The opposite of a niche marketing approach is to use the philosophy of “one size fits all“.
To understand how silly this is, we can go back to the Greek myth of Procrustes.
Procustes was the son of the sea god Poseidon, and he had a stronghold on the sacred way between Athens and Eleusis. He had a bed that would fit all sizes of people.
Unfortunately it wasn’t the bed that was special but would he did to his victims.
Those who were too short were put on the rack and stretched.
Those who were too tall, had their legs chopped off.
There are two options in business.
Adapting your product or service to your customers through bulls eye marketing. This is niche marketing.
The other option is to expect customers to fit themselves around your product.
And just like staying with Procustes for a night, it’s not an appealing offer when you understand the true facts.
The Greek myth makes it obvious that a one size fits all policy is wrong.
But it’s a mistake new businesses make time after time.
Why?
Greed.
The business owners don’t want to say “No” to anyone.
But it’s not attractive or magnetic.
Just like a personal dating ad saying “any woman will do” smacks of desperation and turns off would-be suitors, a business offering a “one size fits all” is turning away everyone who wants something special.
