14 | 5 Steps to Find a Profitable Niche
Jo discusses the importance of finding a profitable niche for a coaching business. With the influx of coaches over the past two years in this growing industry, it is crucial to stand out and attract clients actively seeking solutions.
Joanna explains that a niche is a specific target market or a well-defined segment of people or problem, and by narrowing down the focus to a specific group of people, coaches can position themselves as experts and attract clients seeking solutions.
She also shares five steps to discover a profitable niche, starting with reflecting on passions, skills, and interests to lay the foundation for a profitable niche.
Introduction to Profitable Niches [00:00:28" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">00:00:28]
Joanna Lott introduces the podcast episode and the topic of profitable niches for coaches.
Importance of Niche for Coaching Business [00:01:29" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">00:01:29]
Joanna Lott explains what a niche is and why it is important for a coaching business to have a profitable niche in a crowded coaching market.
Steps to Discover Profitable Niche [00:04:47" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">00:04:47]
Joanna Lott shares five steps to discover a profitable niche for a coaching business, including reflecting on passions, skills, and interests, researching market demand, and creating a signature coaching offer.
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Transcript
Hello and welcome to Women in the Coaching Arena podcast.
Speaker:I'm so glad you are here.
Speaker:I'm Jo Lott, a business mentor and ICF accredited coach, and I'm on a
Speaker:mission to help brilliant coaches build brilliant coaching businesses.
Speaker:In this podcast, I'll be sharing honest, not hype, practical and
Speaker:emotional tools to support you to make the difference that you are here for.
Speaker:Hello and welcome to episode 14 of Women in the Coaching Arena.
Speaker:I'm so glad you're here.
Speaker:I'm your host Joanna Lott, and today we are diving into a hot topic.
Speaker:The topic that I'm probably trying to avoid much of the time as it's the
Speaker:one that makes most people go around in circles again and again and again.
Speaker:So let's dive into profitable niches for coaches.
Speaker:So in this episode, we are going to explore what is a niche, why
Speaker:it matters, and how to find a profitable one that aligns with
Speaker:you, your skills, your passion.
Speaker:Before we dive into profitable niches, let's first talk about what is a niche
Speaker:and why is it important for your business?
Speaker:And it's probably one of the most Googled questions of all coaches.
Speaker:Do I need to niche?
Speaker:I've Googled it many times myself when I was in training and everyone kept
Speaker:saying, oh, afterwards, you'll need to niche, and I really didn't want to.
Speaker:I'll share what I believe will really help you to grow your business,
Speaker:because that is the whole point of the work I do and this podcast.
Speaker:So a niche is a specific target market or well-defined segment of people.
Speaker:Or segment of problem or outcome that these people want.
Speaker:By narrowing down your focus to a specific group of people who have a
Speaker:specific problem, who want a specific outcome, you can position yourself as
Speaker:an expert and be able to attract clients who are actively seeking solutions.
Speaker:So it's worth saying that sadly, nobody is seeking coaching.
Speaker:Most of us are seeking solutions to our greatest challenges and that is why
Speaker:finding a profitable niche is so crucial.
Speaker:It helps you to stand out in a crowded coaching market, and the market has
Speaker:increased by 407% in the last two years.
Speaker:That's the study I've done personally on LinkedIn.
Speaker:So in December, 2020, when I did a search on the word coach on LinkedIn,
Speaker:it came up with 1.6 million results.
Speaker:So 1.6 million coaches were listed as a coach on LinkedIn in 2020.
Speaker:And by two years later, we are now up to over 8 million coaches listed on LinkedIn.
Speaker:So it's a 407% growth in two years.
Speaker:And I think another important thing to note here is that we
Speaker:are operating in a global market.
Speaker:So if you want to gain help on emotional eating, or if you want
Speaker:to gain help growing your business or getting that next promotion,
Speaker:you can get exactly what you want.
Speaker:So you can put in the search bar exactly what you want and find somebody.
Speaker:So it's not like it was before Covid, where generally you would just work
Speaker:with people that were local to you and you would meet them in person.
Speaker:So that's another reason why it's exciting for you to be able to put a stake in the
Speaker:ground and become an expert in your thing.
