| Find the Profitable Sweet Spot in Your Business
Is that what you've been hoping? That you'll build your services and your offerings, and then people will find you with their checkbook or credit card in hand?
That was my take on marketing when I first started my business. Sometimes I still slip into this magical thinking when I get excited about something I'm working on. It seems entirely plausible that people will be so enthralled with what you're doing that they'll sign up without any other information.
But, it's just not that simple.
It is true that you need to build something to base your business on.
Unfortunately, no one really talks about where to start.
Most people start by developing their services and offerings. Without a clear understanding of their target market the end result is usually a jumble of offerings that's confusing to potential clients and very difficult to market. (This is what I unknowingly did.)
Others try to keep their options open by meeting everyone's needs. They think they can build their business by working with everyone. Unfortunately, it's more likely they will keep business from coming their way because no one can figure out exactly what they do.
The best way to build your business is to do everything you can to build your perceived expertise in an area that fulfills your client's needs and provides you with a unique competitive advantage. You want people in your community to know, without a doubt, that you are the "go to" person for your chosen area.
Unfortunately, most marketing courses aren't much help in this area because they assume you already know the focus of your business. Usually the first exercises in any marketing course are designed to help you develop a compelling audio logo or elevator speech that you can use in networking situations. This is difficult enough if you are crystal clear about your unique business proposition, but if you aren't clear how to articulate what you do, you won't be able to come up with a good audio logo or implement anything else you are learning in the class. No matter how hard you try.
Over the years I tried to work with one well-known marketing consultant three times before I realized that my source of confusion wasn't how to market, it was how to articulate the work I do. I can't tell you how many thousands of dollars I spent on various marketing classes and marketing consulting before I made this realization.
Without a niche, you are likely to:
- Spread yourself too thin, trying to launch too many ventures to too many target markets.
- Feel frustrated that the amount of time and energy you are putting into your business venture isn't producing the clients and cash you need to succeed as a business owner.
- Prevent people from referring business to you.
- Lose potential clients because they don't understand how you can help them.
Identifying a viable, clearly defined, profitable niche is something every business owner needs to do as early in their business as possible. With the clarity of a niche you are able to:
- Focus your marketing efforts.
- Use your marketing dollars efficiently and effectively.
- Create services and products that reach a particular group or address a particular problem.
- Build awareness of your expertise in a strategic, systematic way.
Some business owners are content to focus on the niche that will bring in the most money. They don't feel the need to have a personal connection to the target population or the problem/solution. In this case, business owners look for the niche market that is most willing to pay cash to get the service or product the business owner is selling.
Most coaches and counselors have a different focus. They are in business to make a difference in people's lives. Meaning is very important to them personally and they want to bring meaning to those they work with. Ideally, they want to do work that feeds them, that they are passionate about, that they feel a personal connection to. Without this connection with their business they don't feel authentic in their marketing efforts, which undermines their effectiveness.
And yet the coach or counselor's niche can't just be about their passions. The key for coaches and counselors is to identify the sweet spot that taps their own passions AND fulfills a need your clients are willing and able to pay to resolve. (See the green section of the diagram below for a visual image of this sweet spot.)
To help
you find clarity, I've created a workshop called " Niche Clarity." This is based on one-on-one work I've done with coaches and counselors and parts of the Career Clarity Program.
Our goal in the class is to identify your sweet spot so that you can build a business that taps your passions AND supports clients who are willing and able to pay for your services.
As one of my recent clients describes below, within
a few focused hours, you can have a whole new perspective of your business and its potential!
I have taken several marketing courses in addition to the marketing work I did through the Institute of Life Coach Training. I always wondered why nothing “clicked” for me. Try as I might, I just couldn’t get it together with my marketing – something was missing and I didn’t know what. I also have done extensive personal coaching on this issue but it didn’t get me where I needed to go. There was always something that I couldn’t put my finger on that was my missing link.
I took Seasons of Change from Carol and was absolutely enamored with the metaphor of the seasons for the transitions we all go through. I spotted that I was in winter with respect to this murky issue – it was the dark night of my soul as I felt so lost, helpless and desperate. I called Carol to discuss it with her and she told me about her specialty of niche coaching.
