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Podcast (10k-podcast): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:53 — 40.2MB)
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Learn how to choose the best niche for you. Aaron Ross will be talking about nice-to-have and need-to-have for your niche.
Aaron’s Background
Aaron was in business to business SaaS (software platforms) but nailing a niche is universal to any business.
He started at Salesforce.com and created the outbound selling function fro them and added $100M in revenue for them.
After that, he ended up writing and publishing Predictable Revenue.
He is now co-CEO of a business with 50 people and $7 million in revenue this year.
Plus a father of 9!
Aaron’s specialism is finding the uniqueness of a business; taking existing businesses and helping them grow – or identifying why they don’t grow. In all cases, there are universal issues.
His mother also grosses about $1M a year on Amazon USA selling flower seeds and bulbs.
She has been gardening for 20 years and has specialized knowledge and supplier relationships. Motivated by the IRS (US tax) debt!
Why do entrepreneurs or would-be entrepreneurs resist niching down?
We’re in a world of overwhelming. So messaging MUST be focussed to cut through the noise.
If you had a radio station that played jazz and rock and classical, it would be very confusing. But a lot of entrepreneurs do this with their messaging.
However, entrepreneurs resist niching down, due to:
- Fear of missing out.
- Fear of being too small
- Being too boring eg selling red spoons
But once you’ve done it and realize the value of it, you will be more open to it.
It’s SO much faster to scale with a clear message.
It’s about human perception in the end.
Different opportunities – how to prioritize and pick a niche
It’s not necessarily to be a one-stop-shop – if it solves the pain of the customer, that’s okay.
Aaron left SalesForce.com in 2006 (and a year of M & A) – he wanted to make a way of making as much money as possible.
Aaron tried creating various businesses:
“Unique Genius” – how to make money with your unique skills and personality
“CEO Flow” – how to make mini-CEOs in your business.
In 2011 Aaron got married, his wife had 2 kids already and then had another on the way.
So I had to actually make money. And ended up increasing his personal income 10X.
How to choose your niche
Look at your opportunities:
- Where do you have your strongest case?
- What’s been proven to work?
- What is profitable?
Aaron had the most reputation in sales, plus expertise. Also, it was valuable to clients
And thus profitable. This is why he ended up creating a successful, profitable business in the outbound sales in a B2B niche.
Need to have vs. nice to have
It’s hard to sell something to someone if they don’t perceive they have to have it.
When have customers paid the most money and got the best value?
Trust is premium
- Anyone can make any claim they want.
- They need to trust you can deliver on the promise.
But the customer has to also trust that they personally can do it.
For example, gain muscle ads – you have all the proof (mostly best successful customer studies) – that you can deliver on this. But the consumer has to believe he can gain 20 pounds – but also possible for him too.
Make it feel simple or doable – all the pieces in one physical package.
Eg 1 Aaron just bought a basic piano keyboard with a seat, headphones, etc.
Eg 2 It could be a 7-step process if you’re running an agency. So the client can see himself doing it.
Info overwhelm is not the answer
People have great info overwhelm. What they need is more clarity, not content.
The same applies to content marketing. Empathy is a vital skill – how do you get in the shoes of the customer.
Twilio is past $100s of Millions in SaaS in the USA
If people send SMS etc. via apps, they use Twilio like Uber.
It’s a platform, so it’s great but also so much choice.
It’s like Lego – they have prepackaged a product, like a spaceship with all the instructions.
Twilio has pre-packaged them eg for sales, customers support.
Twilio founder went to a Lead generation conference in Las Vegas
He had no idea about Lead gen – just listened to the customers.
At night he wrote his pitch
The next day he showed how Twilio could help them.
Listening to customers
Interviews are amazing for this – if you already have a product, you could do 3-5 interviews.
If you’re starting from scratch, you could do up to 20 interviews.
What you’re listening for
Listen for hints for Keywords, key phrases and what they want.
Most people don’t know what they want.
You need to help elicit value
Platform companies/agencies – you have a lot of skills – where do you apply them?
We live in a world of opportunity. Which is good – and terrible!
If you’re really starting out, go find some people who just want to get started on Amazon.
Go and talk to them – what do they really need help with?
If you can do say 10 things like copywriting, PPC, sourcing, project management – you probably have a specialty that is a natural thing or you have developed over time.
you need to try a bunch of stuff.
Testing
Then try to sell some stuff. If you have been successful already, write your success story.
Then also get a case study of someone you’ve helped -even if you do it for free!
Partners
Partners can really help hold you to account.
If you’re starting an exercise regime or a business partner, it really helps.
Early adopters vs. Mainstream buyers
You need to be aware of the different types of buyers.
Early adopters will sign up for services or products because they like you or they just “get it” without much explanation. That’s maybe 15% of the market.
For a consultant that might top out at around $100K revenue; for SaaS, maybe $2M.
But there will be quite a large limit to the market size and the easy revenue.
Mainstream buyers
- They don’t have trust and need more proof.
- They don’t “get it” either so you need to explain it again and again.
- You need to make it very clear how this makes people money (or solves another problem, if it’s a consumer product). You also need more documentation.
Organic growth vs. Paid growth
This comes back to nailing a niche.
If customers find you in some way, people just kind of come to you.
That’s different when you start spending money to grow pro-actively eg
- Outbound selling
- Sponsorships
- Advertising
Getting an ROI on this is a lot harder. This new market with more skeptical buyers means you need a new expectation and the sales cycle might take longer.
Most companies aren’t ready to grow!
- Get a clear customer and solution.
- You also need a super clear, focussed message.
- Have a clearly identified problem and solve it in a repeatable way.
How to learn more from Aaron
2 free Book chapters
Or on Amazon
Get the FREE Guide To SEO For Amazon Sellers & eCommerce Entrepreneurs
https://www.futurestatemedia.com/free-seo-guide-for-amazon-sellers/
Watch How to Choose the Best Niche with Aaron Ross
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