Today's guest is Sara Dunn. Sara is a web developer and founder of 11 Web, a full-service web design agency.
Sara was a guest on Season 2 and since then she's been intently focused on continuing to specialize her business into a very specific niche. She started six years ago as a WordPress design and development generalist, and now specializes in search engine optimization (SEO) in the wedding industry. She also vlogs about the entire process of specialization on her YouTube channel.
Throughout the process of niching down, she realized there was a lot of fear involved. Fear of turning away potential clients. Fear of leaving money on the table. Fear of making the wrong decisions. And those fears were an obstacle that she had to overcome before she was able to truly find the right niche.
So she started a vlog on YouTube. The public nature of her videos provided accountability and kept her moving forward even when she felt like throwing in the towel.
Finding a sense of direction for herself was one thing, but then came the work of getting the rest of the team on board. It took time, but going deep in a specific vertical gave her and her team the confidence to embrace their expertise and clarify their value proposition.
Currently, the goal is to go deeper in the wedding industry and take on fewer generalist projects. In 2019, Sara hopes to start speaking at wedding-related conferences and growing her reputation that specialized work.
[click_to_tweet tweet="When you can niche down and specialize, everyone on the team is excited to be seen as an expert and to be valued for their work and their expertise - not just as the hands that carry out the project." quote="When you can niche down and specialize, everyone on the team is excited to be seen as an expert and to be valued for their work and their expertise - not just as the hands that carry out the project." theme="style3"]
In this episode Sara talks about:
- Creating and demonstrating your value proposition
- How to take the time necessary to find the right niche before going all-in
- Experimenting with your business and marketing tactics
- Positioning yourself as an expert and how that adds value to your team and your clients
Main Takeaways
- Just because you love what you are doing doesn't mean you should settle. Keep pushing to find the specialty that's right for you.
- Get content out there that proves your expertise in your niche. This will help bring in leads and keep you true to your chosen niche.
- Progress is incremental and transitions should be gradual. Don't try to change your business overnight.
Important Mentions in this Episode
Season 4: Niching Down
More episodes in this season:
S04 E01 - Josh Doody on Why, When, and How to Niche Your Business
S04 E02 - Sara Dunn on Overcoming the Fear of Specialization
S04 E03 - Chris Bintliff on Filling Gaps in a Niche and Building Marketing Engines That Work
S04 E04 - Matt Medeiros on Community and Finding Niches in Unlikely Places
S04 E05 - John Locke on Pivoting Your Niche and How To Validate A Market For Your Services
S04 E06 - Elliot Murphy on Abundance Mindset and Providing Value to Your Clients
S04 E07 - Troy Dean on How To Focus Your Marketing and Speak Your Client's Language
S04 E08 - Lianna Patch on Making an Impact by Injecting Humor Into Your Copy
S04 E09 - Joe Workman on Finding Your People and Creating What They Need
S04 E10 - Andrew Askins on Burnout, Pivoting, and Creating a Company People Want to Work For
