143 - Conversations with Coaches: Narrowing Your Niche, and Expanding Your Opportunities with Erin Thompson

Do you have ongoing doubts about your niche?  Does this uncertainty leave you stalled out in your business?

In today’s episode of the Life Coach Business Building Podcast, I’m speaking with Erin Thompson, a Performance and Confidence Coach for Senior Living Leaders. We discuss how Erin determined her most viable and profitable niche. We talk about her love for “my people with the gray hair” and her desire to support Senior Living Leaders. 

Through coaching, exploration, and a mindset shift, Erin began to feel more confident about her coaching. She now knows she can make a difference in both fields, inspiring her to take her business to the next level.

As we work to grow our coaching businesses, it can be tempting to try and be everything to everybody, but when it comes down to it, it's important to narrow your focus. When you hone in on a specific area and become an expert in that field, you will be able to provide higher-quality services and gain more clients. 

So if you’re ready to make your business stand out and increase your profitability, then be sure to tune in and learn from Erin Thompson's journey!

Transcript

Erin: When you know who you're speaking to, it becomes clear. And when you have clarity and connection, you have confidence. And then when you have confidence, you have the courage. And with life coaching, you learn that you move with fear. You don't let the fear stop you. But when you really, you don't wanna cast open the net, you really wanna narrow it down because then you'll have more room for success and then you have the ability to make the steps, gain the confidence, and then later on you can expand.

Debbie: Hello, I'm Debbie Shadid, the host of the Life Coach Business Building podcast. If you are ready to have more clients in your life coach business, then you're in the right spot. Each week I'm gonna teach you super simple strategies to grow your business without feeling overwhelmed and without spending money on paid ads. If that sounds interesting. Stick around and let's get started.

Debbie: Welcome to the Life Coach Business Building Podcast. I am excited to have here a client. We're gonna do conversations with coaches, and today we're gonna be talking about niche and about kind of the problem and about the marketing message. 

Now, this is a follow up to the last two episodes where I talked specifically about the value of narrowing down your niche and about really mastering your marketing message. Those are the first two steps in the eight part marketing series that I'm doing, and those two steps are kind of the pre-work that you do before you really effectively market your business.

So I wanna introduce to you Erin Thompson. You wanna go ahead and tell me, tell everybody a little bit about what you do. 

Erin: Sure. Thank you for having me. I am a prior executive director of an assisted living community, really for the last 20 years of my life. And I've stepped into the digital world with the hopes of educating and equipping and empowering families to make the best decisions for their loved ones at every stage of their caregiving journey, and also be a performance and confidence coach for senior living professionals because we need it. Mindset is a big old trap in the healthcare industry these days. So that is what I'm doing. 

Debbie: And you also have a podcast, which we will link if you wanna share a little bit about that. 

Erin: I have two podcasts, one for each niche, one for families, which is the I have Fallen and Need Some Help podcast. And then one for the Senior Living Leaders in the industry, which is the Aspire for More with Erin podcast. 

Debbie: All right. And I'll leave those linked in the show notes. So I'd like to give you guys the backstory a little bit about my initial meeting with Erin, and then we'll kind of talk about what nicheing looks like for her, what her thoughts were about it, what the process was, and then also defining really the problems for her niche and kind of how that's really helping her business move forward faster. 

So when I met Erin on our consultation call, she was talking to me about helping family members who would be caring for aging parents or relatives. And the idea was, and you're welcome to add to this, Erin, anytime. Because of your vast experience in the senior living arena, and also you being a caregiver for your grandmother, you would guide people prior to somebody ending up in either a nursing home or maybe with home health or whatever it might be, you would guide them and you were creating a course that, I guess would support or that you would sell and that would help people make better decisions about what options there were for their family members. Is that right?

Erin: Yes, that's correct. That's correct. 

Debbie: So during our call, as I was thinking about that, I thought, oh boy, she doesn't really know how hard a course is because probably like many of you listening, you too have created a course because you've heard that doing a course is kind of like almost passive income and that it's like the best thing ever. It's easy.

And the truth is there's no passive income in the online space first of all, let me say. Because we all have to continue to market our business. The second part is that you have to have a really big email list and audience, and it takes time to do that, takes time and or it takes a lot of money 'cause you can run ads to generate a list.

