The Blue Ocean Strategy

On Friday, I talked a bit about my current thoughts on my business plan for my RV blog. And I wanted to take it a little further with ya into something “bigger picture” that you can apply yourself.

It is a strategy that will allow you to enter a “competitive” market, but with less competition (potentially).

It was documented fairly well in a book called The Blue Ocean Strategy. Perhaps you’ve read it. But, I’ll give ya the bullet point version here…

When the sharks are all feeding on the same food source, the water is churning and thrashing blood red. Because they’re all fighting over the same thing.

But, if you head out to blue water, there’s less competition.

Now, it doesn’t mean the shark that heads out to blue water is suddenly a vegetarian or something. 😉 It is just that all the other sharks are busy in a herd feeding on the same school of fish. Which means… other fish moving around outside that school (in the blue waters) now have less sharks going after them.

Got it?

Now, I hope the analogy there on business is clear.

We’re not saying that you have to pick a whole different market in order to seek bluer waters. You can do essentially the same thing, but simply re-position it for a different target demographic. One where the “sharks” aren’t feeding.

Now, take what I said about my RV blog and a potential tie-in with the Blog Marketing Academy. Clearly, the “blogging niche” is pretty saturated. But, doing something like what I do with The Lab, but targeted for RVers…. that’s different. It’s bluer waters. Generally, the other people in the RV niche aren’t doing that. They’re all dropping Amazon affiliate links everywhere. I’ve seen a handful of people with info products, but none what I do.

Get it?

I was talking recently with a client of mine who was doing the same thing for his niche of tax accounting. But, in our conversation, we discussed how parts of The LAB could be re-positioned for other markets, too.

Blogging for dentists.
Blogging for chiropractors.
Blogging for lawyers

Get it?

In a way, it is just sub-niching the thing down.

And in each, I would talk about the same basic strategies I teach in The Lab, but it would be done more specifically to those markets. People with dentist practices, for instance, are going to have a different set of needs and wants than your typical blogger.

So, here’s what you can do for yourself…

Look at your own blog and your own niche. Think about the different kinds of people who could benefit from what you teach, even if it might not seem like a direct connection.

I know a dude who is in the web design business. This business is a commodity these days and it is hard to compete. But, he makes a freakin’ killing. You know how? Because he has specialized specifically in websites for LAWYERS. He hones in on the needs and wants of lawyers. And, not unrelated, he hones in on the often sky-high rates of lawyers, too. 😉 Lawyers have a much higher price tolerance and a low rate would seem too cheap to them. So, he charges more and does well.

That’s the Blue Ocean Strategy.

– David