One of the biggest mistakes in marketing is to try to appeal to everyone. If you do that, you end up appealing to no one. For example, if you say to a client you can do “everything” (including training, database design, website design etc.), you will be classified as a generalist in their mind. If you come into competition with a specialist, it is likely that you will lose out.

After all, a jack-of-all-trades is a master of none. The client is not stupid and they will realise that they are likely to get a better job done by a specialist than someone who can do a bit of everything.

Trying to appeal to everyone in your marketing will result in a very weak sales message. Your marketing angle will come across as bland, non-descript, or at worse dull. Your message will lack appeal.

Compare and contrast these two adverts:

Advert #1
IT help for website design, training, software development, support, networking, hardware sales, purchase advice, consultancy. $60 ph. Call 1-xxx-123455

Advert #2
Microsoft Access database design specialists available for advice, design, implementation and support. $80 ph. Call 1 xxx-112233

The first example is taking a general approach and the second a targeted approach.

At first glance, you may think that the first approach will get your more business. Sure, you rationalise, I will get more enquiries because I am appealing to more IT areas. It is logical to therefore assume I will get more enquiries and more business.

Yes, with both these adverts running in isolation and no other IT companies advertising in the same area of the publication in question, you are probably right. I’m sure you will agree that advert #1 will get the most enquiries but advert #2 will get virtually all the Microsoft Access database enquiries.

Ok, let’s move the goalposts slightly…

Let’s say you are advertising in a publication that has a lot of your competitors. You will find many of these competitors offering a large range of services. It will be full of generalists. The specialists who advertise will be fewer in number because there are so many different areas of IT speciality. The chance of two specialists both offering the same service are reduced. It follows that you will get the Microsoft Access leads in our example and are much more likely to convert to a sale than when compared to a generalist. The generalist is competing with a lot of other generalists, so they are less likely to get as many calls as when advertising in isolation. Additionally, they are less likely to convert enquiries because of increased competition.

To summarise, being targeted in your marketing will make you stand out and more likely to get the business in the area in which you specialise.

What IT speciality

There are so many IT areas you can specialise in that opportunities abound for the start-up entrepreneur. The internet explosion has brought a raft of new technologies, with virginal markets sucking in talent like a hoover.

Gaping holes are appearing in market niches but they get filled pretty quickly. You need to be fleet of foot in our more global market, where you may experience competition from a foreign land.

When starting out, one of the clearest opportunities lies with selling your existing skill set. It is likely that you have some computer literacy or you would not have chosen to purchase this manual. So if you don’t know where to start, take stock of what you currently know. Make a list and choose the areas that you feel may suit your target market. You don’t need to stay in this market, but you have to start somewhere. It is good experience to just get started and tackle a market where you will feel comfortable. Then, in time, you can develop an educational plan should you want to change your focus and go for a more lucrative (or enjoyable) IT speciality.

For those with previous IT job experience, your path may be more clearly defined. Your previous job experience is likely to be the springboard for your target market. With all that experience, you could launch straight into selling your services to the markets in which you previously worked. You may well have contacts made through you previous job, who could give you your first contract.

Business or domestic market?

When you start out with limited skills, one of the easiest ways to get your feet wet as an IT consultant is through targeting the domestic market. In next to no time, you will improve your IT skills, get a good grounding in dealing with clients and learn the basics of running your IT consultancy. This is what I did.

I always considered myself quite IT literate. But only when I started my own business did I really get to know the packages. When you spend all day, every day helping people solve all manner of computer problems, you soon learn the nuances of the most common package. You also acquire the ability to explain things in a clear manner to your less IT literate clients. The domestic market is ideal as a training ground but for the real money, you need to deal with businesses.

Businesses have much larger budgets than home users. What is too costly for the home user, the businessperson may consider insignificant. Also, the larger the business, the more you can charge, as a generalisation.

Initially, I would start with domestic clients, then move to small business and only after a good amount of experience start dealing with larger clients.

For those with previous IT job experience, this progression may not be necessary. You can shortcut the process as you are used to dealing with IT departments and so forth.

What company size?

There are many different ways to target your market and the example earlier on in this chapter is just one way. You could have also targeted by company size. In this instance, you may want to reconsider your IT speciality and how specialised you actually want to be.

For example, if you wanted to focus on one-man businesses then being a generalist may work to your advantage. This type of client is unlikely to want to deal with a large number of specialists as they just don’t have the time to research and plan for it. It is far more convenient for them to have one guy who deals with all their IT stuff.

But if they are a company with 5 employees or more, your generalist approach might be less effective.

We have covered how to target your message as a specialist, but how do you target the one-man band as a generalist, yet still stand out from your competitors?

Consider this alternative advert:

WANTED: Small business owners who need computer help. Easy, friendly computer support at prices you can afford. Call 1-xxx-132435 for free initial chat.

You can see the focus is away from the specific areas you cover to the type of person for which your service is suited. You have promoted yourself as a specialist for the particular niche of “small business owner”, rather than comparing yourself with the competition through the IT skills you have to offer.

Locality

Where do you want most of your clients to be, geographically speaking? Are you looking for clients just in your area, so you don’t have to be away from your family and friends? Or, do you not mind travelling, so long as you can tap into a rich market that may be outside your locality? Alternatively, do you want to deal with clients globally through the internet and its ability to operate remotely? Indeed, some countries do this when they have economic advantages working in their favour. Consider the explosion in the number of programmers in India. With such a low cost of living, they can charge rates far below those found in your country, making them a viable alternative for companies who want to cost cut.

If you want to stick to local markets, you can still do the occasional long distance job. Just price in your travelling and charge a higher rate. That way you get rewarded for your travelling time. And you will feel good because you got a very good rate. Obviously, you are going to get turned down more often with these higher rates but you didn’t want to do that work anyway, did you? It’s just a bonus if it comes off.