How do you make sure your prospect chooses you over your competition?
Let's go back to our universal law of marketing...You're not selling a drill, you're selling holes.
Pretend you're looking for a drill because you need some holes. You flip through the pages of Drill Digest and come across this amazing advertisement. It's got sexy pictures and a cute logo. The ad copy says it's fast, easy to use, reliable, long-lasting and affordable. Everything you could ever want in a dream drill. Your heart is racing, it's such a hot piece of drilling machinery!
But you turn the page and keep looking. Why?
Well, the ad was selling a tool for making tiny holes in sheet metal. But you're an oil driller--you need to make big holes in dirt.
What's the point? The point is there are hundreds of different types of drills, and thousands of different kinds of holes. Not every drill is going to suit every hole-maker. It's the same for belly dance.
How many teachers are there within 50 miles of the nearest city? How many performers are there out there competing for a gig at two or three local restaurants? Lots. Some would say "too many."
How do you compete with 200 people selling the same thing in your local area? How do you make sure the prospect chooses you?
The answer is to narrow and sharpen your focus as much as possible. Make sure you know exactly what you're selling (see part one) and then find and market to people who are looking for it. If you're selling a gentle dance class for seniors, don't market on a college campus. If you're selling beaded lycra costumes, don't advertise on a tribal web site.
Now, some of you might be saying "but I might get a tribal dancer who is also into American Cabaret. Shouldn't I cover all the bases?" Well, yes. You might find a few customers there, but it's not the best use of your time or money. You want to have a laser-tight focus and reach as many of the right people as possible.
This is the fundamental difference between old marketing and new marketing. Back when the only advertising was TV, radio or print, the goal was to reach as broad an audience as possible and hope a few of them were interested in what you were selling. But with the Internet, the whole foundation of marketing has shifted. Now we want to tighten our focus as much as possible and find where the most qualified prospects hang out. Then we go there to market our products (our solutions to their problem.)
You probably wouldn't place an ad for your belly dance class on a NASCAR forum. UNLESS you're selling something related to both niches. Maybe you're going to be at the Daytona 500 and are offering a pre-race stretch class or something. (Is Daytona even a NASCAR race? I should have chosen an example I had a clue about...)
Focus your niche as tightly as possible. Specialize. That's how you compete with those other 200 dancers.
Don't be just another belly dance teacher. Be "the only west-side, advanced level, East coast style, gothic tribal instructor offering 6am pre-natal classes to moms of twins." If you can find a place where that particular target is, you can bet your ad will be very well received. The prospect is what we marketers call "highly qualified" or very likely to buy. That gothic mom-to-be will see your ad and say "Oh, thank goodness! This is just what I've been looking for!!"
That's not to say you can't specialize in many things at once. You might offer two levels of Egyptian dance, a post-natal, and a senior class every week. But you don't want to market them all together. Look at your market. Who will be coming to your Egyptian class? Mostly fit girls in their 20s? Stressed out career women? Market accordingly. It's okay to have several niche websites, or several pages on one site. It's okay to have lots of ads and flyers in different places. Just make sure they are talking directly to the people most likely to be reading them.
So, now that you know what you're selling and who you're selling to, how do you get them to buy? Stay tuned for part three.