But also you really have to understand how to market your course. So, with that said, while you were talking, I was inquiring with you about your expertise and kind of what your background was. And what I heard you talking about was something that immediately, a bell went off for me of what the ideal niche would be for you, and that was your experience as an executive director and also all the other levels of work that you had done in the senior living arena. So, do you wanna speak about what your experience was there? 

Erin: Yes, so I certainly brought into the idea of putting your experience in a course and selling it. And I was very naive to the fact that it even required an email list like to me, I'm just gonna put it out there and people are gonna buy it, because that's what I had been told up until that point by the people that I was listening to.

I didn't have a real concept of what an email list was or anything like that. I just knew I had something to give and I felt like it was very valuable because of the people that I had served over the course of 20 years. So when I reached out to you and we talked, I was always very comfortable and I feel like my passion is, I say people with gray hair, right?

Like, that's just who I love. That's always who it's been. But you opened up the possibility of the former me concept. I think I was subconsciously thinking that may be an option, but I don't think that I was in the headspace to say, this is where I was going by myself, because my comfort level is always helping people with gray hair.

And I have talked to thousands and thousands of family members, and so I know what the most important questions are and what people ask and how to solve them. I've seen the worst. I've seen the best, and I've seen everything in between. And so when you brought that up to me, I was like, oh, and I even didn't believe you, you know, like I wanted to believe that, I was right, but over the course of the last few months, you were right. You know, you were right that the opportunity is probably more in the professional world, so figuring it out to do both is important for me. 

Debbie: Yeah, and this is part of, I think, the work that all of the coaches do, business coaches do, which is we really wanna help people create a business that can be profitable, that can be easy to market, where we're able to find the people to market too easily, where what is at stake is big enough that somebody will decide to purchase coaching. And those were all things that I was really aware of when we talked about her niche. A lot of women that I talk to will come to me with a niche that's just, I don't know, is just a little bit weak I guess as far as like, will people for sure pay for that?

And I always wanna steer 'em to one that I know that they can. And oftentimes, as you've already mentioned, the brilliance actually that you have, that I saw, you didn't actually recognize as being something that was sellable, which was your experience and knowledge in 20 years.

So once you decided to think about narrowing down your niche to that, then we really had to look and talk a lot about what the problems were that people were having and how it is that you would be able to help them. Do you wanna talk a little bit about that? 

Erin: Yeah. I didn't understand. Took me a while 'cause it's a whole different world. This world of coaching is an entirely different world. And I didn't quite understand like the copy and I'm still gaining confidence in that area, but understanding the pain points and you know, doing that first and then solving the problem and then the benefit of it. And I don't think I would've ever gotten that had I not heard it over and over again in the group coaching, and then practiced it and then messed up and then practiced it again, and then had the red ink flare that Debbie brings and all of that concept.

It was so new to me that it required a coach to kind of guide me through that process. But once you get you get it. And I'm still working on getting it better, but I understand it better. 

Debbie: I, my desire when you come work with me is that you don't need me at the end. That you figure out like you understand now how to do this stuff and that you can market your business without me having to say, no, no, that's not right, or you're missing this. Or, let's look at this. 

So it's interesting because when we met last, either this week or last week, you were speaking about out of the blue is the words I think you used. Something happened for you. So I would love for you to share once you decided on I guess maybe two niches. And with the fact that the one niche for helping families would be more because you loved it and you wanted to serve and you knew that there wasn't going to be tons of money there at this point.

And that the niche where you were gonna make really the income would be the senior living, working with executive directors or whatever level of staff there. So once you decided on that as kind of the money maker, I guess, let's talk about the timeframe. I think you said we talked about kind of 90 days you've been working on that.

Erin: Yes. So I remember our meeting, I was in the car at my kids' fun run. And you told me to focus on this area and had to literally move fast. I'm like, okay. I had to get my mind around what that meant. I had to grow my LinkedIn profile, I had to do the things, and so I had to be consistent and staying the course, which I will have to say, being in a group of like-minded people allows you to be consistent and get to see what they do and then when you're, even if you're 12 steps behind them, it gives you the confidence to take the action that's required.

