July 5, 2008
Why I Dominate my Niches and Have No “Real” Competitors…
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Well, I am in three big niches, but the only one to really talk about today is Dance. The others are not widely known, or public, so people can’t readily discover them, but in dance, and salsa dance in particular, I’ve clearly made my participation in the niche known.
In fact, I dominate it. Dominate is a big word, I know, but … it fits. In every metric that matters, I absolutely crush everyone around me. I would say… I’m likley 10x larger than my nearest competitor, That’s a big discrepancy. You’d think I’d be happy about that wouldn’t you? Guess what! I’m not. I have very few whom I can actually partner with.
It’s not even that hard for me to dominate. I should have to work harder to do what I do. I am willing to work harder to do it. Hell, I even want to work harder to do it. But in this niche, it’s doubtful that I’ll have to - for many reasons. If I had competitors, on any level, I’d have partners. I don’t actually believe in competition as a bad thing. Sure, I suppose it’s not great to lose a competition, but in my heart of hearts, I am simply not a competitive person. I like to win, sure, but I don’t seek out competition for the sake of it. I seek out…partners! I want partners. I want people in my niche that I can work with. I want people that want to make a difference.
First, as in all my niches, people seem to have no grasp of exactly how big we are, what we do, and how we do it, and they simply aren’t inquisitive enough to ask. I can’t even remember the last time we were approached for any kind of partnership or deal. That’s both a good and bad thing from a business perspective. I’ve been able to be the major and completely dominant player in one of my niches (and a major player in the other two), without anyone actually knowing about it. Isn’t that incredible? If you don’t know why that’s important, that’s ok, we’ll get into that later, but regardless, isn’t it interesting that people don’t know who I am, nor what I do, nor try to reverse engineer my business? I mean… this is big business, you think people would try to do that huh? You think they’d simply want to partner with it, be part of it, come along for the ride… but no. Nothing!
Once again, I’m not saying this to gloat. Once again, quite the opposite. I’ve often been bummed and dissapointed at the lack of professionalism in this specific market, and the typical artistic disdain for all things "business". It’s ironic that all too often, that disdain, turns into shoddy products, and ripping off their own customers. I’ve often yearned (yes, yearned) for other people whom might raise the bar, whom I might work with, whom were similarly motivated to do great things.
It’s hard to find people passionate about things. Really, anything! Passion is hard to find. Passion with a desire for business is a harder thing to find. And passion in business that is not motivated out of greed, or the singular desire to make money, is damn nigh impossible. Unfortunately, I fall into that group. Sure, I’m motivated by money, but I’m far more motivated by a desire to reach people, to improve lives, to actually leave a positive mark on society and people’s day to day existence. Perhaps that’s why I can still do what I do…
Yes, every now and then people popped up. There was even one Yanik Silver follower whom did some really great things, and whom I admired and helped me up-my-game. However, he’s long since left the niche. Moved on to greener pastures? Perhaps. However, one or two people out of hundreds, if not thousands, of people that are in the niche? That’s a small percentage is it not?
And guess what? It applies to other niches as well. Yep! It’s both part of my success and a reason for my personal failure, that I haven’t created more competition for myself, started more people on the road to success, created competitors so that I might partner with them.If you’ve read the MarketingCrazy into, you hear me briefly touch on it. It’s part of the reasons I am entering my new niche - the marketing niche, and the business building niche. See, I can even publicly state my next niche, I am certain in my ability to be a major player. However, whether that translates into a known player, or simply a powerful one, remains to be seen.
Am I crazy? Will I be a victim of my own success? Will I create a young apprentice who’ll then rise up and take me down (ok, too many Star Wars episodes).
Why Do I dominate my Niche(s): Because no one else cares to, and those that might, either do not have the skills they need, or do not have the correct motivations to last. I’m going to fix that shortly … or at least give people the ability to fix it themselves. My question is - how many will rise to the challenge, even when it’s handed to them?
Why Do I have no Real Competition: In business, especially small, niche based business, you better be fast, agile, and belive in partnerships. That’s the way to growth. I am a big believer in the JV. In my other niches, it is the prime reason for my greatest successes. In the dance niche, it barely exists (affiliates obviously not included).
