So many Coaches, Practitioners, and Entrepreneurs come to us with questions about their niche; many wonder if they really need one to be successful.
After working with over 20,000 people, here’s what we’ve discovered…
When you don’t have a niche, you end up doing business the hard way.
(This may seem like unfortunate news, but let us assure you that this can actually be great news for you!)
So what is a niche?
A lot of people say it’s a specialty, but this isn’t really true. After all, you could specialize in authentic Thai massage or a particular style of coaching, but that isn’t a niche.
We define it as a problem that you solve for a specific group of people.
For some people, creating a niche is counter-intuitive, so we want to share 3 really powerful benefits that you get when you create a niche for yourself.
Benefit #1: You Become an Expert
After 100 hours of studying and working in a particular field with a particular problem, you will form a level of expertise. After 1,000 hours you will develop mastery. Within a year you could develop a high level of mastery within one niche.
When you first get started with your niche, you’ll most likely feel like a novice. Every person who starts with a new niche, starts as a beginner. (Even the people who you see as experts now...they were once beginners). You’ve got to start somewhere! So if you think you’re not an expert at anything, then get started with a niche and after three months, you’ll gain more confidence. By the end of one year, you’ll become an expert.
If you choose not to have a niche, you’ll be a jack of all trades, master of none.
Do you want proof?
Who gets paid more, the heart surgeon or the family doctor? The heart surgeon, because she has a specific expertise – she spent tons of time studying all of the details associated with the heart.
It is simply impossible for the family doctor to gain that much knowledge about the entire human body. And people seek out the specialist, who will help them with their specific problem.
Benefit #2: Become a Big Fish in a Small Pond
When we first started out, we didn’t really know what we were doing, we just knew how to fill our schedule with clients. That’s all we knew how to do. Our clients were asking us how we did it, and we told them. We didn’t really have a lot of training in it, we hadn’t gotten MBA’s, we’d gone to a few seminars, applied a few things, and then we had a full schedule.
So we started to share what we were doing with others and before you knew it, a lot of people (in Santa Cruz) had heard of us (especially the Coaches, Practitioners, and Entrepreneurs). We became a big fish in a small pond.
And that’s how we grew from zero to $175,000 in our first year. All of our clients were local that first year. We were the go to people in Santa Cruz for marketing and growing a successful business if you were a Coach, Practitioner, or Entrepreneur.
When you don’t have a niche, you end up being a small fish in a big pond. If you’re just helping people live the life of their dreams, you’re competing with Landmark, Tony Robbins, Wayne Dyer, Byron Katie, and Marianne Williamson. You’re competing with all those people who’ve already established themselves.
It’s much better to form one specific area in which you become an expert.
Benefit #3: Attract Referrals
When you have a clear niche, people know exactly who to refer to you. This is a huge benefit, because people in your niche know other people who are also in your niche.
Say for example, you work with single women who want to meet the guy of their dreams. Or professionals looking to leave their job and start their own business. Chances are, these people know others LIKE THEM dealing with the same kind of problem.
And if you can help them solve their problem, they’re going to tell everyone they know about the great work you do… and this is a great way for you to start getting more referrals.
We hope you’re convinced that it’s essential to your success to choose a niche, so you can easily start attracting new clients into your business.
Tell us about what you’ve learned about needing a niche and how you think this will change your business on our Thrive Academy Facebook page.
