Lots of people in helping professions like coaching have a natural aversion to what we typically hear about in 'marketing.' Here's my story of how I found a more authentic way to build my business and stopped stressing about finding a 'niche.'
I started coaching about two years ago as a result of wanting to do something new and different. I had thought that I was going to get my doctorate in psychology. I was applying to programs,
but I quickly learned that that was a terrible mistake – not because someone shouldn't be a psychologist, but I would not be a great psychologist.
When I told my friends that I realized that being a therapist was not for me, a couple of them actually went, "Thank God!" That was definitely a sign.
Through that I found coaching and fell in love with it immediately. I hired a wonderful coach and knew this was for me. I went through a coach training program through Coach U and started my business.
In about nine or ten months I had what would be considered a full practice. I had about 30 clients or more. Then in about 15 months or so it was a six-figure business. Now we're on the way to doubling that business this year.
I had a lot of people coming to me saying, "How did you do this? I'd like to do it." I started coaching other business owners on building their business. I looked at what my journey was, what my experience was, and said, "How did I make some of those leaps in that amount of time? How did I have that amount of growth in that amount of time?" I began to document it and share how I did it with the clients I was working with.
What I discovered was that in the beginning I had been promoting myself as a life and career coach and I was doing it like everyone was telling me to do it – every marketer you hear. Whether you're a coach or a therapist or a plumber or a speaker, it doesn't really matter. It's not important what your genre or your field is. What's important is that we all know to build a business, you have to market.
I was following all the normal marketing. I was talking to all the normal marketing people. I was trying to do all the strategies. This is not an exaggeration: There were moments when I would cry because I couldn't figure out my niche. I literally would. It was really hard for me and something I struggled with a lot.
I finally just said, "I don't want to do it this way anymore. I don't know if they're right or they're wrong, but it's making me miserable so I'm going to do it my way."
I really scaled back on a lot of what I now call 'hard sell marketing' and the things that I was trying to be and trying to do. What I did was just create my own way of marketing, authentic marketing.
One of the first things I did was I gave up on the idea of looking for a niche. I approached it as, "Who needs me most?"
That was really more tangible for me, I understood it. "Niche" kind of felt like, "Find a group, sell them, stalk them, get them, and get their money."
There's nothing wrong with the word niche. It's just for me and a lot of the people that were coming to me, it was a challenge for them. When I shifted some things like, "Who needs you most?" as opposed to trying to create copywriting and marketing materials, I really looked at it as, "How can I tell my story? How can I make my mess my message?"
That is the approach I have taken ever since. I saw real value in it and when I was sharing this approach with other people they too were finding value in it and were excited about it. This new approach allowed them to let go of all of that tension that they had around marketing, sales and building a business. They were able to take their gift and leverage it, share it with people, and grow a business that helped more people, made more money and allowed them to enjoy more freedom.
