Rainmaking Recommendation #88: Pick a Niche to Scratch their Legal Itch (Part 3 – How to Pick A Niche)

In Rainmaking Recommendation # 86 we talked about Why Pick a Niche.

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In Rainmaking Recommendation #87 we discussed What is a Niche

In today’s recommendation we will talk about HOW to pick a niche.

There are many ways to pick a niche but here are some questions to ask yourself:

1. Who is your ideal client?  You need to define who it is you would like to work.  What does this group look like?  Is it based on a particular industry?  A socio-economic class?  I suggest that you pick two or three different groups of people with whom you are interested in working.  If you enjoy the people with whom you work and the practice you have chosen, you will become successful.
2. Is your industry or niche big enough?  Do a little research.  Are there enough people in your chosen group  to sustain a practice?
3. Who is your competition?  Are you competing for this niche with too many people?  Are you willing to do what it takes to set yourself apart in order to dominate this niche?  This is not to discourage you from going after this niche, but to determine whether you are willing to take the rainmaking steps necessary to do what you need to do to become known as the “go-to” lawyer.

You may determine with these questions that there is too much competition, or that the niche isn’t big enough,  and that you would rather find a different niche (or even drill down further in a particular group) to go after.

Speaking of becoming a go-to lawyer and some tips on how to break into a particular niche, a colleague and friend of mine, Cordell Parvin wrote a great blog “Who will become the “hot sauce” industry go-to lawyer”.   It is great reading and will help you understand that once you have chosen a niche you can find many ways to get the information and many methods of marketing yourself to that industry.