Ep #79: The 3 Pillars of Choosing the Right Niche for Service Businesses

Written By Support at The Uncommon Way

Episode Summary

Jenna gives tips on finding your best niche in an effective and stress-free way.


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Show Notes

If you’re aiming to generate immediate interest, establish yourself as an authority, and build a strong referral system with your business, this episode is for you. While developing a following before understanding their needs is a common approach, it often pays off in the long term. What if you needed something that worked yesterday?

This week, I explain how finding a great niche can attract business to you. Join me as I discuss three tips to overcome mindset blocks that might lead you to choose the wrong niche. I also share real-life stories highlighting the benefits of aligning your niche with your vision.

Discover how finding your niche allows you to build a business you love rather than one you feel obligated to. I teach you how to make the process of finding your niche anxiety-free, bringing clarity to your mindset and confidence in what you have to offer. Tune in to discover why meeting people face-to-face is the most effective way to understand their needs.

 

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

  • How to create a business you are passionate about.

  • Real-life examples showcasing the benefits of having a niche.

  • Why you should not rely solely on your personality.

  • The importance of stepping outside to meet people.

  • Strategies for finding the right people.

 

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Full Episode Transcript:

There are two extremes in business that both get you nowhere. One of them is being stuck in inaction because of ruminating and overthinking. And the other, is burning yourself out, spinning your wheels with fruitless action that gets you nowhere.

One of the prime areas in business that triggers these behaviors is finding your people, aka choosing a niche. So today, I'm going to give you some short and sweet guidance to help you choose your best niche most effectively.

You're listening to The Uncommon Way Business and Life Coaching Podcast, the only podcast that helps you unlock your next level in business and life by prioritizing your clarity and your own Uncommon Way. You will learn to maximize your mindset, mission, messaging, and strategy in order to create a true legacy. Here's your host, top-ranked business coach and reformed over-analyzer turned queen of clarity, Jenna Harrison.

Hey, welcome back to The Uncommon Way. I’m so happy you're here. We've got a great episode today about niching. Because what better way to move into the new year than making some powerful decisions and getting into the action of building your uncommon business and life.

So, this is for you, if you're just starting out or if you're looking to refine your fairly successful business, you want it to be more aligned and to flow more easily. Or if you've had significant success, but it's feeling stale and you're wondering what's next. What I'll be sharing will be simple, clear, and concise.

I've got some exciting news for those of you that have been around for a while. We're introducing a new format here. For every topic that we discuss, I am going to give you three actionable tips. One that is very tactical and strategic. Another that is mindset related. And a third that has to do with the energetics of your business.

Because this is our very comprehensive style, here at The Uncommon Way, you need all three to grow the kind of business that you want to have. So, you'll get all three of these perspectives today. You'll also get to hear how our approach at The Uncommon Way is radically different from most of what you'll hear elsewhere, including top content creators like Gary V.

I'll talk about why if you're only thinking your way into your niche, you're missing out on one of your most important tools. And I'll share top mindset blocks that will have you choosing the wrong niche. You definitely don't want to let yourself fall into those. I'll tell you what your mind should be focused on instead.

Now, there's good news. Choosing your niche doesn't need to be anxiety producing at all. It can be a very natural and organic piece of your business that seems to just click into place.

I've got to tell you what inspired this episode for me. We just got back from our family holiday trip to see my husband's parents in Texas, and my parents in California. As you might be able to imagine, trying to do all of that location hopping within the Christmas crunch of travel brought along a couple of flight delays and a good amount of airport time.

Which, by the way, ended with us streaking through the Chicago airport trying to catch our flight. It was the last flight out, back here to rural Pennsylvania, for the night; we'd, of course, been away from our home for a week.

My son was having the time of his life. He thought this was the most fun ever, to go on this family run. At one point we were stopped on an escalator behind some other people, he turned around to me with his huge glow and he said, “So many emotions!” I just had the laugh. I love it so much that he has such emotional awareness at the age of six.

Anyway, that is not the point. I digress. So. here I was in the airport and I took the time to do a little bit of market research for a completely different project. I was googling, actually YouTubing, how to find your niche or how to choose a niche.

I was so surprised that the top hits had the same message. That message was, “You are your brand. You don't need to choose a niche. You just need to go out and create content. And then, business will come.” This is what I call personality marketing. It's develop a following of people and then figure out what they want and then sell to that.

There are so many people that are talking about this strategy. Gary V. was one of the top people on YouTube. I remember another business mentor, Jenna Kutcher, she started this project for her husband to actually have an online business. She was detailing their strategy.

What they did was they just had him posting for a year on Instagram, about whatever he wanted. Then, at the end of the year, he basically polled people to see what they would want to buy from him, what they'd be interested in learning from him, and then created a product.

This was pretty similar to the strategy I first learned in business, when I studied with Marie Forleo. The point there, was really to just go out and add value. Which meant that you go into Facebook groups and you answer people's questions with helpful tips. You just try and help people in any way that you can, and then your business will sort of come to you.

But I want you to notice something in these stories that I'm telling you. That is, the elongated timeline for creating a business. Even in the case of Jenna Kutcher’s husband, who of course, through her immediately established a huge following. He was marketing for a full year before bringing in any money.

I thought it was particularly ironic, in this Gary V. video that's the top of YouTube, because Gary V. had a $40 million business before he ever started content marketing. He grew it the old-fashioned way. Yet, he's sitting in the car, in this video, advising this young college kid not to even worry about a niche, and just to go out and produce content. But this college kid is about to graduate, he doesn't have any money.

Having a successful business means that you're making money. Certainly, in my case, I couldn't wait a year or two or three, or however long it takes for a nobody to start content marketing, develop a following large and active enough that you'll be able to pull them, and figure out what you want to sell to them.

I needed to figure out something that would work yesterday. And of course, I'm grateful to all of that, because it made me figure out what I now know, and search out mentors that could help me grow business in a different way.

It turns out that my skepticism was well founded. Because later on, when I got into masterminds, I had one colleague who had, I believe, was 50,000 people following her on Instagram, and she was a Forbes columnist. She had a regular column on Forbes. So, she had huge visibility, but she wasn't making any money in her business. When I say that, I mean she was bringing in under $50,000 a year.

Therefore, do not just rely on your personality. I'm not saying you should hide your personality. I'm not saying you should be single focused and only talk about one thing, but a great niche will help drive business to you. It creates immediate interest among your people. It establishes you as an authority, and it builds a very strong referral business, word of mouth, where people say, “Oh, I know of somebody who helps with just that thing.”

I'm sure you've heard examples like this before, but let's say you want to have your backyard landscaped, and you really want to bring a piece of the tropics home. And so, you want this tropical theme in your backyard. As you look through all the possible landscape designers, you're noticing that they're all saying they can do all the things.

But then, you come across a company and they specialize in tropical backyards. They know exactly which plants look tropical but grow in your climate. They know how to create the feel, and the aesthetic, and bring in the right furniture. Even if that company is priced a little higher, chances are you're going to go with them.

So, how do we do that? Well, this week we're going to start with energetics. I don't know if we're going to do that with every episode, always start with energetics, but this week, that's where we're going. Because I want you to notice something else in the stories I just told you.

I want you to notice the slightly passive energetic there, behind ‘I will fully wait and see what my people want, and then sell them that.’ It's kind of like a renaissance artist who was beholden to their patrons to decide what they were going to paint. It's so different than the way that many artists are practicing today.

Of course, you have to have a keen eye for market interest and the interest of your people. But that is met, that is matched, with a huge component of self-expression. And so, this is my energetic tip for you all. You are here to express your zone of genius. Yours secret sauce in the world.

And that benefits other people; it benefits both of you. Through the delivery of that expression, you evolve, you grow. Through being served by that expression, they grow, and they evolve.

And so, first and foremost, see the alignment of that dynamic. See how natural it is that these groups of people, your people, would be attracted to each other. That the universe would help facilitate that coming together. Just notice how easy or difficult this feels to accept.

I have seen it over and over, that my clients who really don't believe that have faced challenges. They faced challenges like shiny object syndrome. They face challenges like imposter syndrome. Because if you don't believe that you have a unique and very special gift to give, then you're always going to be comparing yourself to everybody else, offering that kind of service, and feeling like you might come up short.

Now, I actually have a great earlier episode on something like, how to Turn Your Insecurities into Great Positioning. We'll link to that in the show notes, in case that's you.

But another thing that can make this so challenging, is that, over and over, it makes people willing to settle. They're willing to cut short their dreams and play small because they think their success is something they need to grasp for. They think they need to find some lucrative niche out there that's underserved and they can come in and capitalize on that, at least until someone better than them comes along.

So, it really has nothing to do with them, it's just market dynamics. It's just numbers. And so, if they find themselves not selling, then they think it's the wrong niche. And then, they'll hop to another niche and another niche, and they never gain the traction and momentum and the skill building that they need because they're always starting over again.

And if they do have some success, because I've seen that as well, inside, they feel a little empty, because they were never called to work with these people. This isn't really what motivates them, or anything they really care about.

I've used the example of myself for how I had learned to get myself out of debt but that didn't mean that I wanted to teach people about getting themselves out of debt. I didn't want to teach people about managing their finances.

You don't need to go out trying to force yourself to be a square peg in a round hole if you believe you are here for something specific, and that there are plenty of people attracted to that. And you won't feel like you have to go broad and be everything to everyone, because you'll know your secret sauce is liquid gold.

Alright, now let's talk mindset. If you're in the energetic of actively stepping into your zone of genius, then your mind isn't going to be thinking there's one magic and lucrative niche out there.

Instead, you're going to be thinking, “I just need to find the people who want this.” And, very important point, “I can create a business around whatever I want. All I have to do is solve a problem or provide a solution, then help show people why this solution is the one for them. But I know what it is that I'm here to do. And I know it's going to be successful because this is what I'm here to do.”

I had a client once who was just a ray of light, yet when I went on to her website it felt so heavy and sad and tired. That's fine if she was really compelled to serve that specific market, but when I dug into it with her a bit, she told me that those were the people that had been coming to her. So, she felt that those were the one she had the help. Also, they needed her so much and she felt obligated to help them.

Now seriously, y'all, how willing are you going to be to do what's necessary to grow this amazing business that you're feeling obligated about? Versus a business that you love doing? It's night and day.

So, now let's talk the strategy, the tactics, the how tos. If you are not building a cult of personality, and if you're not diligently analyzing market trends on your spreadsheets, and if you're not saying, “Well, I'll just take whomever comes to me,” and if you're not guilted into what you think you should be doing, then how do you find the people?

Here's what you need to do. You need to get very clear on your secret sauce. Very clear on what you are here to do, and why. And if you aren't sure on that, you are welcome to join us in the Clarity Accelerator, because that is the first step of our process.

Because once you know that, you only have to look for a niche. A niche of people who are also, in some way, aligned with that vision. That make such obvious sense to sell to and to work with, because of the huge benefit that you both will receive. So, I'll give you some concrete examples of that.

When COVID first hit, I completely shut down my business coaching business. I didn't have as many mind management tools as I do now, and I just remember feeling like all the other business coaches were out there talking about doubling down on how you can still sell during COVID, here's how to sell. I just had no interest in talking about any of that.

What I wanted to talk about was, “This is an earth shaking, life altering moment for you to really get clear and know what you're about. Let's create that kind of laser focused clarity for you. It's now or never.”

Obviously, what I've done now is combined the two; the business and the clarity. But back then, here's what happened. As I broadened out and tried to talk to everyone about clarity, I realized that, first of all, it was challenging for me to talk about being back in the corporate sphere, for instance. Because it had been so long since I'd been there.

It was challenging for me to talk about getting clear on something other than a business, because I had never wanted to do that myself. I'd never wanted to do anything other than have a business. As I forced myself to reflect on my own process and my philosophy and my beliefs, I had to walk my talk. Because if my work in the world is really about helping people live an uncommon life of their choosing, then the people most aligned with that are business owners.

Sure, I could help people do differently in corporate. I could help them with out-of-the-box thinking inside the lab. But for this complete life overhaul, of living in this completely new way that you have designed, that's going to be challenging to do when you only have two weeks of vacation a year. And the people who have businesses or want to start businesses are already self-selecting. They're already stepping out of society to some extent and saying they want to do differently.

And so, do you see how that kind of knowledge helped inform my decisions, and showed me why entrepreneurs were my people, and always would be my people? From there, I was able to create a pivot that aligned it all for me. It's like it clicked, or fell into place.

If you imagine looking up at the night sky, and every single point of light could be a different niche, a different thing you could be focusing on, you feel how overwhelming that feels. Instead, think about if you already knew exactly what you're about, what you're really here to work on, and what you're here to do, and that is your north star.

And now, to find your people you only need to look right in the vicinity of that star. You no longer need to contemplate the entire universe. And once you do have an idea or two, once you've gotten real about who these people most likely are and need to be, then you go out and you test it.

You move from thinking into action. Because here's why: Your body is a beautiful tool, and it’s so often overlooked by those of us who are up in our heads all the time; which you probably are if you're listening to this episode.

When you get into person-to-person interaction with these people, when you're talking to them and asking them the questions that need to be asked in order to get inside their heads and be able to create offers that land for them, you're going to feel, in your body, if this is a ‘hell, yes!’ or a ‘meh.’

My friend, which would you rather create a business around if, going back to point number two on mindset, if we're holding the mindset that we can create the business that we want? Exactly. This is how, with the right combination, the right energetic, holding the right mindset, and then just following the steps and the tactics, you can create a wildly meaningful and profitable business for yourself.

All right, my friends, that's it for today. Come back and join us for the next episode. We'll be doing the exact same format but with a completely different topic. Talk to you then.

Hey, if you want true clarity about your secret sauce, your people, your best way of doing business, and how you talk about your offer, then I invite you to join us in the Clarity Accelerator. I'll teach you to connect all the dots, the dots that have always been there for you, so that you can show up like you were born for exactly this.

Come join us and supercharge every other tool or tactic you'll ever learn, from Facebook ads to manifestation. Just go to TheUncommonWay.com/schedule and set up a time to talk. I can't wait to be your coach.

Thanks for joining us here at The Uncommon Way. If you want more tips and resources for developing clarity in your business and life, including the Clarity First strategy for growing and scaling your business, visit TheUncommonWay.com. See you next time.

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