Is Your Business Niche Clear Enough?
Hey, there, superstars! |
We have a saying in improv: ‘Keep it simple, stoopid!’. When improvisers get on stage, they love to bring their entire brain along with them. Every reference, every fact, every nuance. And that’s… too much. It’s too much for an audience. It creates distance as they try to decipher your message. The tangle of information gets in the way of the laughs
To be clear, audiences want ‘simple’. They want an understandable joke. Audiences want clear sign-posting. Audiences don’t want to have to climb over your cleverness to get to their goal of connection and joy. Same with business; with selling a service. If your offer is complicated, then your potential customer gets confused. And - write this on a Post-It and stick it on your bathroom mirror - “A confused person says ‘No’”. You don’t have to say it all in the first breath of meeting a prospect. You don’t have to slap all your offers on the door. Niche down; offer ONE thing. UCB improv coach Jason Schotts, once said: “No audience ever left a theatre and said: “I loved it but I wish it had been more complicated”. So what do you really want to offer? Want people to buy from you? Define the Thing, slap it on the front gate, and everything else will follow. Improv helps: we improvisers are trained from the very start to make things simpler. We’ll help you simplify your business offer. ‘Keep it simple, stoopid!’. |
Is Your Business Niche Clear Enough?
TRY IT OUT! 💘 Our weekly tip, from applied improv to you.
Repeat Repeat
The activity: Hold a conversation with someone. Whenever they speak, repeat what they just said before you follow up. eg. “I went to shops…” “You went to the shops? What did you get?” “I got some fruit”. “You got some fruit, nice. I love tangerines right now”. etc.
When you repeat an ‘offer’, you slow the conversation. You stay on track. You simplify. You’re shown in real time how ‘listened to’ your ‘audience’ feels.
Tips: After one round of this, clue your partner in! Explain what you’re doing and see if they’ll try it as well. What becomes established? What matters?
The learning goal: To simplify the conversation and get granular about what is on the table. Just like good niching in business. Description
Download: Repeat Repeat here.
Something simple...
Consider your offer(s) as ingredients - you’re making something to eat (something your prospect will buy) - and sure, you have a big range of food, herbs and spices in your ‘kitchen’ (essentially, your talent and experience).
But instead of going down the Yotam Ottolenghi rabbit hole, where he’ll put 28 ingredients in any given recipe, try channelling Ainsley Harriott and think about your niche in terms of Ready Steady Cook. Limit your ingredients / offer to three things, maximum. Then pick one to work with for the next 3-6 months.
It’ll feel really hard. You are so much more than this one thing! But your dinner guests will get it immediately. Your buyers will appreciate the simplicity.
You can show them the full menu at a later date.
Vic and Paul
