When I started coaching back in 2000, there was no such thing as "finding your niche"! We trained as life coaches and went forth hoping to multiply our clients. Some of us succeeded as generalists and some of the longest-serving coaches I know are still generalists. They have built their reputation that way and continue to have new business referred to them, often by former happy clients or people who've been reading their newsletters for years and feel they know, like and trust them.
We have learnt a lot, however, about marketing our coaching businesses over the years and these days we know that coaching in a specific niche - using our specific knowledge and being seen as an expert - simplifies the client attraction process.
Think of finding your drains blocked at home. You certainly might call the local handyman (if you know, like and trust him) but many people will pick up their phone directory or go to Google and find a number for Dyno Rod or some other company specialising in blocked drains. We know they will understand the problem quickly and have the right tools to help us.
And so with niche coaching.
Bernadette Doyle of Client Magnets has been writing this week about finding your niche so read on to hear what she has to say:
Finding Your Niche
It's interesting how we talk about 'finding' your niche, as though your niche is lost or hidden. In truth, there is a part of you that already knows exactly what your niche is. The question is, are you willing to listen to this part?
This week I want to share some tips from my own experience establishing the Client Magnets niche, and also what I have learned from helping clients uncover their niches.
Stop Undervaluing What Comes Easily To You
A common theme I have noticed when helping clients to 'find' their niche, is that often their niche is right under their nose! But often we undervalue things that come easily to us, assuming 'everyone knows that' or 'isn't that obvious?' Let me give you an example. Some time ago, my friend Veronica came round to help me with some office reorganisation. It made such a difference I almost cried. Veronica was baffled by my response and gratitude, shrugging off the difference she had made as though 'it was nothing'. The fact is, it may have been 'nothing' to Veronica, but it was EVERYTHING to me. Do you have skills and expertise which comes so easily to you that you have underestimated the value it makes to others?
Don't Expect A 'Road to Damascus' Type Experience
Sometimes I think we put pressure upon ourselves, and anticipate that the moment we suddenly uncover a niche, that it will be accompanied by lights flashing and dramatic music. The reality, I have found, is rather more mundane. Whilst I have worked with clients who have experienced light-bulb 'eureka' moments, they are rare. For me personally, I think that uncovering a niche is more like a silhouette emerging through fog. Has expecting a 'road to damascus' type experience, prevented you from seeing what is right under your nose?
Expect Your Niche To Change Over Time
The niche you select for yourself today is not cast in stone. It can evolve and develop as you do. When I first became self-employed, my niche was cold calling, but that has now evolved into a marketing approach which gets prospects calling YOU. Bob Burg, an expert in sales and prospecting, started his career as a memory expert. Doreen Virtue is now best known for her work with angels, but was formerly known as the dating doctor. Are you avoiding committing to a niche because you are afraid you will be trapped forever?
Your Niche Is Already Seeking YOU
All day every day you are being presented with clues and nudges in the direction of your niche. Are you paying attention to those little signs, or are you too busy making other plans? The phrase 'Client Magnets' first floated into my consciousness in the summer of 2001. It took another six months before I started a newsletter on the same topic. I didn't 'find' Client Magnets. It came to me. My part was noticing and responding. From day one I felt that Client Magnets had a life and an energy of it's own, and that my job was to work in partnership with that energy rather than trying to 'make it all happen' all by myself.
Are you so busy trying to 'make things happen' all by yourself, that you are overlooking opportunities which could be easy for you?
This week, take a stand wherever you are right now. Make a commitment to yourself, to your niche, to your audience. When you truly commit to where you are right now, you will be surprised how quickly opportunities open up for you.
Bernadette Doyle publishes her weekly Client Magnets newsletter for trainers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, then get your free tips now at www.clientmagnets.com
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Posted by: network marketing | October 08, 2011 at 10:47 AM
Nice, especially the niche is already seeking for you..
Thanks for your sharing, I love it.
Posted by: tzongyih | April 22, 2010 at 09:56 AM