Specializing for Success: A Coach's Guide to Niching
Angie and John discuss the crucial importance of niching in building a successful coaching business. They share personal experiences and explain how even though the idea of niching may seem limiting, it is critical to target specific audiences with well-defined problems for focused problem-solving. They also discuss common mistakes made by coaches, emphasize the importance of aligning the niche with personal passion and expertise, and provide reassurances that choosing a niche does not restrict the potential growth of a coaching business.
00:00 Introduction to Niching in Coaching
01:02 The Struggles of Niching
02:13 The Importance of Specialization
03:54 The Pitfalls of Being a Generalist Coach
04:14 The Power of Focusing and Niching
04:54 The Role of Branding in Niching
08:10 The Impact of Niching on Business Growth
09:13 The Importance of Knowing Your Niche
10:48 The Role of Passion and Business Structure in Niching
17:59 The Evolution of Niching in a Coaching Business
20:14 Final Thoughts on Niching
21:05 Conclusion and Farewell
Transcript
John!
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:John: Angie, what would you say to
professional coaches about niching?
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:Could you be more specific?
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:That's perfect.
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:Angie: Since we're going to be talking
about niching today, few points
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:that we want to discuss about it.
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:Why it's so important to our businesses.
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:why do it?
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:of the things that I noticed as a coach
is that it's really hard to niche.
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:It was almost like getting
a root canal for me.
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:Right.
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:I had a really hard time wrapping
my head around the idea of niching.
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:It didn't make logical
sense to me at the time.
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:I know you're laughing at
me, John, but it's my truth.
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:John: I'm laughing because I feel very
similarly, niching is how hard it is hard.
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:it is just all about getting
that bit more specific about the
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:problem you're going to solve and
who you're going to solve it for.
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:And yet it could be really tough.
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:Part of my initial challenge with
it was just recognizing that it was
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:probably going to be very helpful to do.
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:And now I know it's really important,
but we'll talk about why, I recognized
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:it was going to be helpful, but I had
all this coaching knowledge and I didn't
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:really have any specialized areas, when
you train up as a coach It's not like
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:training up as a doctor where you're maybe
encouraged to go into a specialized area
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:And so I didn't have that quite generalist
coaching, want to help everyone you come
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:out with that right sort of Attitude of
wanting to make a difference and things.
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:However very hard to get clients if
you are out there being a generalist.
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:Just think about it from the
perspective of, we've been using a
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:few medical metaphors already, that
if you have a medical condition,
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:would you rather go to a specialist or
would you rather go to a generalist?
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:If it's a quick check up, you'd
probably go to a generalist.
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:But if But if it is something quite
specific, you're going to feel much more
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:confident going to a specialist who deals
with that and probably pretty much only
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:deals with that and will give you what
you need probably a lot more, quickly
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:and specifically than generalist would.
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:Angie: Yeah, I think that's
a really great analogy.
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:And it's why we're doing this, right?
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:When you and I started our coaching
practices, there really wasn't
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:anybody standing there saying,
Hey, you should do this, right?
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:This is the way there's no,
there's no handbook to this.
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:So I love that we're talking about this.
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:What I want to share is that Not
all coaches are created equal.
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:We all have different
super powers, if you will.
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:Although I don't love to use that phrase.
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:We all have different areas that we really
are just great at, and then maybe some
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:areas where we're not and that's okay,
if we think about a fast food restaurant
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:they start out with one item, right?
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:That's their mainframe and
that's what they're known for.
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:If I say golden arches, most people
are going to think McDonald's,
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:even if you don't eat it, right?
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:Even if it's not your thing.
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:And wouldn't it be great if
that's when somebody said.
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:Well, let you know leadership coaching
or talent development that if that's your
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:jam, if that's what you do, that you're
the person that they would go to for that.
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:And I think the idea
behind, but I'm a coach.
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:I can be all things to all people.
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:No, no, no, no, I think that's probably
one of the biggest mistakes . Most
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:coaches make when they start a practice.
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:is thinking that they're going to
just be all things to all people.
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:And so I'm kind of beating the dead
horse here a little bit, but it's, well,
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:because once I realized that I needed
to focus, just put the blinders on.
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:And that was temporary because guess what?
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:Once I got known, people started
asking and The business grew.
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:So how did it work for you?
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:John: You ever remember or come across
these sort of people selling miracle
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:potions and the likes that will cure
all your ills and things like that.
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:Sometimes it can feel a bit like
that being a generalist well,
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:what could you help with anything?
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:I can help you with anything.
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:What about this?
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:What about that?
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:It's like, well, yeah, I
can help you with all of it.
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:It just feels a bit too good to be true.
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:And I'm not saying you couldn't as
a coach, you possibly could, but we
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:were chatting before we even recorded
today, a little bit about branding.
