Get Clear on Your Niche Clarity

{}

When I started my coaching business, I was ready to change the world and to help everyone that came across my path. Which is pretty noble, but actually a bit self-sabotaging in a weird way? Why is it self-sabotaging? Well, if you focus on trying to help everyone then you’re not spending time focusing on what really lights YOU up, which is your zone of genius and where you can truly serve in a very unique way … YOUR way. And after a while, you may end up confused about where the heck your “ideal” client is hiding and why nobody is knocking down your door to pay you for your services.

You know that moment when someone asks the dreaded question about your work, “what do you do?”, and you answer either in a long-winded way or you feel that pang in the pit of your stomach because you’re not really sure what you do or how to answer this question? This type of confusion comes form niche-avoidance.

There are two ways to approach tapping into your own unique niche. One angle is the one where you get to define WHO you LOVE to work with. And the other angle is defining the actual WORK that only you can do because of your life, your experiences and your unique perspective.

Both require you asking and answering different sets of questions of yourself. This lesson was so clear to me at the last marketing retreat I went to put on by one of my brilliant marketing mentors, Vrinda Normand. At the beginning of the retreat, as we all piled into the room the enthusiastic conversations began as they normally do at networking events.

Questions about where we’re from, what we do and our dreams began flying around the room. The first time I answered this question, I can remember the words coming out of my mouth, but not really FEELING excited about what I was saying. I could see the polite nod of the women I was speaking to, but NO recognition of potential clients or referrals. I had this vague sense that I needed to get to another level of clarity in my response and in my own understanding of my zone of genius.

I noticed the very same confusion and fogginess of response coming from others as well. I began recognizing these amazing people with heart-based practices and intentions to change lives. But there was something missing. The courage to define a tight niche for the fear of leaving someone out and the fear of being ‘niched into a corner’. Yes, it takes courage to own your gift and to share it with the your tribe.

By the end of the marketing weekend, everything changed for me. As we all went around in a networking exercise and had to pitch ourselves and our work, while asking for referrals, the difference between a niched and non-niched pitch was SUPER clear. Those who chose to embrace their niche came out with clear, concise requests and even made me think of a few people to refer to them.

When it was my turn, I decided to test this out. In my first group I gave my original response which was helping women entrepreneurs avoid self-sabotage via Self-Care Strategies. The response was … honestly a bit BLAH. No referrals came from this round, but high-points of enthusiasm and delivery :).

Then, when I niched way down and said that I LOVE and am PASSIONATE about working with mothers who are entrepreneurs in their first 2 years of business, to figure out how to honor their family, their work and themselves at deep soul-levels, and avoid resenting it all or getting sick along the way, I got clear instant responses, a handful of referrals AND a new client.

What Does Niche-Clarity have to do with Self-Care?

Everything! Getting clear about the work you love to do, the way you love to do it and WHO you love to do it with is a huge element of honoring yourself. By taking the time to get focused on how you want to spend your life, your day and your waking hours, you are honoring your highest calling and allowing yourself to ask for what you need. You are creating a strategy to say YES to the work you are meant to do and NO to the draining, soul-sucking traditional marketing methods that are no longer optional for heart-based soul-based entrepreneurs.

Will your niche evolve over time? SURE!!! I am always evolving, but always evolving CLOSER to my sweet spot. That’s what I do now. I help mama’s who want to start a soul-based business to get SUPER clear and tap into THEIR authentic sweet-spot of loving their life, work and family. Now, my clients can easily recognize ME and I can easily recognize them.