The Most Critical Part of Your Coaching Niche

Coaches often ask me: Why is targeting an audience more effective than just choosing a basic coaching niche?

In a nutshell, coaches who target a specific audience do more of what they love, are paid better, and have no limits on their income. Whereas, coaches who try to market their coaching niche topic — such as life coaching, career coaching or wellness coaching generally have difficulty getting enough clients, keeping them for the long term, and charging enough to maintain a sustainable business.

When it comes to attracting clients, most coaches focus on the what – what topic they want to coach around – and try to sell that. Business savvy coaches instead focus on a who – a group of people who share unique challenges and goals, like bookstore owners or virtual assistants – a target audience.

I understand the appeal of choosing a basic coaching niche initially. It feels safe to know in advance the topics you’re going to coach around – things like transition or balance. Or you might choose a niche based on a desire to help others through similar life experiences – like divorce coaching or grief coaching.

In some cases you can find advanced training on that coaching skillset – such as relationship or career coaching. And if you have significant expertise in a saleable skill, marketing that skill might work for you.

But I’ve talked with hundreds of coaches who have tried selling coaching on a particular topic, and fewer than a handful have pulled it off for long-term success.

Often they end up coaching friends and family for free, or for fees that won’t sustain them. They have cyclical results and never really feel the ease and grace of a solid coaching business.

On the other hand, I’ve seen the utter relief coaches feel when they fortify their coaching niche by focusing in on one viable target audience. They no longer feel like a fraud (not that they ever were a fraud). Suddenly, coaching and marketing are in alignment – because they are both client centric.

And the advantages don’t end there. Ultimately, targeting one specific audience brings a freedom that blows the lid off the income ceiling fast. Here is why…

20 Undeniable Advantages of Narrowing Your Audience

  1. It’s not about you, it’s about your clients – and that’s a relief.
  2. It’s easy to find out what makes them tick because it’s a narrow and unique group of people.
  3. You know what they are motivated to buy and can tailor make your offers to fit that.
  4. It’s easier to talk about what you do, win clients and get referrals.
  5. Your services are perceived as essential whereas most niche related coaching seems like a luxury.
  6. Prospects are easier to find. You know where they gather, what they read, what professional groups they belong to.
  7. So you know where your next clients are coming from.
  8. Clients will work with you for longer periods because there’s all of life to coach around instead of just one topic.
  9. It’s simple to stay in front of prospects because you know where to submit articles, where to speak, what topics will draw your market.
  10. You always know what to do next. No more overwhelm.
  11. It’s easy to impress spheres of influence (organizations, groups) that will endorse you.
  12. You saturate your market with awareness about you quickly. With a coaching niche you’re spread too thin to build enough visibility.
  13. It’s easy to create & sell your own products and programs because they are based on one market’s top challenges.
  14. You can get off the money for time treadmill by creating bundled programs that require less of your time to deliver.
  15. Your competition is eliminated or greatly reduced.
  16. You become the go-to person for that market. You stand out.
  17. You can charge higher fees because you “own” the market.
  18. You market less because you build credibility and visibility faster.
  19. You get better results with clients because you champion them not a topic.
  20. You develop more coaching mastery, because you are using all your tools, not just your specialty.

For a clear understanding of the difference between a general coaching niche and a profitable coaching niche targeting a unique audience, grab my free ebook 5 Secrets to a Highly Profitable Coaching Niche You’ll Love.



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