Whether you are new to the handyman business or you’ve been in it for a while, one thing you really cannot do is label yourself simply “handyman.” Going into niches is a critically important marketing task because you cannot be all things to all people. You really want to focus on what you really want to do, whether that be finishing basements, kitchen makeovers, bathroom remodels, or you want to paint interiors or exteriors, or maybe you want to cater to real estate investors, there a lot of different ways to focus in on a niche and then when you do your marketing in order to do your lead generation and your prospect building then you go and you focus and you offer something of value to that niche.
I know there will be those who say “but I don’t want to limit my business — I want to be available to anyone who wishes to hire me”. To that I say you couldn’t be further from the truth when you say that because really what you are doing is you label yourself simply “handyman”. Well, that is not going to specifically mean anything to someone who is looking to have their house painted or their kitchen remodeled. You need to speak directly to those people and say, “I do that particular task that you are looking for” and then if they know they need that then you suddenly become magnetic to them. You need to pick a niche or several niches — you do not need to limit yourself to only one. Pick that niche or those niches and market to those people because those are the people you are going to get business from.
There will be certain benefits for nicheing out into specialties as well. For example, you will be able to charge more. A heart surgeon always makes more than a General Practice Doctor, correct? And why would that be, because they are specialists in their field; they have become an expert in that particular niche.
If you were to market as a general handyman you will spend more money on trying to attract the same number of clients then if you go and specialize and target very specific niches. Let me give you a quick example, say you decide to go and focus your business on preparing house that need to be sold. If you focus on that you can cost effectively market directly to real estate agents specifically much better than you can by just saying I am a handyman if you need anything fixed call me. Because you have a good market to message match there where your market – real estate agents is specifically matching your message – I prepare houses to sell. It will be cheaper for your advertising and better for you overall.
