4 Simple Steps To Nail Your Coaching Business Niche
An authentic way to have clarity, confidence, and peace of mind, so your business is fully aligned with where and who you want to be.
You've heard the word "niche" thrown around often enough when you first started your coaching business journey. Choosing a niche—any kind of niche— undoubtedly can help you to define your message, stay focused, and be more effective with your marketing and sales strategies.
And I'm certain you've heard all kinds of advice when it comes to “niching”:
You DO need a niche
You DON’T need a niche
Create an ideal client avatar
Work with everyone, and let your niche find you
But why is it so darn hard to nail a niche???
And how exactly do you find one if you're confused? Often many coaches find themselves contemplating where they are and who they want to be after starting their businesses.
"Build something 100 people love, not something 1 million people kind of like."
— Brian Chesky, Co-Founder & CEO, Airbnb
In most cases, business coaches encourage you to define your niche and create high-ticket offers, so you won't have to spend your time working with low-ticket clients. You'll be set for the year, and all you have to do is magically rally up the clients who are willing to take you up on these high-ticket offers.
This path looks something like this:
Get Clear --> Create Offer --> Get Clients
The problem?
If you use this path to choose your niche, messaging, and high-ticket offers, you create this in your own head WITHOUT enough market validation and engagment. In short, the ideas you have are ungrounded and likely far from reality.
It's heartbreaking when this happens.
After you’ve probably spent tons of time and money in a course that was supposed to teach you how to create a high-ticket program only to find yourself stuck with an offer that nobody wants.
Why?
You fell into this trap of believing that you can get clarity WITHOUT first getting engagement.
My take on niches for a heart-centered businesses is simple:
Forget avatars. Forget ideal clients. Forget age ranges and demographics.
Focus on PROBLEMS.
And this path looks like something like this:
Create your content --> Engage with your audience --> Get Clarity --> Get Clients
Clarity with your niche, your messaging, your target audience, and your ideal client won't come in the beginning. The goal is to engage as many people as possible and start your conversation early by focusing on SOLVING THEIR PROBLEMS.
Here are 4 simple steps to nail your heart-centered coaching business and create an irresistible offer that makes so much easier when it comes to attracting your dream clients:
Identify Your Passion And Strength
The first step in finding your coaching niche is to identify what you are truly passionate about and what you excel at. This could be anything from career coaching to relationship coaching, or even fitness and wellness coaching. Take some time to reflect on your own experiences, skills, and interests, and consider what type of coaching you would be most excited to offer.
One of my favorite tools when it comes to identifying your strengths and uniqueness is by using storytelling archetypes. You can learn more about the brand storytelling archetypes here. In short, a coaching business brand has to keep in mind that your dream clients are already busy with their work schedules. Thus, they do not have time to check everything in detail. They only look for the one that stands out in the crowd and catches their eye.
Any brand becomes more effective when they maintain some significant traits. Strong brand personality traits make a brand more credible and convincing while weak traits often create confusion among people to choose a brand and stay loyal to it.
Speak With Potential Clients
A great way to get a better understanding of what your target market needs is to speak directly with potential clients. Think of this world as a BIG coaching platform. Everyone you speak with has a problem they are trying to solve in their lives—no matter how big or small. Reach out to people you know who may be interested in your services or simply talk to them through your day-to-day conversations. This way you can learn about their pain points and what would they like to have resolved if they can have a coach to support them. This will give you valuable insights into the specific needs of your target market.
Practice makes progress. The more you coach, the more skilled you become...
This also gives you the opportunity to make connections and introductions that will lead to your paying clients. It’s your purpose of being, and that’s why, whenever you can, wherever you are, coach, coach, coach, and coach some more.
Experiment And Test
Once you've identified your niche and have a better understanding of your target market, it's time to start experimenting and testing your offerings. For example:
Offer a limited number of coaching sessions at a discounted rate
Or create a survey to gather feedback from potential clients.
The key is to be open to feedback and willing to make adjustments to your approach as needed.
Free events and meetups are probably the most fun form of customer research. They’re not as precise as other data-gathering strategies, but they give you a chance to interact with your customers face-to-face and get a sense of who they are and what they want.
The goal of free events is to learn about your audience. You can gather potential customers at an in-person event, an online workshop, or during a meet-and-greet. You can also have a group Q&A session or a discussion-based format.
If your audience size is small, hosting free workshops or webinars are a helpful strategy to learn more about who you're targeting and how you can help them better. Choose a topic that’s relevant to who you think your target audience is: test it out, refine it, and then test again.
Be sure to give it enough time to collect all the feedback you need before jumping into adjustments.
“Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends.”
— Walt Disney, Co-Founder of The Walt Disney Company
Research Your Desired Market
Once you have a general idea of the type of coaching you want to offer and the problem you are passionate to solve, it's important to expand this research to see what types of coaching are currently in demand. Look at what other coaches are offering and consider what gaps in the market you could fill.
The goal of competitive research is not to get caught up in comparisons between yourself and other businesses. Your aim isn’t to feel defeated or discouraged but to identify exactly where you fit into the solutions for your clients. The process of finding a niche means finding that sweet spot between your competitors where you’re offering something new or specific to an audience who doesn’t have access to it yet.
Remember Your Soul-Deep Purpose
By following these four simple steps, you will be well on your way to finding a niche for your coaching business that is both rewarding and profitable. Remember to stay true to your passions and strengths, and be open to feedback as you begin to build your coaching practice.
Your niche is a soul-deep purpose that brings clarity, confidence, and peace of mind so that no matter what comes of your actions, the actions themselves are fully aligned with where and who you want to be.
Whether it is creating content for your coaching business or establishing a personal brand that stands out, the feeling is so empowering and freeing; you don't even have to tell people what it is for it to work its sacred magic.
It becomes such an intrinsic part of you—guiding you, your decisions, and your mindset. It guides your strategy and messaging. It's the energy that attracts your meant-to-be clients. You just have to be willing to view it as your source—an eternal well of inspiration and confidence that you draw from.
Working toward a launch for your coaching business with an authentic marketing approach? Grab a copy of the 5 STEPS TO CREATE YOUR POWERFUL CORE MESSAGE THAT ATTRACTS AND SELLS
This is an easy-to-follow guide for heart-centered, introverted women coaches that will help you articulate your unique selling proposition and craft a message that speaks and engages with your dream clients.
