Before I can explain how you would know if you have reached “Top of Mind” status in your niche, I must first provide you with the definitions of top of mind and niche for those that may not be familiar with that terminology. Top of Mind for our purposes means that you come to mind first for the services that you offer. Your business is the first choice, the “go to” place, the preferred vendor for the service that you offer. A niche is a focused, targetable portion of a market. Now in order to create the perfect combination of the two – YOU– on behalf of your business – have to decide who you are and what you are selling and then consistently, repetitively and proactively convey it in a manner that is compelling in relation to why someone would buy your service over any other service or option for resolving their issue or absolving their pain.

There are lots of tactics and strategic planning that goes into creating a top of mind niche and here are a few of the ways you can tell if you are there:

When word of mouth trumps your advertising and marketing efforts – Now don’t get me wrong, there is always a place for advertising and marketing, especially when you are a new brand, however, when the majority of new business generated comes from a trusted friend or client’s referral, you are on your way. But when those who are not friends or clients are recommending and hiring you, you my friend have reached top of mind status! How do I know this to be true? Because I live it. I have consulted, coached and trained thousands of people over the years and have yet to display my offerings anywhere on the world wide web. Sure you can see some of the classes and programs I have offered in the past, but today at this moment, you will not see my exact offerings listed anywhere and yet I have a thriving business with a decent size waiting list and I get top dollar for my services. How did all this happen? It happened by establishing a strong personal brand and identifying precisely what areas I wanted to dominate with a careful marketing plan in place to go after that business. Please note: the personal branding always precedes the marketing!

When your name becomes synonymous with your niche area of expertise – Both in and outside my community I have worked hard to make my name “Kellie Kuecha” synonymous with the words “Personal Branding.” Most who hire me for my services have a complete awareness that I am the “go to” person when someone wants to dominate their niche and reach expert status in their market while dramatically increasing their bottom line. What are you the designated “go to” person for in your field?

When your brand becomes infectious – This occurs when your brand has so many legs, you can no longer track where or how people are hearing about you, they just are. Here is an example of a message I got yesterday on Facebook. (Each week I accumulate dozens of these types of messages both through email and social media outlets.) “I heard so much about you! “Can’t wait to meet you some day. You’re doing some amazing things. Saludos, Monica “A Latina Without Limits”. There is typically no set agenda from those who contact you this way; they are just looking to somehow get into your world by popping in and saying hello. How well you move them through the next steps of your marketing funnel will determine whether or not those casual and occasional “check ins” convert to actual clients.

In today’s business world, you cannot skip the critical steps of creating a personal brand, establishing a target market, carving your niche and continuously conveying a strong message about who you are and why people should buy from you! Remember, people are attracted to us because of who we are first and foremost. It may be time that YOU get to know who you are as a starting point. Once you have that written out, decide who you want to serve and how your expertise will benefit them. While creating top of mind status doesn’t happen overnight, it can grow very quickly if you are vigilant in following the steps that it takes to get you there. For a copy of my FREE ebook called The Bankable Branding Formula, please visit www.KellieKuecha.com to download your copy.

Kellie Kuecha is a marketing and branding expert specializing in women’s success. She is the CEO and Founder of The W.O.M.A.N. Club an online social network for women, Kellie Kuecha World Enterprises LLC where she leads events, seminars and trainings around the globe and KidsBiz Academy where she dedicates her time to growing our young entrepreneurs. Her journey into entrepreneurship began at the ripe age of 12 and she has been building businesses ever since. She has defied all the odds both in life and in business and has mastered the ability to turn adversities into advantages. Kellie is the mother of two young girls, Kayla and Karina, and has two bonus children, Brandon and Jason, who are all under the age of 13. All four children have their own businesses and are learning great lessons about the value of money, hard work and persistence. You can connect with Kellie @ www.KellieKuecha.com