13 Steps to Owning Your Niche and Standing Out From the Competition
To be “the best in the business,” a business leader must first get intentional about owning their niche. This means finding ways to stand out from the competition, nailing down a distinct point of view and committing to learning and growing as a leader and as a business. While ignoring these steps, and others, may not mean a business will fail, it is likely that, as a result, the business will never rise to the top.
Here, 13 members of Rolling Stone Culture Council elaborate further on the key steps business leaders will need to take if they really want to own their niche and why these particular strategies will ensure business success for a long time to come.
Commit to Learning, Adapting and Growing
Owning your niche is an ongoing lifelong exercise requiring a commitment to continuous learning, adapting and growing. Developing, refining and possessing a specialized discipline requires staunch dedication to the continued practice of ongoing self-innovation, remaining receptive to disruption and change, and staying flexible and humble to learn and absorb new information from daily interactions. – Darren Weiss, Verano
Get Clear on Your Distinct Point of View
Come to the realization that you won’t be for everyone — and that’s a good thing. When going niche, zero in on a clear point of view that you will never, ever waver on. We always tell brands we work with to dive deep to understand their personality; for business owners, it’s no different. What’s your personality and how does it show up consistently throughout the work you do? The people you hire? – Sarah Jenkins, The Romans New York
Decide What You Want to Be Known For
Ask yourself, “How can I state in one sentence what I want to be remembered for?” If you are a military commander, you might want to be known for being tough and skillful when the battle continues on. In the people-support world, you might want to be known for empathy. Find what will increase customer or client appreciation of what you do through your public persona. – Zain Jaffer, Zain Jaffer Foundation
Get Ahead of Your Competition
If you want to own your niche, you should study what your competitors are doing — then think three steps ahead. Consider the angles that they are missing or overlooking, and then capitalize on that. So many companies overlook what will happen next because they are fixated on what is happening right now. Play chess when others are playing checkers. – Julie McQueen, CarbonTV
Eat, Live and Breathe Your Passion
My father once said, “When you know you’re the ultimate, you don’t have to show it.” As a leader, if you eat, live, breathe and are the ultimate in your passion — your niche — you know and can move from that space. No scripts, no pandering — just organic evolution and embodiment. It’s not that complicated. – Jennifer Sodini, Hidden Hand Media
Become a Thought Leader
To own your niche, focus on becoming a thought leader. Learn relentlessly, innovate within your market and deeply engage your community. Always add value with humility, acknowledging the contributions of others and learning from every interaction. – Elan Jacoby, Vintage Amp, LLC
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
Do What You Think Is Cool (With Confidence)
I think it’s important to be mindful of what seems to be working all while keeping your own blinders on, so to speak. Focus on what you think is cool. Do it with confidence. If you believe in what you’re doing and use your own style doing it, that makes it unique. Once you find it working, adjust and strengthen by still being yourself! – Chris Bianchi, CB Entertainment
Gather and Learn From Consumer Insights
If you really want to own your niche, just do it! Be creative, innovative and courageous. Get consumer insights before your final launch. A really good way to test your idea is to use a few social media platforms to get feedback from your potential clients. Knowledge is power. Whether the results are “good,” “needs improvement” or “indifferent,” you now have valuable information that you can utilize moving forward. – Adrianne Fekete, I Am Unbreakable™ Global Media
Be the Most Authentic Version of You
I don’t believe in competition — it’s outmoded battle conditioning — except when competing with your personal best. Simply be the most authentic version of you and share your point of view clearly at all times. Don’t be afraid to be a heretic. Conversely, if you have a gentle voice, own that. Get really, really good at what you do and go deep. Deliver a divine client or customer experience and you will soar. – Baeth Davis, YourPurpose.com
Lead Through Innovation
A leader should embody the community they serve and lead through innovation. It’s critical to be comfortable being uncomfortable to adapt to shifting markets. MeWe prioritizes privacy and control and has moved to the blockchain to ensure that we offer the most secure network in the world. This means potential disruption to our users, but it’s necessary to differentiate ourselves from the competition. – Jeffrey Edell, MeWe
Excite Others With Your ‘Why’
Share what you’re doing or offering, but don’t forget to talk about why you’re doing it. Explore the “why” in your mission to excite and entice others. Find the areas you want to focus on regarding your product, service or lifestyle that inspired you the most. Then, figure out how that stands apart from the competition. – Cynthia Johnson, Bell + Ivy
Fully Understand Your Audience
Take the time to properly explore your brand messaging, positioning and customer personas before launching your products or services. In order to own a niche, you need to understand your target audience, how your buyers make decisions and what makes them excited in order to connect with them and provide the value they’re looking for. – Dan Serard, Cannabis Creative Group
Immerse Yourself in Your Industry
If you can find a part of your job that you are especially passionate about, immersing yourself should be easy, and your clients and professional peers will be able to sense how genuine you are. If you do exceptional work on top of that, you will naturally stand out in your niche. – Evan Nison, NisonCo