The sharpest marketing advice I’ve heard came not from some marketing guru but from a small town photographer, one who built a global business from a home base in a small town.
 |
| Mike Klemme found a niche, filled it, and killed it. And that is how he built a global business. |
Mike Klemme is a professional photographer from Enid, Oklahoma (population 47,000). He said he built his business on the Red Adair model: be the one to call. That niche marketing has taken him around the world to do what he does best: photograph golf courses.
I heard his marketing advice at a photography event back in 2010.
Find a niche, fill the niche and kill the niche, Klemme said.
Here’s how he outlined the process:
- Pick a niche without an existing specialist, one that capitalizes on your skills and abilities.
- Start learning all you can about it; read the trade publications.
- Network, meet everyone involved, know the industry players and become a guru in your specialty.
- Get beyond the obvious; develop your own perspective and your own style.
- Slam the door on that niche by being the absolute best.
- Find your tribe of people who are passionate about the topic. Communicate directly with them.
- Build great partnerships. Find compatible professionals, and grow your work together.
Klemme may have been thinking about photographers when he put together his points, but I’m thinking about how many different small-town professionals could use these ideas to build their own global business and kill their niche.
New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.
- Metaverse business idea: virtual world tour guide - April 15, 2022
- Make extra money from extra workspace: co-working and 3rd workplaces in small towns - March 28, 2022
- Trade show booth design trend: hand drawn visuals - March 21, 2022
- New business sign design? Don’t use cursive script - February 14, 2022
- Way more people prefer rural than urban, new Pew Research study finds - February 1, 2022
- Top 5 Rural and small town trends 2022 - January 3, 2022
- How to start a real small small business - December 17, 2021
- Tip for better pop-ups and shed businesses - December 5, 2021
- Small town business idea: cat grooming - November 15, 2021
- Community engagement planning: old way vs. Idea Friendly way - October 3, 2021
Oh yeah, I’ve done it once before, and now I’m gonna do it again. Believe me, when you become the “go-to” you’ll always be able to name your own price, have a full bucket of customers, with more wanting your services or your product.
Shari, I agree! When you’re the one, you’re in a much better position than the generalist who tries to do it all.