HI,

I'm trying to figure my niche area but I love working with all types of businesses and I don't want to be restricted to one industry, etc. I thinking along the lines of "generalist". Could being a 'generalist' be considered a 'niche'?

This is a great question. I look forward to reading the replies. I am new and trying to figure my niche as well. Thanks for asking!

Karyn

It's funny, I've been the transforming LC Mills, Inc. since 2009. I feel I'm finally at the cusp of defining what my company is all about. For me, it's been all about defining and cultivating my skills and then deciding which one I shine in. So I now offer administrative services and specialize in writing. (Now I'm trying to decide how to present myself in marketing and on my website. The jury is still out on that.)

As far as a niche...I guess you could say I'm a generalist. I don't focus on just one market. I've not found it necessary. But focusing my skill...that was essential.

My advice is to focus on your services for now. What do you have to offer? What do you shine in? I would say to any generalist that if you're NOT going to focus on a niche market then you must specialize in a specific skill. It could be WordPress, data entry, or social media marketing. Whatever it is, it may take time to discover.

Just some food for thought! Good luck!

Once upon a time I had this same thought and it totally encompassed a lot of my time. Being a generalist until you figure out exactly what you love & want to declare your niche is OK. Personally it's all about what you love doing and once you find that you can declare that as your niche if you want too!

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Dawn Riley
A Virtual Assistant in Paradise
Our business is about making yours better

Hi Nekiwa,

You ask a great question and I commend you on your forward thinking so early in the business set-up process.

I think that titling oneself as a 'generalist' is indeed a niche. And I will take it one step further and say that a generalist in and of itself a specialty much the same that someone is a social media specialist or a web design specialist.

Your specialty is being a generalist...having the capability to offer a broad assortment of administrative services. That is a specialty. Not everyone can do that.

Let me define first, 'niche' and 'target market' because one is a subset of the other.

While you enjoy working with a variety of industries, you can say that you do not have a specific target market. You are not targeting or aiming to work only with e-commerce clients, coaches, real estate professionals or speakers. You want to work with all of them.

Your niche is what you do for that target market so in your case you want to offer general administrative services for all industries.

And you can do that but the drawback is that marketing all types of services to all types of industries is not only difficult for you to do but it is difficult for clients to see the solutions you provide.

So for example, say a client has a problem. She wants to create an email list for her newsletter and doesn't know how to do that. As a VA we can provide that solution to her problem. So how does she find you? Well you might be advertising your generalist services on all types of boards...in the coaching section on LinkedIn or on a real estate blog site. However, this client is neither a coach nor a real estate professional. She is a speaker. She will not find you as easily unless you are advertising your services in a place where she can find you.

So if you select a few target markets you want to appeal to...say speakers, coaches and real estate professionals then you spend your marketing time just on promoting your services on those sites where these types of clients can find you. If you don't select a target market then marketing could be all over the 'net and it can be very time consuming trying to reach all markets.

The same is true for being a generalist, which as I mentioned is indeed a specialist. However, if you package your generalist services in such a way that you look like a specialist and do so to a specific target market, these select clients will see their problems in the select solutions you provide.

If your skills are general office work...you create databases, answer phones, answer emails, send faxes, make follow-up calls, for example, by titling your general services as 'Office Solutions' or 'Telephone Services' or 'Office Administration' and then list those specific generalist services, clients will see that you can do all those things and contact you. So while you can still perform the generalist services you enjoy, you should consider breaking down those services in smaller bites so clients can see specifically what you can do for them.

Finally, I wish to add that I understand why the idea of not having a target market and a niche is questionable when first starting out. Not only do you like to offer the generalist services (everyone wants to do the work they enjoy; and they should) but by narrowing down a target market seems as if 'not throwing a large enough net' will mean fewer clients will be interested in your services.

However, the opposite is true. (It was a light bulb moment for me when I first started and one that I learned while I was here on VAF.) If you actually narrow down the industries you want to appeal to i.e., 'throw a smaller net' all of a sudden (yes, it is that quick), you will know exactly who you want to appeal to and you can then start concentrating specifically on their needs and then specialize in solving that industry's problems.

Janine

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This is excellent, and it's an area where I am also struggling. I feel that I am being a bit of a generalist, offering quite broad administrative services, but I am trying to focus on small business owners, new start-ups and entrepreneurs. Does this mean I have found my target market? I've heard so many times not to offer too much to too many, and I'm trying to do this, but I have a lot of general administration skills. Your comments would be really appreciated to this newbie.


Lyn

Hi Lyn,

Small business owners is a broad term for our discussion. In fact, it has been my experience that small business owners are THE market for virtual assistants. Typically, larger businesses prefer to hire employees but that could be a target market too for a VA. Some larger companies are seeing the value in partnering with virtual assistants particularly when it comes to project-oriented work. But I digress...

You want to know if you have found your target market through entrepreneurs, start-ups and small business owners.

Most virtual assistants target small businesses overall. However, start-ups are a subset of small businesses. While a small business may be in business for many years, a start-up is typically under one year.

There is much discussion on the boards here about working with start-ups whereby the main issue is lack of funds to support a virtual assistant's services.

However, that does not mean you can't work with small business start-ups. You need to be priced right and earn an income from the price you charge.

So if you want to work with small business start-ups, determine what you can charge and see if that is the target market for you which pays enough to ensure you earn what is good for your business. But yes, you can target small business start-ups.

The terms you use: entrepreneurs, small business owners and start-ups can be used together.

All small business owners are entrepreneurs. And, all entrepreneurs/business owners start out as start-ups in the beginning of their business life.

So really your target market in your description are two:

All small business owners/entrepreneurs (broad term, all industries)
Start-ups (under one year in business, also broad but could be a specific target market)

I would take both terms down one more level and target even further.

1) Small business owners who are real estate professionals, coaches, speakers, construction, human resources, etc.

2) Or just start-up businesses (all industries) and offer a start up packages - helping them get their virtual office together with whatever generalist services you provide. But I would suggest that you do look for start-ups in targeted industries...do some research and find out which types of industries are opening up in greatest numbers...have had the most success, etc.

You could be the 'VA with the Start-Up' specialty and then specifically target those industries with the most start-ups. They will all be entrepreneurs and they will all be small businesses.

Please reference my previous post as I explain the benefits of targeting a specific market as opposed to offering all services to all industries.

Janine

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Thank you so much, this information will definitely help me to market my services better If you don't mind, would you be open to taking a look at my website and providing feedback? I'm still in the process of addition additional information and updating but I would like to know if I'm on the right track.

Also, if my website is not targeting a specific market or niche(general support site that includes everything), do you think my marketing to a specific area or groups, once viewing my site, will produce clients?

Hi Nekiwa,

I will be glad to provide feedback, however, I would suggest you create a separate thread in the website review request area so you can obtain feedback from all members. I am afraid your request might get buried here.

And do provide the link to your website so we can check on that easily.

Janine

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Hi Janine

Thanks for your advice, guess I'll have to focus a little more on what my target market is!