Speaker:It will enable you to increase your visibility and have really good focus.
Speaker:Because what I've found in working with 40 or so coaches in the last 12
Speaker:months alone is that as soon as they nail their niche, then they can do
Speaker:their marketing and they are really actively growing their business.
Speaker:Whereas if they are in this moment of like, I'm not really sure
Speaker:what I'm talking about today.
Speaker:I'm not really sure who I'm speaking to, what I'm gonna say.
Speaker:Then often you say nothing and then you are not visible, therefore,
Speaker:you're not gaining clients.
Speaker:So nicheing half the time is actually a huge benefit for you as a coach to
Speaker:really narrow your focus and go all in and grow your business really quickly.
Speaker:Niching will also allow you to build a signature coaching offer so you can
Speaker:listen to episode 10 of this podcast if you haven't already on how to
Speaker:create a signature coaching program.
Speaker:And you can only really create that program if you have a really.
Speaker:Good defined niche.
Speaker:And the benefit to creating a program is that you can charge higher prices for
Speaker:your coaching and you can actually sell coaching because if you have been trying
Speaker:to sell sessions of coaching, you may be finding that challenging, which is why I
Speaker:suggest really honing in on who you serve and how, and that will really help you
Speaker:to actually make money in your business.
Speaker:So let's get started on our five steps to discover your profitable
Speaker:niche for your own coaching business.
Speaker:And if you already have a niche, or if you think you already have a niche,
Speaker:because most people that have calls of me are like, yeah, that's fine.
Speaker:I've got my niche and as soon as I hear it, I think, ah,
Speaker:that's not really a niche.
Speaker:So no matter how long you've been in business there is always growth we can
Speaker:do in defining who we help and how, and it is one of the greatest indicators
Speaker:of your future business success.
Speaker:So this will be super helpful for you whether you are brand new
Speaker:and nicheing now, or whether you have been in business for years.
Speaker:Step one, start by reflecting on your passions, skills, and interests.
Speaker:So what topics could you talk about all day?
Speaker:When you need to start marketing your business, you will need to
Speaker:talk about this topic quite a lot.
Speaker:So you want to make sure it's something that you absolutely love talking about,
Speaker:which is why I've niche down to business because it's something I am super
Speaker:passionate about helping people with.
Speaker:Another thing I do in my program is take people through a full life reflection.
Speaker:I think it really helps to go through your full life and that will really help
Speaker:you to see who you are called to help.
Speaker:So have a think about your background, education, previous work experience, and
Speaker:also things like what really riles you.
Speaker:So for me, for example, it was the fact that there were very few kind,
Speaker:honest, genuine people helping coaches to actually build their business.
Speaker:And the amount of coaches that give up in the first year, I think is 84% of
Speaker:coaches give up in the first year of their business it continues to drop off
Speaker:around years two and three because there is such a limited level of awareness
Speaker:of what it takes to build a business.
Speaker:And I want to fill that void between this exciting moment of training
Speaker:to become a coach and then the less exciting moment of now what, how do
Speaker:I actually make this work for me?
Speaker:So it was kind of that fury or that anger at this ridiculous stuff that
Speaker:we hear day in, day out about how easy it is to build a six figure business.
Speaker:And I want to take a stand against that and show you how to do it in an
Speaker:honest, normal way that is not gonna blame you when it all goes wrong.
Speaker:So now you have thought about your areas of excitement, passion, expertise.
Speaker:You can lay that foundation for a profitable niche that
Speaker:aligns with your expertise.
Speaker:And sometimes when you start.
Speaker:You might want to go completely off piste and think, I want nothing to do
Speaker:with the industry I used to work in.
Speaker:And it depends on your priorities.
Speaker:So for example, if you need to make money from coaching quickly, then I would to
Speaker:be honest, go all in on the area that you can immediately start monetising.
Speaker:Whereas if you know you have the time, the space, the capacity to completely reinvent
Speaker:yourself and go all in on a niche that you really want to work with, then do that.
Speaker:It depends on your personal needs and desires at that moment.
Speaker:So step one was reflect on your passions and skills.
