To niche or not to niche…..
To niche or not to niche
It took me 12 years since qualifying as a coach to ‘find’ my niche i.e. who was the audience I was trying to reach and knowing why. I remember being told it was important to niche when I qualified as a coach in 2003, but I just found it hard to pin down what area I wanted to work in. I was a free spirit and didn’t like being pinned down into one area only!
Are you having the same problem with finding your niche?
Generally coaches, consultants and health practitioners all have this dilemma, whether they realise it or not. We have been taught to work with everyone, but as I found to my cost with my business (by me not nailing my niche for years), you really do need to specialise. If you don’t, you may have the same experience as me i.e. not being able to find the right clients to work with me, finding it difficult to nail a pitch to talk about your business at a network, not knowing what to write/record e.g. books, blogs, podcasts and videos as my experience and knowledge was vast! When you are first qualified, you want to try out every technique you have learnt and are happy to work with anyone to gain the experience, but again this dilutes the fact of you becoming a specialist and will affect your marketing too.
One of the reasons people don’t like to specialise is that they want to help everyone, be accessible to all and often are living from a scarcity rather than abundance mindset i.e. they need to work with anyone who asks to work with them as they need the money, rather than realising that if they specialise and become a Key Person of Influence about their specialism they will get more opportunities as everyone wants to work with a specialist rather than a generalist don’t they!
In my view, it is essential for a coach, health and wellbeing practitioner or consultant (service based role regardless whether you are a photographer, architect, graphic designer, accountant or into marketing and branding) to have a niche and a microniche as soon as possible. A micro niche is where you are even more specific e.g. A menopause coach, a back pain specialist, dog groomer specialising in poodles, an addiction hypnotherapist, etc.
So why have a microniche?
- You get known as an expert in your field, rather than being one of many e.g. my specialism is money mindset and helping business owners understand their how their self worth affects the profits in their business
- It becomes easier to connect with other businesses who service your specific niched audience, so you can build a referral system to and from your business e.g. I often refer my clients to my publisher as I will tell my clients to write a book to create passive income and this is not my specialism
- Your ‘tribe’ or ‘audience’ of clients will find it easier to find you. You will find it easier to attract them as you will be ‘speaking’ their language e.g. I often work with clients with trust and rejection issues. They don’t feel like that they fit in and struggle with their self worth as they have to sell their services. I can write about these issues in my books, blogs, website etc as they are all things I have had difficulty whilst in business and my audience will resonate with what I say.
- You can write a book for your specific audience and microniche which helps you grow your reputation with your audience and showcases your expertise. You will also have developed a passive income stream and will find it easier to write a book for a specific audience rather than for everyone. Writing a book elevates you and shows you as an authority in your speciality. e.g. my book Are you worth it? was designed to showcase my expertise around self worth and money mindset and to bring together all the wisdom I had learnt by training in 8 therapies to a high level.
- It is easier to develop products and services for a niched audience as you know what your ‘tribe’ needs to help them with the problem that you solve. You can create a ‘system’ around your customer needs, which makes it easier for your tribe to follow and understand what you offer. You can also write a book around the system. e.g. I have my VISIONary system. All my workshops, 1-1 sessions, products and services are all elements of developing my clients to be Visionary within their businesses and to have the right skillset to achieve what they desire. If you are wondering, VISION stands for Visionary, Intuitive, Spiritual, Influencer, Oracle and Networker.
- Your marketing will become a whole lot easier. The website you have been putting off writing will become much easier to create as you know who you are aiming at. Your marketing message will become a lot clearer.
- You will be able to get more speaking opportunities for specific audiences and know what gigs to turn down if they aren’t focused at your niched audience.
- It is easier for others to refer work to you as they know, like and trust you as you aren’t a generalist. e.g. They know you are the employment law consultant who works specifically with disability discrimination cases.
So have I convinced you to niche now…. I hope so. I don’t wish anyone to have the same difficulties that I have gone through. If you are thinking, but I don’t know how to niche, I’ve been trying for years, then get in touch. I offer complimentary discovery sessions. I can help you nail who you are meant to be working with, in alignment with your spiritual purpose and you will find life in business a whole lot easier. Doing this before you get a website and spend a whole lot of money on your marketing is the best time to do it. If you would like a fully supported route, then join the Are you worth it? Group Coaching Programme now. We cover how to create a vision for your business, how to get into alignment with your spiritual mission, niching, business planning, money mindset, money management, networking and a whole lot more including accountability. The next session is on 4th May 2017 and it is the first Thursday of every month for the next 7 months. http://insightfulminds.co.uk/group-coaching-programme/