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:This comes into it here what is
your brand and who is it speaking
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:to in terms of what you do?
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:Part of your marketing message needs to
be Speaking very clearly to the audience
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:that you want to connect with and if you
don't have a clear brand if you don't
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:have a clear Problem to solve for people
it's not gonna get through especially
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:with the amount of other messaging that
is out there from other people Right
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:now so if you are saying I could help
anyone with everything who's gonna
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:really tune into that message whereas
if you say I help people in the tech
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:industry deal with the enormous amounts
of stress that they are often under.
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:Or people who are in leadership, be
able to communicate more effectively
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:with their teams and with each other.
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:You are, you're talking to a much more
specific audience, so that's going
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:to prick people's ears up and say,
Alright, yeah, that's me, I actually
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:have that problem, I recognize that.
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:I should maybe check out a bit more
about this and find out what it would
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:be like working with this person.
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:Some coaching now is more in the realms
of helping people with their performance
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:as a speaker and as someone who's
delivering content and information,
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:whether that's from In podcasts online or
in person, you know, then that's pretty
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:much what you're going to get with me.
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:We're going to work on your presence.
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:We're going to work on your charisma.
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:We're going to work on the things
that help you to be better at
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:getting your information across.
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:How about you, Angie?
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:Like what when you did make that
decision to niche, what happened for
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:you and what difference did it make?
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:Angie: Oh, well, again, I resisted it.
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:I was very anti because I had
had some experience, right?
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:I just had a little bit of
experience and it felt really good.
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:And finally, the light bulb went off
because I knew I had a great product.
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:But there was something in my head
saying, this doesn't feel right.
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:Like I should be doing so much more.
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:And then actually this was
funny how this happened.
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:I had a conversation with
somebody and his name was John,
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:and he was a business coach.
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:I met him at an event, we
just got to talking and he
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:said, well, so what do you do?
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:And I was like, Oh, I'm a coach.
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:And he was like, really?
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:So what's your focus?
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:And I was like, Oh, I do it all.
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:And he looked at me, I'll never
forget the look on his face.
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:Like, really?
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:You do everything so this is what he
said to me and I guess he was trying to
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:pitch me and I did end up working with
him and he changed everything but he said
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:so I am a career coach is what he said
if I'm looking for somebody to come do
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:some career coaching I'm gonna hire you
and you're also gonna talk to me about
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:my relationships at home and the way he
presented it I remember thinking somebody
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:just splashed ice cold water on me Because
I was unable to articulate what I did.
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:And then I thought, oh, geez.
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:If I don't know what I do, how in the
world is anybody else going to know?
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:So how can I sell myself, my
brand, my intellectual property,
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:if I don't know who to send it to?
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:John: Yeah.
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:Angie: So I did end up hiring him
and he made a huge difference.
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:What was the outcome?
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:The outcome was that
the phone was ringing.
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:That was what was happening.
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:It wasn't me.
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:Grinding and grinding and grinding
and getting very little return for
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:my investment of time, energy, money.
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:All of a sudden the phone rang
and then the phone rang and he
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:was like, wow, look at this.
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:Like who knew?
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:Who knew?
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:That all we had to do was say,
I, and at the time my focus was
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:all levels of sales training.
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:And once I learned how to sell myself.
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:Then I had this extra piece and
this extra value to bring to
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:the people that I was coaching.
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:So it was a pretty funny moment.
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:I actually wish somebody had a picture
of a look on my face when, you know,
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:when John asked me, so what do you do?
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:And I was all like, Oh, and all my
energy and the arms were flailing.
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:Like I was excited.
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:He was like, Ew.
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:I can't believe it was like,
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:John: I can, I can just, yeah, I can
just well imagine that there's going
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:to be at least one person listening to
this thinking yeah, I don't know how
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:I would answer that question either.
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:And I can certainly, it's an important
question to be able to answer.
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:This is why this matters so much.
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:I can remember thinking how unfair
it was when I was starting off as
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:a coach.
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:I was very big on fairness that some
coaches who were really excellent coaches.
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:Didn't seem to be very successful,
and some of them weren't even able to
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:stay in coaching long term, some of
them, gone within several years, that's
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:just the reality of the business.
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:And I felt like some people who
weren't very good coaches somehow
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:were sticking around and raking it in.
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:And I felt that it was really more to
do with who was better at marketing.
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:And to some degree that's true.
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:And I think, oh, wouldn't it be,
wouldn't it be a beautiful world if the
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:people who were really good at coaching
were also really good at marketing?
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:But I don't think you can be good at
marketing your coaching unless you
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:niche down to who you're going to help
and have that niche that's as they say
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:an inch wide and a mile deep is get
as specific as you can without being
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:too restrictive about who you can
help and how so that you can actually.
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:Get out there and solve a problem.
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:Solve a problem for people who can
afford to pay you for solving it.
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:That's another thing I see
coaches go wrong with on this.
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:If people you want to help can't
pay for your services, you are
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:not going to have a business.
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:And we are talking about having a business
at the end, not a charity that means
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:you end up just as broke as your clients.
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:So, uh, we really, we really must
consider these things, right?
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:Angie: definitely needs to
be a business structure.
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:I think most people come into coaching
and have some type of a passion toward it.
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:I don't think coaching, if you're a
great coach, is something that can
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:necessarily be taught, although there
are best practices and all of that.
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:That's a later podcast, but I do think
that, if you're clear on yourself, your
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:message and your mission as a coach,
and you're able to then articulate
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:that you are creating a business,
there is that there's two sides to it.
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:There's that passion piece and
then there's that, what does my
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:business structure look like?
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:And I did that.
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:I was the coach that.
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:If my fee at the time was 125 an
hour and somebody came to me and
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:said, Oh, I can only do it for 65.
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:I did it because I needed to keep the
lights on and the food in my belly.
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:But I realized that was really unfair.
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:How do I then have the nerve
to charge somebody else my fee,
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:whatever your regular fee is, right?
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:How do you?
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:But then discount it or reduce it,
if you will, for somebody else.
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:So that created a little bit of a quandary
for me because then I didn't feel like
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:I was being of the people who could.
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:John: Yeah, that's an important thing
to consider and certainly , we'll
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:discuss that in another episode.
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:I feel that there is a, there is a place
for generalist coaching, there is, and
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:there's even a demand for it right now.
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:With some of the coaching companies
that have sprung up, they want
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:generalist coaches to come in and be
even then you still have to compete
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:for clients within that company, you
still have to have a profile that's
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:going to attract people towards you.
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:So if you don't have specific
problems that you're helping with,
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:you may be able to go a little more
generally, but you still can't go
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:and help anyone with everything.
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:You still need to get a bit more specific.
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:Are you working?
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:Do you prefer working
with people in business?
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:Do you prefer to work with
them on relationships?
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:Do you prefer to work with them?
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:Oh gosh, what other areas do
people get coached for these days?
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:But pick your areas that you actually
enjoy and can help working, help people
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:to by working with even in those sectors.
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:But also consider.
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:You are always going to be
somewhat limited in what you can
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:earn as a coach in those sectors.
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:You're going to have an hourly rate.
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:You don't get to set that for yourself.
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:You can go to some of the
increases within that.
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:But it's only by specializing and
perhaps even then starting to offer
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:your own services that you start to
get much more into the sort of elite
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:levels when you know that there are
coaches earning a million and more a
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:month and making those kinds of sales.
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:That's out there.
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:That is realistic.
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:But only if you get clarity on your
message and who you're helping and how
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:and start working towards that and you
know This is this stuff we're going
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:to cover Yeah in a lot more detail
in more Sessions in the future, but I
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:think it's important to just have that
distinction of yes, there is still some
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:some need for a generalism in coaching,
but it's also going to restrict you.
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:It might help you be a
springboard to where you do want
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:to go, at least at the moment.
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:Angie: Yeah,
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:John: so don't think we just crapping
all over the idea of being a generalist.
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:But how much more you can grow and develop
and make and be successful as a coach.
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:By being more specific
about who you help and how.
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:Angie: I think too, so once we get the
idea across that niching is so important.
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:And once that, once the, that
reconciliation happens mentally and we
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:go, okay, I think the next big question
becomes, well, then how do I know, how
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:do I know what I'm supposed to be doing?
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:And I answer that most times for
people, like it's multi pronged
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:answer where you feel passionate.
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:Right.
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:Like we're really like, we don't
necessarily want to drag you
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:away from what it is that made
you decide to get into coaching.
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:The other piece I think that's important
is most people don't come into the world
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:at the age of 18 or 17 and they graduate
high school and say, I want to be a coach.
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:Most coaches, so everybody
hear me, don't come at me.
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:Most coaches come from some other industry
and they have experience in that industry
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:and that's probably what prompted them.
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:To do something different and I always
say start with what you know, right?
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:Because you will you're it's not
that we need the validation, but
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:we can better relate to People
that are maybe in that arena.
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:So, you know Multitudes of my own clients
have left super high level high paying
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:corporate jobs because of a varying of
reasons And they've taken bits and pieces
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:and said, I'm going to train people on
how to do this or I'm going to coach
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:people on how to do this or not do this.
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:So there is a natural segue, and I think
that it's really up to the individual
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:to decide and it may take a minute
to decide, but that doesn't mean let
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:me just go back to doing everything
because I don't know the answer yet.
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:Give yourself a minute.
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:To really think about what
impact you want to have and how
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:you're best able to do that.
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:John: I wonder if there are
people listening to this who
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:ask themselves how do I do this?
