In Getting Business To Come To You (1998), authors Paul & Sarah Edwards and Laura Clampitt Douglas say, "A niche is a role, function, or position in an organism that has community, as part of its whole. A niche is a specialty that is ideally suited for you. Like your personal role in the scheme of things. It's like finding your own special corner of the world. A marketplace that's custom tailored to you. Your niche will look, sound, and feel like right where you belong."

Discovering your niche gives you an opportunity to find where you can make the greatest contribution as you uncover your interests and talents You may not feel like you are working because you will work from such a deep commitment. This will bring great excitement to what you do and you'll do it even better.

Find a service or product for a particular segment of the market that no one else is adequately serving. Decide who you want to reach and what will define your niche. Then look for where you can find them and what you'll need to do to attract those that need that product or service. By carving out your own niche, you become known for your expertise as you narrow and focus on your specialty. As you do so, you will be able to refine and perfect your skills. Some people may fear niching for they believe they will have fewer people to draw from. The smaller and more clearly defined your niche, the better. This way you do not have to do "blanket marketing," which can be costly and non-specific. It is better to have a specific market to target. For instance, metaphysics is a niche market, and there are even smaller niches within that arena. So what is your specialty in the field of metaphysics?

There are a number of questions to ask yourself as you are carving your niche. Taken from Getting business to come to you, these questions include "Where you work? Whom you work with? The industry you work in? When you work? The problem you address? The media you work in? Do you prefer one on one, seminars, books, phone, video, speeches, products, on-line, radio, television?" Your ideal niche will cross your assets with your interests, intersecting with opportunities you have to meet real-life needs.

Other questions to explore possible niches are: What aspects of your work do you find most interesting, appealing? What type of clients do you most enjoy" What problems or injustices do you see that you feel compelled to make right? What do you wish you could do more of for your clients? What kind of things do you do best? Who needs such things? How can you provide that product or service in a way that will give you a chance to draw upon your other interests? Whom do you know who needs what you offer or who knows of other people who need it? Things you can do to open your mind to find your perfect niche: Let your feelings guide you, follow your intuition, use visualization, prayer, meditation, and look for synchronicity. Listen for the answers to your prayers.

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