Speaker:Let's move on to step two, which is research market demand.
Speaker:And this is something that is often missed and people I speak to on discovery calls
Speaker:can be staying behind the scenes for weeks and weeks and months and months, even
Speaker:creating their niche and their offer.
Speaker:And what I like to do with those who work with me is within the first three weeks
Speaker:we are getting out there and sharing your niche and your offer to see if there is
Speaker:actually demand for it, because sadly what happens is a lot of us want to
Speaker:save our previous self, but our previous self maybe didn't seek out support, and
Speaker:therefore, maybe all of these people who are currently experiencing that
Speaker:problem are also not seeking out support.
Speaker:So it's super sad that most people, for example, get to
Speaker:burnout without seeking support.
Speaker:But if that's a fact.
Speaker:If those people are not actively seeking support, you might struggle to create a
Speaker:profitable niche out of something that people are so busy in and so all consumed
Speaker:by that they are not going to take that time out to really stop this happening.
Speaker:You can explore online Facebook groups, social media groups, industry publications
Speaker:to gauge the level of interest and engagement in your chosen niche.
Speaker:If you, for example, put a request out for market research and get no
Speaker:enquiries back, even though you might be offering these calls for free, then
Speaker:that might be an indication that sadly, there's either something wrong with
Speaker:the way you've written the message and people haven't kind of understood
Speaker:it, or the urgency, or there isn't demand for that particular service.
Speaker:And again, this is something that can keep coaches stuck for a really long time
Speaker:because, for example, if you are wanting to help people with really good habits.
Speaker:We know that really good habits are gonna change their life, but unless
Speaker:it is specific enough, most people are not generally trying to change their
Speaker:habits or they buy a book for that.
Speaker:Do they seek out coaching support or do they only seek out coaching
Speaker:support if it's a very specific habit and you have a very specific offer
Speaker:promise that they super, super need.
Speaker:So step three is identify specific challenges or pain points.
Speaker:Now you have explored the market a little bit with your niche.
Speaker:We now need to further drill down your chosen niche by identifying
Speaker:specific pain points that your potential clients might be facing.
Speaker:Coaching is about providing solutions so by understanding those struggles of
Speaker:your target audience, you can position yourself as the go-to coach to help
Speaker:them to overcome these challenges.
Speaker:Versus what most coaches do is generalise, we start saying...
Speaker:make you feel incredible.
Speaker:But if that's not the words that are coming out of your target audience's
Speaker:mouth, then they're not gonna think, oh, that's what I need, because it's not
Speaker:what they're saying to their friends.
Speaker:It's not what they're thinking in their head.
Speaker:So this is why the step of market research is super important and for my clients,
Speaker:I provide full text of exactly how to gain market research, exactly what to say
Speaker:when you get on the call, exactly what you're looking for, because this is a
Speaker:really crucial part that most people miss.
Speaker:Moving on to step four.
Speaker:So we are going to consider how profitable and viable your niche is.
Speaker:So whilst your passion is essential you may also want to earn a living
Speaker:with coaching so therefore, we need to evaluate the potential market size.
Speaker:What competition there is.
Speaker:The ability of your target audience to invest in coaching services.
Speaker:Have these people invested before?
Speaker:Is it the sort of thing that they are prepared to invest in?
Speaker:A profitable niche will have a balance of demand, willingness
Speaker:to invest and room for growth.
Speaker:So whether we like it or not, if we are trying to serve a group
Speaker:of people that really don't want to help themselves or aren't in a
Speaker:position to financially invest, then you are highly unlikely to create a
Speaker:profitable niche out of that group.
Speaker:So back to your goals.
Speaker:What's the priority right now?
Speaker:What do you need to happen and what are you prepared to go all in on?
Speaker:That is also super important.
Speaker:You need to be prepared to go all in on whatever decision you make.
Speaker:Step five, let's test and refine your niche.
Speaker:So once you've identified a potential niche that meets the criteria of being
Speaker:profitable and aligns with something that you actually are prepared to go
Speaker:all in on, it's time to test it out.
Speaker:So start offering your coaching services to a few clients within that niche.
