Inside this episode of Side Checks podcast, Bryson Tarbet walks us through what it looks like to serve a micro niche audience.
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What Is A Micro niche Audience?
Inside this episode, we are chatting with my friend Bryson Tarbet all about serving a micro niche audience. We all have heard the term “niche down”. But what does it mean to find our business at the center of a micro niche?
A micro niche is a smaller aspect of a niche inside another niche. It’s a very specific audience inside an already specific audience. Micro niches can be a smaller audience but not necessarily. When you serve a micro niche, you can pin point with more detail who your audience is and what they need.
Inside this episode, Bryson walks us through what it looks like to run an online business that serve elementary school music teachers. He shares the pros and the cons of having a specific audience. And how he has been able to serve them well through marketing.
Bryson Tarbet and That Music Teacher, LLC
Bryson Tarbet is a PreK-6th grade general music teacher just outside of Columbus, Ohio. He received his Bachelor’s of Music in Music Education from Ohio Wesleyan University. And his Master of Music in Music Education with a Kodály emphasis from Capital University.
Bryson spent his first year out of college as part of an elementary school intervention team and he fell in love with working with students with disabilities. Due to this experience, as well as his personal experience as a neurodiverse individual, Bryson feels very strongly about advocating for sensory and emotionally-inclusive classrooms.
Bryson started That Music Teacher, LLC with the goal of sharing different perspectives on issues pertaining to the lives of music educators across the country. He also hosts That Music Podcast. This is a podcast for elementary music teachers and is the educator behind the Elementary Music Summit.
Finding A Micro Niche Audience
One question that I ask Bryson is how to find a micro-niche audience. When we create a business, there are two paths we can take with our audience. The first is already knowing who our audience is when we create our business. And the second is finding our audience along the way.
For Bryson, he serves a very specific audience. And he chooses to niche down within a niche to do so. His online business serves not just music teachers, but elementary school music teachers. Therefore his audience is a very specific group of people.
Bryson recalls this starting after recognizing a need. He also states that he is a part of his audience as an elementary school teacher himself.
Marketing To A Micro Niche Audience
One major benefit of Bryson being an elementary school music teacher is his ability to understand his audience. A lot of the pain points his audience has, Bryson, has experienced as well. Therefore he is able to really speak to his audience and do a great job marketing to them as well.
When you serve a micro niche audience, you are dealing with not just a specific group of people. But a specific group of pain points. Therefore you are able to really structure your messaging around what your audience is feeling and what they need.
One thing Bryson mentions in this interview that I find so empowering is that he is able to not just empathize with his audience, but sympathize. And that he because is a part of his audience.
Competition Within A Micro Niche
Another subject Bryson speaks to in this interview is competition. Since business owners who serve a micro niche audience have a more specific pool of people they speak to, Bryson states that competition can be seen as almost inevitable.
However, this isn’t the case for Bryson. And he mentions this doesn’t need to be the case for any other business owner.
There is room at the table to truly serve smaller pools of individuals through multiple business owners. And Bryson’s online business is a result of that. He encourages anyone in a specific audience to not compare themselves to the competition, but see it as affirmation instead.
Resources
To connect with Bryson Tarbet more, explore wwwthatmusicteacher.com. There you can hear his message of making music fun inside the classroom and see all of the resources he provides for other elementary school music teachers to do the same.
Bryson also is the host of That Music Podcast. This show will deliver tips and tricks for elementary music teachers looking to create high-quality musical experiences for students in the general music classroom.Â
You can also connect with Bryson on Instagram @thatmusicteacher to follow along on his business and music journey.
