How can you outperform larger rivals in your niche?

Rather than try to outperform larger rivals in your niche, the key for me is understanding who I am serving and how my particular skills and knowledge can help them achieve their goals. In the era of personal brand and online reputation, the more a small business owner can work on 'their why' and clearly articulate this, the easier it will be for your potential clients to assess if you're the right service provider for them. Two key questions to help you do this include: 1. What do you want to be the go to / subject matter expert in? (e.g. when people think of you, what do they say about your knowledge, expertise and professional approach) 2. Who are you trying to influence / get into conversations with?

Understand Your Customer: Put yourself in your customer's shoes. To effectively cater to your niche, you need to know your customers better than anyone else. Example: In my niche, consumers only realize that their health condition, job, or hobby will cost them more money for life insurance once they've been through the underwriting process with a prior company. Instead of trying to target that customer out of the gates, I focus on the rebound - that point in time when the customer gets approved, but the rate is twice what they expected...that's where I need to focus and ask myself what is the customer thinking and searching for at that moment. If you want to rank for that in organic search, you need to write about it.

Get curious! Talk to people and find out what they want and get them to help you create what they need. When you know exactly who you are speaking to (one person, one topic) it will be really clear and they will talk back. There is no sense in creating something they won’t buy. However you communicate with your audience let them know you are creating something new and exciting but need their help/are they interested? Tell them how to tell you. You will already have a warm audience to share with if they are already invested in the product/service.

To succeed in business it's essential to maintain a positive outlook. Rather than viewing competitors as adversaries, focus on honoring your own goals and values. The best way to outperform larger rivals is to run your race and not be distracted. To effectively navigate competitors, maintaining a positive mindset is paramount.

Trust and integrity are essential ingredients in building a relationship with your clients. Referrals are the result of trust and integrity.

Many people forget about their unique value proposition they focus on their product or service. Why are you into providing a solution to the problem you solve? What is unique about how you solve it? There is always something different in our approach. I recently heard a story about Yellow Tail wine and how they stood out from the rest of the fancy wines, create your own Yellow Tail story. If you are looking for resources to help build your strategy read: Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim.

Many years ago, I was given some great advice; "You can't out-Walmart Walmart". Essentially, stop trying to be all things to all people. The truth is, larger organizations have no way of understanding the complexities and the root causes of stress to small businesses no matter how many buzzwords use in their ads. Connecting to specific clients through empathetic associations is a competitive advantage that larger organizations simply won't be able to compete with you on. Once a client is exposed to that truth, the competition game is over. You, and your client, win.

What makes you unique? Here is the time and place to lean in; highlight, tout and explore connections based on your ability to stand out from the crowd. Are you generations-deep local serving the community? Are you focusing on an underserved population? Challenge yourself to write out your qualities and the competitors. Identify the stand-outs and make those your platform.

Personal, professional customer service! You’ll crush the big guys :) Don’t use a bot, don’t use a robotic sounding voice for your answering service. Be real and offer human to human interaction.

Define Your Niche: Identify what makes your product or service unique and who would be interested. Is it a specific demographic, a geographical area, or a particular type of customer with specific needs? The more specific you can get, the better. Example: My niche is high-risk life insurance. I help people with medical conditions, dangerous jobs, or adventurous hobbies find affordable life insurance.

Stay Agile and Adaptable: One of the most significant advantages of being a smaller business is your ability to adapt quickly to changes. Stay tuned to market trends and be ready to pivot if necessary. Tip - The pace of change is only going to continue to accelerate. Everyone is asking about AI and how it will impact their business. Be the first in your industry to adapt to these changing times.

You need to know who they are, narrow them down. Serve to them, what do they want/need. Build a relationship with them. Simple things like wishing them happy birthday, appreciating them, give thanks, ask them what they want

Partner Strategically: Form alliances with other businesses to complement your offerings and provide to your customers. Example: In life insurance, partnering with lawyers, accountants, captive agents, and property casualty agencies is a great way to generate business for yourself and your partner.

Build true relationships. Invest time into getting to know someone, their business and how you might be able to work together. Liking and following people is NOT building relationships and for the most part is the wrong audience. Think about your customer journey, but also think about the networking journey. When you are getting to know someone don’t forget the “what’s in it for them” factor. It needs to be mutually beneficial and each bring something to the table.

Be consistent. That doesn’t mean it has to be 10 times a day or even 7 days a week. Be consistent for you and your brand. Don’t post and ghost. Make sure you have the capacity to follow your posts and respond to them. If you aren’t going to engage then don’t join social platforms Always add value. Always deposit more than you take away. Meaning posting is about building relationships, adding value, education, behind the scenes, etc….not just selling. Selling on social should be limited.

Another way to optimize your online presence is through reviews both here on LinkedIn and with Google Reviews. I am finding that now even when a family we serve gives my name to someone that person googles me BEFORE they ever reach out.

Leverage Online Platforms: Use your website, social media, and forums related to your niche to market your business and engage with your customers. Look for ways to share your voice for your industry. Tip - Opportunities exist with industry publications, podcasts, and guest blogging to get your name out there. You can also sign up for services like Qwoted that provide opportunities to respond to journalists' request for expert opinions.

Optimizing your online presence also means being discerning about where you show up online. You do not have to be everywhere. Invest time in your owned digital assets (e.g. website and email marketing) and choose a primary platform focus (e.g. B2B organisations would choose LinkedIn). Ensure your profile and company page are leveraging all of the powerful marketing and publishing tools available. In this way, you will help potential clients decide if you are the right service provider for them. And don't forget to update the SEO settings on your LinkedIn articles and newsletters, if you're publishing these consistently.

Know your market and who is playing in the same sandpit. Ask your customer what they need and understand why it’s important to them. Fill that need, stay consistent, do what you say and don’t underestimate the value of your offering.

Small business is a marathon, not a race. Do less activity well. Focus on delighting the customers you do have and they will become your advocates. Spending time posting content online is not the only way to build your profile versus your competitors. Attend in real life events in your local small business community and build a solid base of referral partners who serve similar clients to you, but offer non competing services. It takes a village to grow a business!