To Niche – or Not to Niche?

Until a coach is willing to put her foot down and say, “I will specialize in this kind of coaching,” she will continue struggling and being largely underpaid for her skills and abilities that she truly brings to the table. She will also experience a lower retention rate because her clients simply don’t see a huge value, even if she’s a great coach. For whatever reason, many coaches have a huge resistance to selecting a niche to focus on in their business. In fact, this decision seems to be harder than choosing a spouse.

I’ve also seen how coaches misunderstand the word “niche.” Saying that you’re a relationship coach is not enough. Your niche must imply what groups of people you work with. Some of the best niches also imply where you can find these groups of people quickly.

For example, a “newlyweds’ relationship coach” implies that she works with couples who just got married and want to improve or solidify their relationship. It also implies that these couples can be reached where newlyweds shop: bridal shops, wedding planners, financial planners and other service providers have customer databases you can tap into.

Being a generalist creates low-paying clients

I’ve watched highly intelligent, educated, and talented coaches ask for $300 a month in a careful and timid manner, holding their breath, waiting to hear a “No, thanks” in response. At the same time, I’ve seen coaches who charge $500 an hour, or $2500 a month. Are they better coaches? I guarantee you they are not! The only difference is that they’ve made a decision to become the master at one or two things, learn everything they need to know about their niche market, and position themselves as the number one coach to come to.

If you work outside of a niche market right now, you’re probably spending a lot of time on traditional ways of getting clients: relationship building one-on-one, networking in small groups, asking for referrals, waiting for the word-of-mouth, hoping someone will pass your name to someone else. This is very time consuming and a lot less effective.

Can you still build a business if you don’t have a niche?

Yes, absolutely! But, you must have something else that pulls clients to you. For example, to have a mass appeal, you must have a unique persona, something that makes clients gravitate to yo u because of who you area. You should have a powerful message that you can be passionate about and not afraid to sell. You must develop great speaking or writing abilities so you could communicate your message to the masses. Finally, you must have persistence to keep getting your message out there.

Working inside a niche market does not mean that you will not work with anyone else. It simply means that you will focus all your time, efforts and resources on becoming THE coach in one specific area. You can continue working with other clients if you choose to, but your marketing will become so much easier and effective, you’ll wonder why you haven’t done it before. In fact, that’s the real secret many successful coaches will not tell you. They may know nothing about marketing, but building a business inside a specific niche is so much easier, they become successful much faster than anyone else.

It’s Never Too Early to Niche!

I can’t tell you how many coaches I talk to every week who are tired, exhausted, discouraged, and lost. They feel confused because, even though they were professionally trained as a coach, they still don’t have a coaching business. They’re also tired of watching in frustration how “socalled- coaches” get new clients and build successful businesses, while they continue to struggle.

Kay writes: “My mentor coach says it is too early to niche so I am not getting any support there.”

Kay, your mentor coach comes from the assumption that you’re “brand new” and couldn’t possibly deliver any value to a specific group of people. “Wait for the niche to find you,” she’s probably saying to you. The truth is, you may be brand new as a coach, but you are full of lifetime experiences! Look at your past careers, accomplishments, and obstacles you overcame. Think about your friends’ and family members’ experiences.

Keeping this problem in mind, on the very first call with my coaching program students, I asked them to choose a niche. “I want you to compress time,” I said. “Why spend months or years dabbling in coaching when you can start generating income faster?” Fortunately, they listen. Oh, they resist at first! But ultimately everyone is working inside a niche market, bringing value to it, while creating a profitable and fulfilling business.

Bottom line is, the sooner you choose a niche to work in, the sooner you’ll start making money as a coach.