Last week I received an email from one of my Desert Pet Sitting clients.  Her regular services consist of watering and feeding the dogs twice a week while she is at work.  Her inquiry to me was how much would I charge for talking one of her dogs on a walk once a week. When I pet sit, normally if the client mentions walking it’s a given that I work it in the price; it’s not an a la cart item.

My clients email got me thinking that I should offer dog walkingn as an a la cart item. I realized that I had a unique niche within my company - dog walking. The difference being that I won’t do other dog care activities - just walking and securing the dog safely back at home. This opens up a whole new market for me.  This may seem obvious to some but someone looking just for dog walking will not look for a pet sitter; despite the fact I do walk many of my pet-sitting clients dogs.

I have always been both - Pet Sitter and Dog Walker, but I have to clearly spell this out to my market.   I did this by dedicationg a page to dog walking on my website. 
http://www.desertpetsitting.com/Dog_Walking/dog_walking.html

I will also create flyers just for dog walking services and deliver them to offices.  Easily 50% of working people own dogs that are at home needing to be walked - it is my job to point this out to them.  Some people may simply be unaware that dog walkers actually exist!

What can you do in your business to create a need and a niche to gain more customers?  I am creating the need for busy dog owners to get their dogs out walking by creating a webpage and flyers speaking of the benefits of dog walking, and I am covering that niche with a dog walking service that is different from my main product - Pet Sitting. 

A week after I made that small change within the structure of my services I secured a very good 5 day a week dog walking job.  The client found me online line searching for Dog Walkers, NOT Pet Sitters. 

Think about all the different things you do or produce in your business that will create a niche and expand on that niche to bring in a wider customer base.