[powerpress]
Awhile back, I posted a video talking about how you can make more money in web design by laser-targeting the services you offer. Since then, I’ve received a little push-back from a few coders and I wanted to address their concerns.
Their two main arguments are:
- Being too specific will cause you to lose jobs when you’re first starting out.
- You have to build up credibility/rapport before you can start targeting more specifically
In the podcast, I cover both of these… but let me briefly summarize the points I made:
You CANNOT Get Too Specific. Period.
It’s as close to impossible as you can get… for you, as a freelancer, to get less business by targeting your services more specifically. Here’s why:
- You only need a few regular clients (4-5) to sustain your business
- It’s almost impossible to find a market on the web that doesn’t have 4-5 customers in it
Even if the number of clients you need is higher… say 10… it’s not 1 million or 10,000 or even 100. You couldn’t sustain that many clients anyway. In fact, once you start to get above 5 or so clients, it becomes un-manageable for you, as an individual, to handle all those clients at once.
So, you don’t need a ton of clients to sustain your business.
Even more, with the global nature of the web, it’s almost impossible to find a market with less than 10 or so customers in it. You probably could find one somewhere… but to do so, you’d have to get SO specific it would be obnoxious.
In practical terms, no matter how specific you get… you’ll always have enough customers to sustain you.
Specificity Will Trump Credibility in Many Instances
I go back to my contact lens example from the original post. I knew nothing about the brand of contact lens solution I bought. Even more, I HAD heard of the some of the other brands that were marketing themselves as “Multi-Purpose Solution”.
But, that didn’t matter.
I needed something very specific and I chose the product that marketed itself the best in that regard.
As a freelancer, you certainly want to build up your credibility. However, if you’re the only (or one of the only) people who can deliver a certain outcome for a client… guess what… they don’t really have a choice. They HAVE to choose you.
In fact, when you’re first starting out as a freelancer… one of the easiest ways to get clients right away is to offer a service that very few others can. Then, use that to build credibility and expand into other areas as you see fit.
What About You?
Tell me why I’m wrong. Or, why I’m right. What has your experience shown you? Let me know in the comments below.
