Specializing in Babymoons

When your business does everything for everyone, you end up competing against massive organizations like Wal-Mart, IBM, or Microsoft...

Better to get specific and focus your offering.

Think about it: even moderately successful movies can generate 8-figure annual revenues, and they don't say "Comedy/Drama/Action/Horror/Documentary for all ages to enjoy!"

So how does a boutique travel agency go up against Expedia? Get very specific so certain well-defined segments of the broader customer base find you more easily.

Case study: My friend Neal Kellner sent me a newsletter over the weekend in which the 8th or 10th bullet point (don't ask me how I happened to still be reading by that time) was:

PREGNANT? Or do you know someone who is? At 18-24 weeks Mom’s-to-be are feeling good… it is time to rekindle the intimacy in the relationship with a romantic BABYMOON VACATION! A life-enhancing memorable gift from Parents and/or Grandparents! LEARN MORE at:
http://www.cmtravel4fun.com/content/view/96/1/

Wow -- now that term clicked for me, having supported my wife through the experience. I asked Neal if this wasn't the cornerstone of a whole new business offering. He said it wasn't his idea to which I responded, "there are virtually no new ideas!" It's about what you choose to champion.

Focusing on a specific problem experienced by a defined customer gives you the rito claim high authority in the space -- mindshare comes with each new constituent you touch.

• Does he need to drop the rest of his clientele? No. Babymoons become thier own "storefront", perhaps even the "centerpiece.
• Get to know moms-to-be, age 20-40, and learn what their hot buttons are (their explicit wants and their hidden fears). It needn't be an expensive one-way mirror focus group.
• While Babymoon.com and BabymoonVacation.com are taken, the hyphenated version is not. Nothing appears to be trademarked at USPTO.gov but there is prior art so this probably qualifies as being in the public domain.
• Communicate your key messaging points. Mirror the story of the mom-to-be and how life and travel become more challenging later on. Give a timeline of when to plan, and when to take, the babymoon vaca (even show follow-up like "submit digital photos for a custom printed book").
  
• Come up with half a dozen press releases on a monthly calendar, and look for "champions" who already have high readership/listening audience -- Oprah comes to mind.
• Start letting every maternity shop in the country know about it (margins are thin in travel so send a thank-you card if it's impossible to offer a finder's fee).
  

In the back of your mind, start thinking: what's the next category of "special times" travel?

And for the majority of you not in travel: what is a specific problem experienced by a well-defined segment of your customer base?