The Niche Web Design Marketing System
5 Commandments to Break Free from the Generalist's Nightmare
In our most recent post, I indicated there are three ways to differentiate yourself as a web design:
Brand
Vehicle
Niche
In my private coaching with web designers, I often recommend the niche path. It is a better way for most web designers to stand out. In this issue of the newsletter I’m not going to argue for why you should go niche. That has been done exhaustively elsewhere.
Instead we’re going to focus on the practical side of the most important benefit of going niche: Marketing.
The Death of the Generalist
The generalist web design/marketing agency isn’t dying because of a skill problem. It’s dying because of a marketing problem.
In today’s world there are too many options. Web design especially is seen as a commodity. That means price is usually the deciding factor when someone is buying what you sell.
Therefore, in order to avoid being seen as a commodity, you must by definition move the buyer’s consideration into something other than price.
Ultimately you can do this with any of the three methods I mentioned, but niche is the most accessible because it creates the easiest bridge between what the client wants to buy and what are you selling.
Say there’s a plumber in need of a new website. The local plumber has a ton of options! Web designers think that plumbers are thinking, “I need a new website.”
But that’s not quite right.
Plumbers are thinking, “I need a new website for my plumbing business.” So if they encounter your website called “websitesforplumbers.com”, do you think it will stand out?
100%!
No, it doesn’t guarantee an automatic sale. But it moves you further down the funnel in their mind. Even if a little. And the further down-funnel you go in their mind, the further away from price-competition you are.
Why?
Because your option could be more expensive than others they are considering and still stand out. They are still concerned about price, but far less, because you are now competing on relevance.
With that said, let’s dive into my: