Niche marketing

Deepa Bharath

Amy Elliott has always had a passion for boats.

She has been a sailmaker. She has raced catamarans. She’s even

worked at a sailing club and done marketing and publicity for a

boating manufacturer.

It’s how she found her niche.

Elliott does publicity work -- anything from brochures and

advertisements to fliers and catalogs exclusively for those in the

boating business.

Working out of her office on Tustin Avenue, barely half a block

from Newport Harbor, Elliott says what she enjoys most about her job

is being by the water.

“I love boating and anything that has to do with the ocean,” she

said. “People in the industry, the people I work with, share that

love for the ocean. And that’s what I love about what I do.”

Elliott, who has been on her own with her company Nautical

Marketing for the last 11 years, says she takes on numerous jobs no

matter how big they are.

“I have a client who spends $50 once every two years,” she said.

“But that’s OK.”

What Elliott values the most, she says, is the opportunity to work

with small businesses and build a relationship with them.

“My business is mostly based on word of mouth,” she said.

Elliott said she also enjoys the variety of jobs and client she

deals with.

“One day is not the same as the other,” she said.

Although she has a loyal clientele, Elliott says the challenge, in

these tough economic times, is to get a regular paycheck.

The hard times also work to her advantage, she said.

“With layoffs, the first jobs to get eliminated are the marketing

jobs,” Elliott said. “Business owners don’t want to pay someone just

to do this job. So that’s where I come in. They can come to me if and

when they need something done.”