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As a small brick and mortar service based business we make a TON of decisions a day. The average person makes 35k decisions a day. WOW.
How would you like to make a few less?
In this episode I share my experience with niching down and then specializing for my business. My business coach Natalie Eckdahl and colleague Kim Black have been instrumental in helping me take the plunge into making my brick and mortar “The Only Option in Town” for students 10 and under.
Listen to how I did it and what were the HUGE perks of making that decision for my business.
Are you a brick and mortar business owner that has put your blood sweat and tears into creating a storefront that lights you up and serves your clients well only to be frustrated that you’re the best kept secret in town?
If you’re NOT hearing your new clients say, “I found you on Google!” then you’re in the right place.
Welcome.
I'm Melissa Rose—mom, business owner, and your straight-shooting visibility coach. I've cracked the SEO code to becoming the top choice on Google in my industry, and now, I'm sharing the secrets on this podcast. Get ready for stories, fail-proof strategies, and practical tips to elevate your brick and mortar presence to the top choice on Google.
So let's get real, because we're about to make your business, “The Only Option in Town!”
Welcome to 113 of the Brick and Mortar Visibility Podcast. Today we're talking about being the only option in town and how that can save you time. Let's get real.
If you're running a brick and mortar business, raising some kiddos and juggling all of life's offerings, let's be real and call you what you are. You my friend are a rebel woman, you've put your blood sweat and tears in creating a storefront that lights you up, serves your clients well and contributes significantly to the community you love. You are my hero. And I'm pretty sure we could sit down and talk shop for hours cause I get it! I have a brick and mortar business myself for over 12 years, a handful of kids and a few passion projects that I love like this one. Hey there everybody. My name is Melissa Rose and I am your visibility coach for brick and mortar businesses who want more clients coming in their doors. I have a passion for helping and serving those who are also living life on the edge going for their dreams and creating a legacy through their kick-ass business. In this podcast, we're going to share the nitty-gritty of running a successful brick and mortar business. We're going to share stories we're going to talk strategy, and we're gonna learn practical tips that leave you inspired, empowered and equipped to create the life of your dreams. Are you ready? Let's get real.
Hey there, everybody. How are you doing? Melissa here, and I'm super excited, as always, to be here. Today's episode is going to address being the only option in town. That's the tagline of this podcast, Brick and Mortar Visibility, be the only option in town. And that's what I want for your business. Now, when I first came up with the podcast name, I got some pushback because somebody, not somebody. A few people said, well, Melissa, we want the competition. We want to have another restaurant or we want to have another physical therapist or chiropractor or dance studio in the area because that promotes competition and it forces each business to be even better. Totally agree. Competition is a good thing, but I want you to be known as the only option in town for your industry and your niche. My favourite word, I say niche because it sounds cooler than niche. But we're going to talk about that because this is another area that I work with clients in because this is an easy way for you to become the only option in town. I actually had a potential client challenge me on this and she said, Melissa, how are you going to help me if you're helping this person in my same industry in town here? And I said that is an excellent question. Here's how because you each serve a different client, whether you know it or not. And it's true. I know both of their businesses and they both serve a very specific client. One of them is not sharing that as well as she could, and therefore, she is not top of mind. And that is where I want to help her. So I am challenging all of you. You all have a very clear person and you may not even realize it because you may be thinking that's limiting. You may be thinking, no, I can help everybody, or I can help all women, or I can help all Mamas, or I can help all kiddos. No, you have a very specific niche. And when we figure that out, you are able to save so much time. And when I say time, it's not just physical time. It is head-space time. Do you know that business owners make so many decisions? I'm sure you do. As Mamas and parents, we make so many decisions. As adults, we make so many decisions. But then a business owner, you are managing team, maybe, or you are deciding products and services and pricing and all that fun stuff and oh, my goodness, the marketing and what platforms to use and decision fatigue is a real thing. So how about we make fewer decisions. When you are able to niche down and then maybe even specialize as my coach and mentor have said, you free yourself up for so much more. And I know that seems counterintuitive. For those of you that don't know, welcome to the podcast. My name is Melissa Rose. I own a Brick and Mortar dance studio as well as an online dance platform called Dance on Demand. My dance studio is twelve years old. For the first nine years, ten years, I was out of my home. So that's why it's called the Dancing House, literally. And I serviced kiddos. And I just said kids who dance, who likes dance. And without realizing it, I was attracting beginner students, which is fine. So then in 2020, we intentionally said we teach beginner students of all ages the art of dance, making it the highlight of their week. So now we just attracted our ideal client and we repelled the non-ideal client. Then this past year, 2021, we niche down even a bit more, specializing in ten and under. So we still service beginner students of all ages, but we specialize in ten and under. That has made our marketing even more clear. It's limited on what we put out there. It's limited on the staff that we need. It's helped free up space to do other things. And this is where people struggle because, oh, my gosh, what about that more advanced student or Melissa, you're leaving money on the table by not having a competition program? Yes, but no, because I want to have my weekends and I really want to be an expert in this area. And when I hire teachers, I'm looking for people that