YOU’VE HEARD IT BEFORE, I KNOW. EVERYONE TELLING YOU TO FIND YOUR NICHE.
And for sure – having a niche can help with targeting specific clients, creating Facebook ads and writing marketing + website copy.
But if you’re just starting out and you’re not sure who you want to serve, or you’re wanting to pivot, then focusing on niching too early may cost you a lot of time, frustration and money.
There’s a lot of information about niching online! And I’m going to disagree with some of the more traditional advice and offer some insight into what you should do instead.
In this post I’ll explain the top 3 things you need to do BEFORE niching down, to set yourself up for niching – when the time comes.
Everyone Else’s Advice About How To Find Your Niche
Most articles about finding a niche say you can do it in 3-5 steps and that you should do a lot of online market research as part of your process. They suggest looking at forums, research keywords, examining the competition and determining the profitability of your target market.
Let’s break down the steps that other experts are suggesting (and what I really think):
Identify your interests and passions
This is the one step that I 100% agree with. You absolutely need to get clear on your why. People are attracted to passionate people. This means that showing up energetically and with enthusiasm for what you have to offer and how it helps people is KEY.
This alone will attract the types of clients that you can help and it doesn’t cost you any money. You just need to show up as YOU! How easy is that?
Niche market research
The advice is to do market research online and look for your ideal customer’s language in forums, researching keywords, finding what your customers are Googling and then capturing your ICA’s language in your marketing efforts.
But wait! What if instead of spending hours staring at a computer screen you actually went out and there and talked to REAL people?
Instead of doing boring old research, I’ve found so much more value in spending time with different types of clients to understand who I like working with and how I could help them.
By doing this, it meant that by the time I started to think about niching, I already knew who I liked working with AND the struggles they were having. I KNOW what their issues are because I’ve spent time really getting to know them. There is nothing as good as having REAL conversations with your potential clients and current clients.
Instead of doing market research? Get out there and talk to people!
Research your competition
The idea is that once you know what your competition is doing you can build a business that one-ups the competition.
But for an early business owner, looking at the competition can be a distraction, or completely overwhelm you.
When you look at your competitors from a research standpoint, if you’re still in the early phases of building your style, it can paralyze you. You’ll likely compare yourself against them and feel like a fraud or like you’re nowhere near ready to be doing what they’re doing. That’ll stop you in your tracks!
You can only ever see the storefront of the competition, not ever seeing the full picture, and it may seem better than it is.
Instead? Focus on you and your own talents. Come from a place of giving service and get out there and share your magic.
Determine the profitability of your niche
Hmmm. I get this. Because for sure – there needs to be a market for your services or you won’t make any money.
But the real test?
Trying it out and seeing what sticks.
You really won’t know unless you TRY.
If you ask your potential client what they would pay for a certain service, depending on how you word the question, they may very well tell you that they wouldn’t pay a cent. So now you think there’s no market.
But sales are a funny thing. Especially in higher-end offers, you have to work through someone’s objections in order for them to even make the buying decision about whether they would pay, or not.
Here’s an example to drive home this point. I once bought a $20,000 coaching package and I wasn’t even looking for coaching. If that coach had asked me whether I would pay 20k for a coaching package, I would 100% have said no.
But when we had an hour-long conversation and I saw how my business would grow and shift by working with her, I was a quick yes. I dropped 20k that I didn’t have. (And then I made it back in my first week).
Profitability research? Nah. Just get out and do the work. Then you’ll really know.
Let the proof be in the pudding.
The mainstream advice that’s available online about niching is a very traditional way of looking at running a business. It’s also rooted in fear and lack, and honestly?
Female leadership is far more powerful than that.
Conscious leadership is not about research and what the competition is doing.
It’s FAR more intelligent than that and more powerful than we can ever put words to.
It’s about tapping into your own gifts and learning how to accelerate and expand in an organic kind of way.
When I first started coaching, I didn’t have a website.
In fact, I wasn’t even on social media. I opened an Instagram account and a Facebook account and put it out there that I was a coach looking for clients.
At the time, I was at the tail end of a deep phase of healing and growth and the stuff I shared on Facebook was all about my Dad, healing grief, and my own journey.
So of course, I began attracting clients who were on their own healing journeys. These women were my very first clients.
Over time, as my clients healed, they wanted to work on their business growth. And because I had a ton of business experience behind me, I naturally grew into this role.
No forcing or pushing. No market research. A natural evolution that happened without a great deal of effort. And I don’t even think that niching was a part of my vocabulary at the time.
When it came time for me to pivot, I started writing and sharing about business. And guess what? I began to attract women who wanted to work with a business mentor.
It can be that easy.
You can save yourself time and money if you don’t niche until after you have a good amount of experience and have landed on exactly what you want to be doing.
I suggest you coach for at least a year before you niche.
Niching can be an investment and honestly, it’s not really necessary until you’re ready to be doing ads and funnels and online marketing.
Before you niche, do these things.
My Advice: Un-niching (the steps you need to take BEFORE you niche)
Or, put another way, this is what you should do instead of “finding your niche.”
1. Share your story
Ask any Hollywood director how to get raving fans. They’ll tell you that it’s through a powerful, inspiring story. From the beginning of time humans have been telling story to share wisdom, lessons and information.
By sharing your stories, you’ll naturally attract clients who resonate with your message. As I mentioned above, I have literally attracted my ideal clients by telling stories related to the work I’m doing. I like to think of story as sharing without feeling like you’re teaching or selling.
You’re just telling a story.
Make a list or what stories you can share that might help others. And then start sharing them!
2. Law of attraction
The law of attraction states that like energy attracts like energy. What you put out, is what you’ll attract back.
If you’re super negative and stuck in a scarcity mindset, then you’ll likely attract clients who have a similar low vibe and question your value and prices (not to mention won’t be fun to work with).
If you put out an energy of positivity and abundance, that’s what you’ll get back. I’ve noticed that every time I raise my rates, I attract the exact clients that are willing to invest in themselves at that level.
The feminine way of leading and attracting clients is connected to a higher power. One that works in our favour when we’re willing to let go of the outcome and step into the flow.
Just as much as you’re looking for your ideal clients, they’re looking for you too.
Think about what you have to offer and who you want to attract and use an energetic vibe to call her in. I wrote an entire blog post about that HERE, so check it out when you’ve finished this one.
3. Come from a place of service.
Yes, we all want to make money. BUT, if you can lead from a place where you’re connected to your own divinity, you become the invitation for your clients to step into their own light.
You’re also inviting something else.
A higher power.
That thing that’s greater than all of us that’s stepped in unlimited potential. And when you step into this flow, anything is possible. Niching kinda becomes irrelevant at this point. It’s a bit of a distraction. The universe/the divine/the god force/the higher power – whatever you want to call it – has an intelligence that our human minds aren’t meant to understand.
We’ve been so trained to live up inside our head and if you can settle into the wisdom of your own intuition and be willing to receive guidance, you will be guided.
But you need to allow it.
Show up in service. Allow for magic and wild abundance to happen. And know that anything is possible.
Conclusion
You won’t find your niche by thinking, researching or Googling.
You’ll find it by doing.
The fastest way to find your niche?
Get into action.
Yes, niching is powerful at the right time.
But first, focus on sharing your gift/message and see who it lands with. Work with different sets of people so you KNOW with evidence what works best for you and your business. Because otherwise, it’s just research. You’ll get direct and valuable feedback by DOING.
Ready to accelerate your business? Click HERE to book a complimentary 30-minute session with me.
Now over to you – how important do you think is?