Speaker:It will help you so much to gain.
Speaker:Insights, refine your offering and ensure that you actually enjoy
Speaker:working with clients in that niche.
Speaker:A word of encouragement that your niche is not set in stone.
Speaker:I would say pretty much 99%, your niche is definitely going to
Speaker:change, so don't keep this kind of perfectionism of choosing something.
Speaker:So yes, we want to do as much work as we can, and my program is all about
Speaker:gaining that clarity of your niche, who you are here to serve, what you are
Speaker:here to offer really, really quickly.
Speaker:We do that within the first three weeks of the program, and then we
Speaker:get clients now because when you're on your own, it's super easy to stay
Speaker:behind the scenes perfecting this thing that nobody perhaps wants.
Speaker:And that's a really sad thing.
Speaker:But I've seen it happen many, many times.
Speaker:So I would always be encouraging people to take action, come back,
Speaker:share what they learnt with me.
Speaker:It's all in the nuances and it really does require quite a lot of feedback
Speaker:because when you're on your own, you are so entrenched in, this is really
Speaker:important and I need people to...
Speaker:say prevent burnout.
Speaker:But if people are not prepared to do something about it, then there's
Speaker:very little you can do other than keep trying a new marketing message.
Speaker:So it is a continuous process of learning and adapting to the needs of your clients.
Speaker:Let's summarize today's episode by finding a niche that aligns with you, meets
Speaker:market demand and offers profitability.
Speaker:You can create a thriving coaching business that serves
Speaker:both you and your clients.
Speaker:So our steps that we covered today were:
Speaker:Step one, reflect on your passions and skills.
Speaker:Step two, research market demand.
Speaker:Step three, identify the specific pain points these people have.
Speaker:Step four, consider profitability and viability.
Speaker:And step five, test and refine your niche.
Speaker:Follow these steps and then download my free guide on 12 ways to get
Speaker:clients now, which you can find on my website, joanna lott coaching.com.
Speaker:So that's Joanna with an A and lott with two tees, joanna lott coaching.com
Speaker:and I will also link to it in the show notes and hope you get a client quickly.
Speaker:If you want more help and continuous feedback and support on the journey
Speaker:of building your business to really fast track your growth and save you
Speaker:countless years of lots and lots of mistakes that I've seen along the way.
Speaker:Then do get in touch.
Speaker:Drop me a message on Joanna joanna lott coaching.com and enquire about
Speaker:my program, the Business of Coaching.
Speaker:It will take you on a systematic journey of building a business that
Speaker:actually gains clients quickly.
Speaker:I will be encouraging you to get out there and get clients right from
Speaker:day one and again in week three.
Speaker:Once you have your niche and your offer, we'll be moving straight out there to get
Speaker:clients now, so don't think it's a behind the scenes business building course.
Speaker:It's a get clients now business building course, because you don't have
Speaker:a business unless you have clients.
Speaker:So I hope you found this episode useful.
Speaker:Be sure to subscribe and leave me in review.
Speaker:I would absolutely love that, and it makes a huge difference
Speaker:to others finding this podcast.
Speaker:And remember your journey as a coach is unique.
Speaker:Finding that profitable niche is just the beginning.
Speaker:Keep exploring, learning, growing, and realising that building a business is all
Speaker:in the nuances and all in the refinement.
Speaker:So make a positive impact on the world, one coaching session at a time.
Speaker:And like I say at the end of every episode, trust yourself.
Speaker:Believe in yourself, and be the wise gardener who keeps on watering the seed.
Speaker:Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone): Thank you so much for listening to this
Speaker:episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.
Speaker:Please come and say hi to me on LinkedIn or Instagram and let me
Speaker:know how you are getting on in your coaching business and how you are
Speaker:gonna go for your dreams this year.
Speaker:My name on LinkedIn is Joanna Lott and on Instagram is at Joanna Lott Coaching, and
Speaker:I'll also put links in the show notes.
Speaker:Let me know if you found this episode useful.
Speaker:Share it with a friend and leave me a review, and I will
Speaker:personally thank you for that.
Speaker:Thank you so much for listening.