Create your own niche: creating your own TOMA ladder

"Marketing speak" term you need to know: TOMA = Top of Mind Awareness

TOMA = your name coming to mind when someone mentions a topic.  

In my book Beyond the Niche, I tell the compelling story of a tiny bakery who succeeded despite the fact that the odds were definitely stack against them. 

One of the keys to that success was that we created a new TOMA ladder for them While their success story may have captured your imagination, it’s important to understand what we were up against at the time.

In the Ida Mae story, keep in mind that every grocery store in the area had an in-store bakery, not to mention the bakery inside the extremely popular local Wal-Mart store. In a word, there was no way we could compete head to head with the bakeries within the grocery stores.

The little bakery couldn’t compete with those in-house bakeries when it came to price and they definitely couldn’t compete when it came to convenience. When it came to marketing budgets, the little bakery was definitely in the role of “David” as in the “David vs. Goliath”.

Our solution was simple. We never referred to the Ida Mae’s as a “bakery.” Instead, it was the little store that made the most incredible home-made style taste treats. We created our own TOMA ladder of “home-made style goodies” and dominated our own self created niche.

If you’re in business on the web, make no doubt about it, your business will live or die by your position on each individual’s TOMA ladder. No matter which TOMA ladder you decide to compete, you’ll need to tell enough people what you are all about and be sure to keep telling them what you already told them.

Creating your own TOMA ladder gives you a GREAT advantage.  So how can you "break away" from the pack and get in front of your own parade?  Defining your OWN niche is truly a powerful tool in creating advertising and marketing success!

If you need a step by step guide to creating truly effective marketing messages for your small business- pick up a copy of my book Beyond the Niche: Essential Tools You Need to Create Marketing Messages that Deliver Results.