are very good in this area. Do we have classes that are more advanced? Yes, we do. But we don't talk about it in our marketing. And this is what I want you to hear, that just because you have niched down and then maybe specialize doesn't mean that you don't have to serve those random off clients or customers that want something different. I coach a lot of advanced dancers. Do we talk about it a lot? No, we actually don't even really talk about it. I say I have private lessons, and people that want me for private lessons are usually more advanced dancers that want to uplevel their dancing even more. So, yes, I work with advanced students. My staff works with advanced students, but we market to the beginner student, especially ten and under. So what does this look like for your business? Maybe you're a nutrition expert and your niche is Mamas, but could you go further? Could you say Mamas who are gluten-free or Mamas with kids ten and under? What could that be? Could that help free up some time-space, mental capacity in how you market and how you talk about your business? Because then you are super duper referrable, and we want to be known as that person. I want to be known as the dance studio that specializes in little kiddos. I want you to be known as a physical therapist that helps women. Okay? So that is really what I'm trying to get at, is when we specialize, it is super important. So you can say niche down, so you're serving an ideal client, and then you can specialize, and maybe that client has a certain need or a pain point specifically. Okay? Whatever you do, it's going to help. When we decided to niche down or specialize down into ten and under students, it just cleared away so much. I was like, oh, my gosh. Now I know who I can hire next. Now I know exactly how we're going to portray our marketing. I know exactly what I'm going to say in my blog every other week. It's going to be geared to that demographic. It just helps free up your time and mental space for decision making. Okay? So I hope that's helpful, because I know that's scary. But here's the deal. Here's the upside of that, because you are dialled in and zoned in super narrow into a field of people or a group of people. You then are the expert. It elevates your status, and therefore, you can charge a premium because you are then an expert in that field. All your education, all your future training is going to be geared toward that ideal client that you want and that you serve so that you become super knowledgeable and even more impactful to them and creates even more transformations for them. And then you are able to charge a premium. Okay? I do want to talk to you because I do have some people who sell products here. And if you work with me, a lot of my clients actually want to grow and scale their business by offering digital products, like a digital course or a membership. Okay? The same goes here. When you are offering products, often you have a library of products that you offer. I want you to pick the one product that you are super passionate about. Not to say that you don't have other things to help people, but pick one and just talk about that one and the benefits and features of that and how it helps and the transformations and the pain points it helps and serves and solves. Okay? So just because you are a product business owner or service-based business owner, this still applies. All right. And I challenge you. It's going to save you time. It's also going to save you time with your boundaries. This was another thing because then you will not be jumping to get that email returned or that phone call returned or chasing down clients that aren't your ideal client. We often get people that maybe inquire at the studio. And when we learn and ask a few more questions, we realize they're not the right person and we refer them. And I love that. I love that I can refer them to other people in the community. And I love that we're taking only the right people for our studio. It just is so freeing. And I know that might be hard at first. It definitely was for me when we decided to go ten and under and really focus in on that, that was scary. That was scary. But it has been so good because we're bringing in the right people into the studio. Okay? So I hope this is helpful. If you have questions, I have a little coffee chat. You can set up a 20 minutes call and we can talk about that. Or if you're ready to go in deeper and take your business to the next level, I want you to remember your business is not your baby. Your business is an asset. And we need to treat it as an asset. And I want you to create a business that works for you 24/7, not you working it 24/7. So if you feel like you are working nonstop, 80, 90 hours a week, maybe even more, some of you, we need to fix some things because there is no way that you are going to keep that up long term. You shouldn't. It's going to affect your health. It's going to affect your relationships. It's going to affect everything in your life. So I want your business to thrive. And in order to do that, you need to be the only option in town. And then we need to set up the systems and back office so that things are automated, delegated and running well for you. So if you need help with that and want to take your business to the next level, I invite you to apply to one on one coaching. You can go to 'msmelissarose.com/coaching' to learn more. And if that interests you. You can apply and see if we're a fit. I invite you to do that. Otherwise, you can schedule a 20-minute call and we can talk there and learn if working together is right for you. All right, guys, I appreciate you so much. I would love to hear from you. Hit me up on Instagram message me tell me your takeaways tell me what you liked tell me what you didn't like maybe challenge me. I would love that. All right, we'd love to have a conversation at Brick and Mortar Visibility on Instagram. Otherwise, come on in to the Facebook group you'll hear that in the role afterwards. All right, guys, have a great week. We'll see you here. Same time, same place next week. Peace. Bye-bye.
Oh, my gosh, you're still here. You are such a rebel woman. I have to meet you. Come on over to the Rebel Women Tribe on Facebook created for Brick and Mortar business owners just like you. In this group, we empower, encourage, and support each other. And every week I come in and share with you a tip, tool or strategy that I'm learning in my brick and mortar business to help you and yours. And you guys, this is the real stuff, the nitty-gritty in real-time of what's going on. So come on over to the rebel women tribe on Facebook. I can't wait to meet you.