone. Ever since we lived in caves our social environment largely determines our fate.

In today's world, given that most of us have an unmet need for community, one of the greatest services we can offer the clients and prospects in our niche is simply to get them together.

Think about it. A niche is a group of people that share common situations, needs, and goals. When these people get together, they immediately feel a common bond; they understand each other and can easily provide mutual support.

Targeting The Right Niche with the Message

Like David, you too can establish yourself as a trustworthy resource whose reputation and work is beyond scrutiny. The secret to success is targeting a group of people with specific interests. And that group of people can be your target market!

Examples of groups that would be attracted to, and benefit from, participating in a niche community include:

  • Fortune 500 CEO's

  • Real Estate Investors

  • Singles Over 50

  • Tai Chi Practitioners

  • Small Business Owners

  • Unemployed/Laid Off Tech Workers

  • Ph.D. Candidates Working On Their Dissertation

  • Stay-At-Home Dads

  • Women in Transition

  • New Moms

You get the idea...any niche you can think of for your practice is a candidate for a niche community.

How a Niche Community Can Benefit Your Business

Once you establish a niche community around your business, you can enjoy the following benefits:

Increased visibility. Community participation is a low cost marketing strategy that can yield enormous exposure for your business. Virtual communities provide free or low-cost gatherings that attract more people and create more prospects.

Increased credibility. The success of your niche community reflects upon your abilities as a service professional. It provides a chance for you to "show your stuff" and impress prospects who don't feel like they need to ward off a sales pitch.

Word of mouth. Virtual communities stimulate conversation. They get people talking. Participants tell their friends more readily about your business as a "community resource" than a private service.

Transform a "practice" into a "business". By reaching more people through your virtual community, you will develop a platform to sell more products and services. Your community can open the door to multiple income streams through group mentor programs, information products and other passive revenue streams.

Getting Started

The first consideration is how you will structure your community and bring people together. You have two choices: create a "live" community that meets in a physical location; or establish an online community that meets virtually through telephone and the Internet.

Live communities are straightforward. Taking David's cue, develop a statement of purpose for the group. Then, market the group to niche market prospects within reasonable physical proximity to one another, choose meeting times and a location, and bring them together around a structured agenda.

Whereas live communities are more limited by location, virtual communities offer the possibility of attracting members from all over the world.

Online or virtual communities gather people in an online 'space' where they come, communicate, connect, and get to know each other better over time. The idea is to bring members of your niche together virtually where you combine on-line interaction (e-mail, web forums) with telephone conference calls and classes, as well as information and support services.

Online group interactions do not always 'happen' spontaneously. They require care, nurturing and facilitation.

The core of facilitation and hosting is to serve the group and assist it in reaching its goals or purpose. Some describe this role as a gardener, a conductor, the distributed leadership of jazz improvisers, a teacher, or an innkeeper. It can be this and more.

If you take the plunge, be patient. Online communities don't happen overnight. Often they take time to coalesce and form themselves into something valuable and sustainable. It's crucial that patience is exercised, since it WILL take time for momentum and a critical mass to develop whereby the community becomes solid and established.

About The Author

Steven Van Yoder is the author of Get Slightly Famous: Become a Celebrity in Your Field and Attract More Business with Less Effort. Visit http://www.getslightlyfamous.com to read the book and learn about 'slightly' famous teleclasses, workshops, and marketing materials to help small businesses and solo professionals attract more business. contact@getslightlyfamous.com

In The News:


pen paper and inkwell


cat break through


Planning For The Slow Season Of Your Business To Increase Sales

Every business experiences slower periods. For some, they sell more... Read More

Breaking the Growth Barriers in the Information Technology and Software Sector

There's nothing automatic about corporate growth, particularly in the information... Read More

Mastermind Your Way to Success

What do Mark Victor Hansen, Robert Allen, Anthony Robbins, Andrew... Read More

Innovate Today for Great Leaps Forward Tomorrow

How often does your company make a quantum leap forward?... Read More

Troubled Waters Require Capable Leaders at the Helm

Canada's lean leaders need to look beyond the horizon and... Read More

Innovators Role at Hard Times

One Research Scientist at the Hewlett-Packard (HP) Imaging Systems laboratory... Read More

Is Your Company Growing Fast Enough for You?

Are you frustrated by the lack of growth in your... Read More

Going Self-Employed ? A Few Handy Hints

The day you decide to take the plunge and work... Read More

Who is Responsible?

While writing an article recently on effective ways to bridge... Read More

Business Results - Four Critical Success Factors

Scenario OneDuring a recent presentation, a business owner was given... Read More

Thinking Like A Farmer

One of the difficulties we face in our industrialized age... Read More

How To Leverage Your Current Ideas And Products Into Multiple Revenue Streams

Diversify - to make diverse, give variety, to balance, to... Read More

Vendor Relations Strategies Sample Outline

One of the quintessential parts to any business is your... Read More

Business Plan 101 How to Write a Table of Contents

No matter what business you plan to start in your... Read More

Succession Planning: Problems Getting Started

A survey released by the American Institute of Certified Public... Read More

Business Problem Solving

Is there really anything as a problem? Does chaos or... Read More

The Impact of Price Popularity on Profits

The goal of almost every business owner is to generate... Read More

Business Plan Descriptions of Computer System

Entrepreneurs often give little if any consideration to their computer... Read More

When Do I Need To Hire A Business Plan Consultant

Every new business owner knows that a business plan is... Read More

Alice In Wonderland - A Parable for A Business Plan

Remember reading "Alice in Wonderland?"She asks the Cheshire Cat, "which... Read More

Business Disaster? Wont Happen to Me

As fast as you can say business disaster, your business... Read More

Is Plan B Ready?

Business owners and entrepreneurs are, by nature, risk takers and... Read More

Financing Business Expansion for Your Small Company

How you finance the expansion of your business is important.... Read More

Mining Market Data

With a heightened awareness of opportunity, ideas can often be... Read More

Ten Steps To A Great Strategic Plan

Ask a small business owner about their strategic plan and... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Implementation: Healthcare/Hospital example ? overview for consultant

Microsoft Great Plains fits multiple services market niche and healthcare... Read More

Will and Vision

Remember Chux? The disposable diaper that took the market by... Read More

Content Management: Wise Investment for Business Prosperity

The time when a website was just a simple set... Read More

6 Changes You Can Make to Increase Business Profits

I read once that something like 30 percent of all... Read More

Do You Really Need a Business Plan?

"I don't need a business plan."Neither did Alice in Wonderland."Would... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Implementation: Pharmaceutical Corporation Specifics ? overview

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains serves mid-size and large clients... Read More

Abstract Thought; Business Strategies and Biological Systems

To stop a computer virus you must understand how it... Read More

The Top Five Reasons Strategic Plans Fail

"Most great plans aren't. They are just nice, high-level ideas."That's... Read More