No matter the business you start you need to think about the customer base you will be serving. If you design websites, what kind of websites do you want to design? You probably can’t master PHP, ASP and every other language out there. You need to specialize.

That goes for any small business. Not every can be an Amazon or an eBay… and even their reputations are built on a certain market. But the smaller you are the more important a good niche is.

Let’s stick with the website designer. Who do you think will build a reputation faster… the website designer who specializes in real estate websites or the one who will do a site for anyone?

Assuming they both have equal opportunities for advertising, the reputation of the one who specialized is likely to be built faster. People often talk to others in their same industry or who share interests. That allows word to spread faster.

Specializing also allows you to really focus on the needs of your target audience. This makes your business easier to develop as you know exactly who you are researching for.
It can even lower your overall advertising costs as you know exactly where to target your ads. Do you want to advertise to everyone or just the people who are more likely to be interested in what you have to offer?

No one can market to everyone. That’s just a recipe for failure. Choose your target and narrow it down as necessary.

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