What is a Niche and Why It is Important If you're new to coaching
What is a niche and how to find it?
Maybe you’ve heard it pronounce differently in different ways. But Exactly what is a niche and why it is important if you are new in coaching?
The word “Niche” originated from French word that means “to make a nest”.
In ecology, the term “niche” describes the role an organism plays in a community. A species’ niche encompasses both the physical and environmental conditions it requires and the interactions it has with other species. The more specific, narrow and limited niches are considered to be specialist species.
“You can only grow if you're willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.”
-Brian Tracy
In business, the term “niche” refers to a segment of a larger market that can be defined by its own unique desires, offer, preferences that makes it different from the rest of the market at large. In a niche marketing, a company will focus on a particular niche instead of an entire market.
Defining a Niche market and position yourself as the go-to expert for a specific audience not only establishes your credibility over competing generalist but also result in a more focused business that is easier for your soulmate clients to say “Yup! That’s me!”
As a result, having a focus niche in your coaching business is a marketing strategy and business decision that will serve your ideal clients better than coaches who target a larger market as a generalist.
Having a niche in your coaching business will allow you to
Streamline your marketing effort
Helps in identifying your potential client’s need
Generate personalized service ideas for your coaching business
Improve your communication with your soulmate clients and increase engagements
The Winner Doesn’t Take It All
Ever heard of the phrase “Jack of all trades, master of none?”
People are more likely to choose coaches with narrow expertise. According to an article written by Lesley Trenner, PCC in March 7, 2018 published by International Coach Federation titled “The Benefits of Developing A Coaching Niche” suggested that People don’t buy “coaching.” Clients are looking for solutions to problems and coaches with a specific niche solving a specific problem is far more beneficial than those staying general.
A generalist tends to see problem areas from a higher perspectives. They are folks who understand multiple pieces to a large piece of puzzle event thought they may not quite sure how individual pieces functions discretely.
A generalist is typically a person who has general knowledge. The problem a generalist experience is that you will have potentially thousands of competitors within your market who are all thinking big and focusing on the same market, same clients and same piece of pie as you.
It is quite possible for you to be just as successful as they are but your chance drop dramatically when you do exactly the same thing and unable to stand out from the crowded industry.
Discover The Niche From Within
If you are banging yourself against the wall trying to come up with a niche, you are not alone. When I started out as a life coach after receiving my certification from iPEC Coaching, I was struggling with this idea on claiming to be a specialist.
“Leave No One Behind” is a motto that I have learned as a healthcare service provider and working for non-profit organizations that aim to lift the humanity as whole. This idea of narrowing to serve specific audience created a lot of frictions and roadblocks in the way I communicate my coaching passion to those who interact with me.
Based on this journey of trial and tribulations, here are 5 steps you can use to find your niche
Set Your Intention
When you are not sure where you are going, it’s always a good idea to pause and think about where you are. What is your objective in coaching at this moment? Is it to book more coaching clients? or is it to get more practice after your certification?
If your objective is getting more coaching clients, then you probably want to keep your niche narrow and specific by evaluating your passion and skills. What are some of your unique gifts and characteristics that may be transferrable. If your current objective is to have more coaching practice to advance your skills, you may want to keep it general so you have the opportunity to work with a variety of clientele.
Brainstorm and Research Before Your Decide
You might already have some idea of which niche you want to declare but before you make that final decision, consider doing a little brainstorming and research so you are certain that your target market is in demand. Remember that people go to a specialist because there’s a specific problem you can help them to solve.
It is less painful when you run a business and put your energy in to marketing when you are passionate about what you are offering. You may also want to research any possible competitors who are currently on the market within your potential niche industry that addresses “location”, “demographic”, “pricing,” and “unique value propositions.”
Finding Your Unique Selling Proposition
Mary Angelou Says “People won't remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.”
In the marketing world, one way to discover what makes you and your coaching brand unique is by knowing your Unique Selling proposition (USP). This is often referred to whatever that makes you and your business different from other similar coaching business.
After all, you are not just a coach and your coaching business is not just a logo and a website you have put together. What makes you unique consists of your Personality, the style of your coaching session and more importantly it is about the clients you will be serving.
Create Your Irresistible Offer
Once you have identified your profitable niche market and the clarity to the problem you are helping to solve, it is now time to gather all the data that you’ve collected through your market research and turn them into an irresistible offer - your coaching package offer.
Bring your vision of what inspired you to be a coach and create packages that best support your soulmate clients in getting their desired results. Your job is to fill in all the details of what’s included in each “result tool” and price them appropriately that reflects your time, value, and effort in creating your unique brand.
Build Your Audience First
Yes, we buy from people we trust.
A high-ticket service with zero visibility or authority makes this coaching journey a lot harder. I’m a big believer in optimizing your content, so you can create visibility and establish your authority in the niche market.
By growing your audience through connections with the specific intention of the specific area of expertise you are in a while focusing on building your relationships with like-minded people, you will always have an organic group of ideal clients who are drawn to you and your values and thereby trust and want to work with you.
Learn the Lyrics of Music Played
After years of struggling with finding my own niche in helping women coaches to tell better stories so they can get seen, heard, and hired, I have learned that the only way that I can make a real contribution to this profession is by serving those who really need me.
I stopped being a people-pleaser and wanted to be liked by everyone and leave no one behind. I have figured out what’s working well and know what I need to do in order to ramp it up a notch.
The more you say “No”, the more you have room for all the “Yeses” that awaits you outside the door. So learn the lyrics of the music that is playing...because you need to be you and share from your open heart.
Now that you know what is with the buzzword “Niche” nowadays in the coaching industry, my hope is that you continue to keep an open mind to the opportunity that shows up as you grow in your coaching business.
Whenever you find yourself overwhelmed and confused about which niche you should be choosing in order to be profitable....keep in mind these are the 5 steps that I have learned from my personal coaching business journey
Set your intention
Brainstorm and Research
Find your Unique Value Proposition
Create your irresistible offer
Build your audience first
Have more questions? Ask me in the comments!
