Niche, Brand or Partner?

Yesterday I spoke a bit about the importance of finding the right people to help you with the areas of your work that you know you are a bit weak in. I would like to look at that in more detail today and especially look at why this is important online. Think of the last three purchases you made online. Who did you buy from (or donate to) and why? The chances are you did some research, looked at the price, the product and the terms and conditions and felt that you could trust the organisation. We buy from people we know. like and trust. Sometimes we trust a company because we are very familiar with the brand like Amazon. Sometimes we trust a company because they demonstrate expertise in a niche market. So they might not have an international appeal and recognition, but within a niche community they are respected.

So what does this mean for you? It means that it would be foolish to think that you could start raising a lot of money by trying to sell commonly searched for and widely available products if you are not a recognised online brand. Online branding is quite a different process to offline and it is much more than just your website. If you were thinking of buying something from someone online, you would probably Google their name to find out more about them. You would want to know that they are who they say they are. This means you would look at the things that they have published to the web like press releases, blogs, articles, their website and adverts. You will want to also know what others are saying about them too in postings and in the social networking arena. That is assuming of course that you can find them online in the first place. If you are a small charity or social enterprise who is hoping to attract donations online you will be competing against much bigger organisations who have already got a very strong online brand.

One way around this is joint venturing, after all two or more heads are always better than one. Strategic alliances account for a massive percentage of online trading. I can give you a few examples. WAHPs are Work at Home Parents who have found strength in numbers, so individuals gathering as one unity create a big presence. Whitebox on the other hand is one organisation who partner with many charities and social enterprises. They find a simple way for organisations to generate fundraising revenue. It is free to join and is a revenue sharing scheme. More on that one tomorrow after I have spoken with one of the Whitebox team later on. Another form of joint venture is merging. The internet training company that I trained with is an alliance of the two biggest training companies who were previously competitors. As a result the training resources are infinite and they are streets ahead of any of their competition and they are enjoying the benefits of collaboration.

If you want to think beyond joint venturing, you could think about developing a powerful online presence in a niche market. A niche market will attract fewer searches but it is more reachable to establish yourself as a big fish in a smaller pond. However, please don't set yourself up as an expert online unless you really are one, it is crucial to be transparent. It is surprising how much misinformation is on the web and if you can deliver some comprehensive information or quality specialist product or service that is currently not widely available you will do well if you are smart about your branding.

So, more food for thought and I will be back tomorrow to let you know about Whitebox and how they might be able to help you.