In just a few sessions, I went from completely desperate to passionately in love with marketing my work. Why? Because it had definition and substance – it was no longer “vanilla”. I was finally beating to the sound of my own drum instead of trying to fit myself into something that anyone would go for. I work with clients who are struggling with changes in their relationships as a result of death, a break-up, becoming a caregiver or trying to decide whether to end a relationship to re-invent their lives on their terms. That is what happened for me with Carol – I redefined my coaching practice on my terms through working with her rather than trying to appeal to the masses.
The time it took was minimal compared with the lasting results I’ve felt. Carol is really experienced in this area – she definitely has walked the walk. If you’re struggling with this problem, I can think of no greater person to help you through it than her.
-- Char Brooks
The First Step
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Niche Clarity!
Package
Includes:
- Four 90-Minute Group Sessions
- Three Monthly 90-Minute Group Follow up Sessions
- A Niche Focus Workbook
- Two 45-Minute Private Consultation Sessions with Carol
- Access to an Online Community with others who are discovering their niche.
In our initial session I'll give you several tools to help you focus in on your passion. In addition to learning something new about yourself, you'll also get to know the other group members through this call. Getting to know each other will be very helpful as we start supporting each other in future sessions.
Homework 1: Identifying Your Skills and Interests. You'll have two weeks to complete the homework for the next session.
Together we'll
use a fun brainstorming exercise to create a list of
up to 10 possible niches for each person. During the call, I'll record
all of your ideas allowing you to stay in a creative,
visioning space.
Homework 2: During the week, you'll continue brainstorming on your own and with the help of the group to come up with a total of 40 possible career/niche ideas. As soon as you have the list of 40 ideas, you'll narrow your focus to your top ten ideas and share that list with the group.
We'll work
together to reduce your top ten ideas down to the core
themes and niches. Again, you can stay in the process
during the call because I'll be taking notes as we go.
Homework 3/4: After you've identified your top two or three niches, your job is to sit with them. You'll pay attention to how you feel as you begin to think about how these options might play out in your business. Through this process, your ideas will evolve and strengthen, which is exactly what you want to happen.
To refine your ideas even further, we will have a 45-minute one-on-one session to take your niche discoveries to the next level of clarity. You'll leave that session with a few ideas on how to verify that your niche idea appeals to your target market.
As you begin to refine your niche, the next step is to:
- Research and verify that your niche appeals to your target market.
- Create a test run to begin the process of putting your ideas out there and getting feedback. This one thing will help you evolve your ideas faster and more accurately than anything else you can do.
In this session we'll talk about the components of this process and the steps you can take to confirm your chosen niche is the one for you.
Having a clear sense of your niche is just the beginning of the journey. It's an essential piece, but it's not the end point. During these sessions you'll have the support you need to continue refining, testing, articulating, and offering products and services to your niche.
Each member of the group will move through this phase on their own timeline, so we'll meet monthly for three months to check in, refocus, and brainstorm.
Depending on how quickly you move through each step, you'll cover each of these action steps.
At any time during the follow-up phase, you can sign up for a second personal session to take your niche discoveries to the next level of clarity. You'll leave that session with a few ideas on how to verify that your niche idea appeals to your target market.
As you can see, this is a journey that is exciting and fulfilling, as long as you start with a strong, clear, vibrant niche!
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Doing the Niche Clarity Program has been so much fun. Carol McClelland has created a process filled with ease and the opportunity for deep insight into oneself. Niche Clarity gets you to focus so your opportunities can expand and success can grow. I loved it!
-- Cheryl Esposito
Alexsa Consulting
Thank you for your Niche Clarity Program and support. I feel very positive about the direction my business is going..... finally!
-- Peggy Nelson
Creating Heart Connections
I came away from my work with Carol, inspired and ready to move forward with focus and creativity. Thank you Carol for providing such a comfortable and knowledge rich experience.
-- Kailash Sozzani
www.KailashSozzani.com
Want
to Find Niche Clarity?
Next Group Meets:
Date to Be Determined
Please contact us if you are interested in this Group Workshop
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Four 90-minute workshop sessions and
three monthly group follow-up calls - $435.00 value
Niche Clarity Workbook - $45.00 value
Two 45-minute private consultations with Carol - $300.00 value
An online community with those who are finding the focus of their business to share feedback and ideas
(Total Value - $780.00)
Payment Option Available:
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Questions?
Call (650-322-8661) or send
me an email
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