Sometimes people find themselves thriving in a niche without planning it. Such was the case with Mari Gottdiener, who refocused her credit and consumer advocacy business from general consumers to the narrowly defined market of professional mortgage brokers.

Mari specializes in getting credit bureaus to address and correct credit-report errors. After struggling to find clients throughout the general population, she discovered that mortgage brokers were ready-made prospects. They had an ongoing need for her services on behalf of their loan applicants. She began networking with brokers at trade association meetings, and gave presentations at several mortgage offices.

"My decision to focus on the mortgage broker sector transformed my business," says Gotdiener. "The more I focused on being the person who fixes credit problems for mortgage brokers, the easier it became to define what I could do for them. Now, my name gets passed around, and I've developed a special reputation within that market that makes getting business easier than ever."

Mari's niche fame really became apparent when the California Association of Mortgage Brokers invited her to talk about credit issues at their luncheon. Since then, she's spoken to broker groups regularly, and has reached out to similar associations in other states.

"Word-of-mouth referrals built my reputation at a local level," she says. "Now I'm expanding to reach a national audience of mortgage brokers by writing articles in national mortgage broker trade publications and even doing online seminars."