Niche Marketing Expert: Automotive Engineers Facing Layoffs Have Opportunity to Start Niche Businesses in Green Technology and Manufacturing
(LAKE PLACID, NY – July 16, 2008 – RichesInNiches.com) Reports of additional, deep job cuts in the U.S. domestic automotive industry crossed the wires earlier this week. The developments threatened to displace thousands more white collar workers. But the prospect of unemployment for engineers and other college-educated employees in the automotive industry is also an opportunity for them to launch much-needed niche start-ups in economic sectors such as technology and manufacturing, said Susan Friedmann, CSP, the niche marketing expert who successfully created her own niche as The Trade Show Coach. Author of “Riches in Niches: How to Make it BIG in a small Market,” Friedmann has made it her mission to help entrepreneurs find success in niche markets.
“Many have enjoyed long careers at large, almost institutional U.S. automotive companies that have long underpinned the country’s manufacturing sector,’” said Friedmann, CSP (Certified Speaking Professional). “These highly qualified, college-educated engineers and others are teeming with ideas, and the sudden specter of unemployment in a faltering industry may in fact be an opportunity for them to band together in small groups and launch forward-thinking businesses in the niche areas of manufacturing and technology that they love.”
Author of “Meeting and Event Planning for Dummies,” Friedmann, now The Nichepreneur™ Coach, has turned her expertise to niche marketing for entrepreneurs. In her new book, “Riches in Niches: How to Make it BIG in a small Market,” Friedmann shares the concepts that have enabled her to become a tradeshow marketing expert, a sought-after maven in her own niche who presents workshops at some of the most recognizable Fortune 500 corporations.
According to a news release from General Motors Corp. dated July 15, the company “plans…salaried headcount reductions in the U.S. and Canada in the 2008 calendar year.” Furthermore, “Engineering spending in 2008 and 2009 will be held at 2006-2007 levels, substantially lower than original plans.” The news followed an announcement in late May by Ford Motor Co. of pending layoffs for thousands of its own U.S.-based salaried employees.
One area teeming with niche opportunities is green technology. A global green technology race is imminent, according to a Jan. 28th, 2008 article in Automotive News. Furthermore, a readymade buyer base sympathetic to niche green technologies may be in place, according to Friedmann: A poll of American voters, by the TechNet Green Technology Initiative and Zogby International and reported in the March 19th, 2007 issue of Design News, found that “77 percent of American voters say the U.S. is not doing enough to promote and utilize green technology in order to reduce reliance on foreign oil fuel sources.”
“It’s a groundswell of support that can drive sales for all sorts of niche technologies in the green sector to the point that they become mass market products,” said Friedmann. “Just a few short years ago, for instance, hybrid-electric vehicles represented a niche. Now, they’ve become a mainstream type of automobile to represent one of the largest growth areas in the automotive sector. The message is clear: It is imperative for the U.S. to exercise is muscle in innovation to become a legitimate global player in green technologies and green manufacturing.”
“And why not do so by creating opportunity out of unemployment?” continued Friedmann. “Those with the engineering know-how and mindshare who are currently hemorrhaging from U.S. automakers may finally have the inspiration they need to launch their own companies in niche technologies, many of them in the green sector, to revitalize the nation’s manufacturing base. With ‘Riches in Niches: How to Make it BIG in a small Market,’ they have the map they need to act on their entrepreneurial aspirations.”
Friedmann advised displaced automotive engineers and others looking to launch companies in niche technologies that interest them to follow her GEL Formula. The GEL Formula is a process for success described in “Riches in Niches: How to Make it BIG in a small Market” — to capitalize on the possibilities surrounding niche markets. Those who follow the GEL Formula (Growing-Experience-Love) first look for markets that are “Growing.” They then focus on their existing “Experience.” After matching that existing experience with the growing markets calling for it, they finally make a decision on what to pursue by considering what they “Love.”
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About Susan Friedmann, CSP, The Nichepreneur™ Coach
Susan Friedmann, certified speaking professional and author of “Meeting and Event Planning for Dummies,” helps entrepreneurs harness a marketplace filled with “nichepreneurial” opportunities. Her latest book, “Riches in Niches: How to Make it BIG in a small Market,” imparts the wisdom she acquired as a veteran business and trade show marketing expert who carved her own niche by helping some of the most recognizable brands in the world — including Siemens, Kimberly-Clark, IBM, American Express, and many others — get the most out of attending industry events. Friedmann’s proven techniques show entrepreneurs how to find the professional niche that at once makes the best use of their skills and yields them the maximum profit. “Riches in Niches: How to Make it BIG in a small Market” has been mentioned in Adweek, various cities’ Business Journals, The Boston Herald, The Salt Lake Tribune, and elsewhere. Friedmann herself has been quoted in The New York Times, BusinessWeek Online, and other national and international print publications. Visit her website and blog to learn how niches can bring entrepreneurs to their desired riches.
The media may contact either of the following individuals:
Susan Friedmann, CSP
The Nichepreneur™ Coach
PHONE: 518-523-1320
FAX: 518-523-8755
Susan at RichesInNiches dot com
http://www.RichesInNiches.com
http://www.RichesInNiches.com/blog
Brent W. Skinner
President & CEO of STETrevisions
PHONE: 617-875-4859
FAX: 866-663-6557
BrentSkinner at STETrevisions dot com
http://www.STETrevisions.com
http://www.brentskinner.blogspot.com
For over 25 years, Susan Friedmann, CSP, has traveled the world helping companies put their best foot forward at trade shows and events. Working with organizations who want to grow their target marketing strategies, Susan offers programs to increase results and focus on building better relationships with customers, prospects and advocates in the marketplace.