One of the key areas I get asked. and which I find most professional service firms find the most challenging areas of their business is to define their target market.

Very often professional services firms have a broad definition of their ideal clients and this impacts them in a number of ways:

• they don’t have the resources or capacity to access their clients through their marketing
• their marketing materials and how they speak about their business do demonstrate that they are experts in the areas that their clients are concerned about.

So here is the top 7 tips for defining a target market and niche that will enable you to fast track the growth of your professional services firm (as detailed in my programme ‘Niche for Success - how to create a compelling and profitable niche’):

1. Who are you passionate about serving? 
2. In the case of coaches and consultants, are they prepared to accept advice and guidance?  Will they listen to you?
3. What is your field of expertise and is this one that your target market will value and have need of?  Do they have a pain or problem that you are uniquely positioned to resolve?
4. What is your point of view - what do you stand for in relation to this community and this topic?
5. What wisdom or experience that will enable you to be seen as credible?
6. Can they afford to pay for your solutions and services?
7. Is there a list - a way of connecting to your ideal clients that is highly distinctive and focused e.g. that they have a specific professional body they are a member of, a specific publication that they read? 

What are some of the additional attributes and qualities that you need to fast track your growth?

• Resilience so that you don’t give up when the going gets touch
• Preparedness to stand out from the crowd be positioned as an expert - yes you may not decide to call yourself an expert but you have to believe that you are one
• Actively invest in be at the the leading edge of your field - through reading, attending seminars and then taking that learning and applying it to your business and your clients
• A capable speaker and writer - public speaking and being able to say you are the author of articles/anebook/a published book are two of the most significant ways to build your brand fast.

With a robust plan that is flawlessly executed for your strategy and marketing, you can achieve being known by your ideal clients from a standing start in less than 12 months - I know I have done it by applying these eight steps to growing your business as I apply to my clients.

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