gold

How do most people find gold?  Well, they look at the ground and pick up shiny rocks.  They see another one a few feet away and they run to that one.  Then there’s one over there, by that boulder.  Yeah, you get it: I’m literally bringing the “low hanging fruit” analogy down to earth.

So most folks make a little gold by picking it up off the ground.  But if you’re smart, you do a little research, identify the most geologically likely place for gold, and then you put in the effort and dig for it.  (For fruit, you plant your own orchard and then get a ladder so you can reach every branch.)

Mining for gold allows you to dig deep in your own private. . . well, gold mine.  You avoid all the other people scratching around in the dirt looking to get rich.  When you find and follow the vein of gold, though, it’s all yours.  You may pay more for specialized machinery, and hire geologists and other folks to swing picks and run sorting machines, but if you find the right vein, the profits will be exponentially higher than the costs.

So, what am I saying in terms of ramping up profits in your business?  First, you need to identify the right group of customers for your service.  You could also find a group and create a service or product to serve that group.  If you’re smart, you’ll do both.  That group becomes your “likely spot to dig for gold.”

Then, you need to reach out to this group and begin to provide them with goods and services, at prices that maximize your profit.  Understand me clearly: I do not advocate charging exorbitant prices for poor or mediocre products or services.  You charge high prices so that you can provide the best possible solutions for their problems.

Let’s go back to my fictional rug cleaner.  Theoretically, any one who has rugs is a prospect for their services.  Joe, owner of Joe’s Rug Cleaning, looks around and sees that the other cleaners in his city charge an average of $50 per room.  Conventional “wisdom” says that in order to get clients, he has to charge less than that.  That means that even if Joe has more experience and a better overall service, he’s still going to make less than the worst hack who charges $50/room.

But Joe realizes that there are dozens of small businesses out there, just trying to get in the door of anyone with a carpet at the lowest possible price. Joe makes like a geologist looking for likely spots and does his research.  He contacts all the local suppliers of high-end carpeting, asking where their product is installed.  Joe learns that the Bounty Bay neighborhood is filled with wealthier folks who bought nicer, more expensive carpets.  They appreciate quality, and expect to keep their homes – and their carpets – in top shape.

Joe’s an unknown.  Rather than plug his high-priced carpet cleaning straight away, he writes a pamphlet covering the care and cleaning of expensive carpets and rugs.  He makes himself the local Recognized Expert on caring for top quality threaded flooring by getting endorsements from local carpet and rug dealers, as well as builders of high-end custom homes.  Now he sends out his pamphlets to everyone in Bounty Bay.

Joe’s phone starts ringing!  He’s lining up jobs in Bounty Bay, making sure he asks his satisfied customers if he can use their names when contacting their friends and neighbors.  He’s found a seam of gold, and is beginning to actually mine it.  In addition to his top end service, he offers a one month guarantee.  If, for any reason at all, the carpet becomes stained in the next 30 days, he’ll come clean it again for free.

Joe talks with a couple prospects, and finds that they have invested in hardwood flooring.  Rather than lose them as clients, Joe educates himself on the care and maintenance of hardwood floors, and offers to clean them as well.  He’s found an additional service he can offer his selected group that ties in with what he already does.

Joe can suggest an annual cleaning, but what can he do in the mean time?  How about selling eco-friendly floor cleaning products to his clients?  How about selling those floor cleaning products to people who haven’t hired him to clean their carpets?  How about adding a line of environmentally friendly general household cleaning products to his catalog?

Before selling his cleaning products, Joe is now averaging $200 per room – that’s four times what his “competitors” charge!  And his clients are happy to have him, because Joe is the Recognized Expert at cleaning high-end flooring.  Now, rather than going door to door and selling his services, Joe has people calling him asking to pay for his services.

All of this can happen for you if you identify your target market and become, in their eyes, the Recognized Expert in your niche.  You need to find your likely spot, and then mine it.