Why Not Choosing a Niche Could Cost You Your Business

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Lisa Fraser, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.

Coaches, consultants and solo-entrepreneurs go into business so that they can help people and they know that what they offer can benefit everyone. When told that they need to select a specific group of people, their niche, they often feel like they will be leaving people behind, not helping as many clients as they would like and leaving money on the table. The truth is that when you choose a hot and responsive niche, you are not limiting your options. You will find marketing and attracting ideal clients is easier and a whole lot more fun. Also, by having a clear niche that you connect with, you are eliminating much of your competition with your specialized offers.
Your business will fail if you are trying to cater to everyone. Your marketing messages will be unclear and too vague to attract the interest of any clients. The tighter and narrower your niche, the better, as you will be a specialist, not a generalist. Generalist examples in coaching include; life coach, business coach, career coach, relationship coach. You need to go much deeper than this if you want to stand out from the thousands of other life, business, career or relationship coaches out there. Take a relationship coach as an example. What type of relationships does the coach specialize in? Family relationships, marriage, divorce, professional? If this relationship coach works with divorcees, is the specialty during the divorce process or after? If it is after the divorce has happened, are they dealing with rebuilding a personal life, learning to work with their ex-spouse peacefully, or even getting into a new relationship? Perhaps in this example, the relationship coach is actually a specialized coach that helps divorcees learn how to create an amicable relationship with their ex-spouse and raise their family effectively as a team. The articles this coach would be writing would cater to the “he said-she said” issues that come up and strategies to eliminate resentment, for example. See how this coach could market directly to their “tribe” to draw in a response from ideal clients? Consider your specific skills, training and experience that will make you the go-to person in your niche.
Following are some of the compelling reasons for finding your perfect hot niche;
 Easier for your “tribe” to find you. These are the very people who are seeking your assistance and are not only excited to work with you, but happy to pay for your services. This alone makes it so much easier to fill your programs and it feels effortless.
 Easier to find your clients as they will be hanging out together. Find out the associations they are a part of, the publications that they read, or the events they attend. Make it a point to get in front of your niche as often as possible. They need to get to know you and that you really do care about them and want to help.
 You will create a deeper connection with your ideal clients when they know that you understand their problem and have the solution for them. Perhaps you have years of experience within the same industry or have invested in high end training.
 Your marketing efforts become so easy because you are genuine and authentic in the messages that you create. Writing your articles, website content or marketing materials is like writing for a dear friend.
 You are able to command higher fees as you are solving very specific and high level problems for your niche. A specialist is very well paid for their expertise, knowledge and skill – a generalist is not.

Spend some time really considering who you want to work with, why you want to work with them and if that group of people are looking for what you offer. The challenge is finding a niche that is hungry for the marketable content in your offers that solve their urgent, pressing problem!
If you are struggling to find your perfect niche that will have clients that want to pay for your services, I would love to help. I have a Niche Breakthrough program that may be a great fit for you. Feel free to contact me at info@LisaJFraser.com and we can make arrangements to chat about your needs.