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:And I think you do have to think
about things like, do I fit with
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:the industry that I'm looking at?
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:Because it's not just about where
there's the most money, right?
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:You might be an ideal person for
working in corporate, and that's one
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:of the reasons why it helps so much
to come into coaching from having The
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:experience before I don't think it's
generally a good idea to be very green
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:and just, just out of uni or whatever,
and becoming a coach right away, and
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:it's going to be very challenging.
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:It's very hard to get the
respect as a young coach.
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:I certainly found that in
my earlier days of coaching.
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:Like I was in my mid to late
twenties when I first started
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:coaching and and it was very hard
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:Angie: That long
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:John: especially here.
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:Yeah, it's a long ago.
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:It was very hard to
get respect from those.
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:Thank you, Angie.
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:Very hard to get respect from those
older clients And I really felt like
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:I had to earn my colors, but also I
did have to at some point recognize
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:There was a lot I didn't know there
was a lot that I was quite naive about
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:and that does come along with age, but
the professional experience I did have
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:was actually a really good grounding.
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:My background had mostly
been in customer service.
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:It made sense for me to focus a lot of
my coaching work around either towards
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:the industry that I'd worked in or
towards coaching around particularly
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:customer service issues and the likes.
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:But if you have a sales background, great.
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:There's loads of opportunity in sales.
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:If you don't have a particular industry
background, but you're very spiritual
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:or people come to you for advice about
their relationships and stuff, these
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:could all be good indicators that this
could be a good place for you to focus.
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:But just think this is
going to be something you're
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:going to be doing regularly.
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:This is what my coaching mentor says.
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:You do not have to marry your niche.
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:You only need to date them.
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:You're not locking yourself into anything.
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:You can just date this for a
while, see if it works for you.
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:And if it doesn't, you can select another
niche and focus on a different area.
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:I've done it.
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:I've worked in several
different niches of coaching.
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:How about you?
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:Angie: Absolutely, for me,
my business grew organically.
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:So even though I finally saw the
light and started focusing on sales.
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:Then I started to expand
my offering, right?
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:that was the thing.
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:The only space that I don't speak into
right now is like nutrition or exercise.
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:I have no pretty initials at
the end of my last name that
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:say.
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:I'm certified to even
talk about any of that.
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:So I use myself as a resource.
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:I've aligned myself with people that
can be an extension and a reference
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:and say, Hey, I've worked with this
person, I've, I recommend them.
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:But in terms of how my business grew,
there were places that I did, like
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:I started in sales and then it went
into leadership and all these things.
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:It just grew.
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:And I started to recognize what I
really loved and what lit me up and
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:what drained me because being coach,
it can be really draining work.
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:We'll talk about that at a later time as
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:well,
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:John: need to, yeah,
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:Angie: yeah, and we definitely need
to because you don't want to be, if
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:you're, if you finish your work day,
like you've been on the treadmill
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:at full power for eight hours.
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:Then something's wrong and we may not
know what that is yet but anyway, so for
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:me it really it just it changed and it
grew organically and Then what I decided
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:was, you know what no treadmill for me.
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:I want treadmill.
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:I'll go back into corporate.
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:No, thank you so You know, I stick now
with what lights me up and honestly, you
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:know Why I feel like i'm worse and I think
one of the things I want to point out is
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:that If this is a just a best practice
mindset thing, just because it doesn't
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:work with one niche doesn't mean it can't.
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:Because I think a lot of
people go, Oh, that's it.
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:I tried.
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:It didn't work.
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:I'm a failure.
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:It didn't work.
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:Let me go back and get a job.
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:That's not always the case.
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:Sometimes you just need to pivot
and twist and shift a little bit.
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:To find that interlocking piece to
make that puzzle piece fit So you
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:may not know it right out of the gate
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:if you're
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:brand
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:new,
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:John: Yeah, you don't
know what you don't know.
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:Right.
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:And sometimes the puzzle pieces come
along, but yeah you're absolutely right.
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:I feel like we've probably covered
pretty much everything I would want to
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:cover about niching and hopefully, our
list and guess why this is important
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:and why we should definitely be
thinking about this, talking about it.
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:And working towards it as best you
can right now from whatever position
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:you're in, it's gonna make a huge
difference to your success and your
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:ability to create a successful business
and stay in business as a coach.
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:But any final words or
thoughts around nichsing Angie,
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:Angie: just I think one small
reiteration is to Give it a minute
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:lead with your heart, right?
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:The money usually will follow and If it
doesn't work initially don't run away.
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:It does that's just let
it ride for a minute.
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:John: I think that's a great
thought to end our episode on.
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:We'll be back very soon with
another episode of the Coaching
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:Clinic, so we'll see you then.
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:Bye
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:Angie: Bye for now