And so I just kept on doing it. And then eventually after, you know, my consistency kind of was paying off and I started seeing little bitty small steps of progress, like my LinkedIn followers were growing and this podcast episode happened, and then I got a Facebook message that somebody wanted to meet with me and I was like, really? Like, you really? Me, you know? And, talk about validation, you know. I had to struggle through a lot of mindset concerns that I had in confidence areas in myself, you know. Sometimes we as women just, or me specifically, I just did things, moved on, did things, moved on. I never gave myself credit for what I did. And when she contacted me, it stopped me in my tracks. And that was a really cool moment. 

Debbie: Yeah. So, the other funny part about that conversation that Erin and I had was that she lives in Alabama. And this lady was from New Hampshire and she kept saying, oh my God, she's like from New Hampshire. And she reached out to me. So, that was pretty fun. And then I think just later in the same very short amount of time, somebody from Arizona connected with you. So with all that to just say that in 90 days basically, Erin decided to commit to this niche idea. Then she went through really learning social media and being present on social media, which we can talk about in a minute. Then you were on LinkedIn. We had our summit, which you participated in, and then you did a couple of workshops. And then now it feels like, yeah, it's validated and this is a valid niche and it's going to work.

Erin: Yes, and I think honestly the last little mindset valley I was in, I just decided to take massive action. And knowing what other people had overcome within the group gave me the internal motivation to say, just do it. And I literally took massive action with what I have learned with the confidence of, I don't care. It's a rite of passage to do things and it worked. It's working, which is really neat. 

Debbie: It is really so fun when this finally comes together, and this is a very common place that many of my clients come to which is like, I just got an email this morning from a pediatrician who she had sent an email to a potential person earlier this week, and she messaged me this morning to say, oh my gosh. Out of the blue, I think was her words too, or you'll never believe it. But this lady scheduled a discovery call and I messaged her back and said, well, yes, I would believe it. We've got your website copyright. We know your messaging. She was really clear on what she was talking about now, and she was able to articulate that in an email message and by the way, she only emailed one physician and the one physician booked a discovery call.

So, when we think about you narrowing down your niche now, would you say that this is fast tracking your business growth? 

Erin: Yes, 100%. When you know who you're speaking to, it becomes clear. And when you have clarity and connection, you have confidence. And then when you have confidence, you have the courage.

And with life coaching, you learn that you move with fear. You don't let the fear stop you. But when you really, you don't wanna cast open the net, you really wanna narrow it down because then you'll have more room for success and then you have the ability to make the steps, gain the confidence, and then later on you can expand. But yes, when you narrow it down, you have a more controlled focus and it really does help. 

Debbie: So I would like Erin to share kind of the short version of how she used this same principle, the same concept when she talked with a potential client in a meeting this week herself. Do you wanna share about that?

Erin: Sure. I was talking to someone who is running an assisted living community and she's struggling with occupancy and she's comparing her community to the bigger communities, which we know we should not do anyways. And so her mindset was in a very negative place and she was down on no one choosing her and using the same objection. And as I was listening to her, the old version of me would've said, well, I can't help you because I know nothing about your struggle, right? But the new version of me understands how important niching down is and how you can apply that to every part or every business that you own.

I say, okay, our net's too wide. You're trying to be for everybody, but you're not for everybody. You've got to understand who you're for and get your message right to them because you have evidence that it works. You have X number of residents who don't mind this, so figure out what your power statement is and use it and know that you're only looking for this type of person.

And her face instantly changed. And she actually became more motivated. And, you know, we're gonna have to get stopped by the headwinds and, you know, recalibrate and keep going and all that. But when she saw and realized that it was okay to know that she wasn't for everybody, just like relief hit her.

And that's nice to work in a place of awareness and abundance, rather than the scarcity side of it. You'll probably get more people. 

Debbie: Yeah. And I know, I know it's hard because especially in the beginning when you are not making any money and you thought you were gonna make money right away, and you're months into your business and you're still not making any money and you're like, I just need to sell some stuff.

The idea is if I exclude anyone, then I'm gonna lose out. But as I always say, like we want people to raise their hand because they so clearly say, oh my God, this lady is speaking to me. And that's essentially the same principle, which I think is so funny that you were able to use it now with your client and she sees the value in like, let's just talk to who my facility is for. Let's just talk to that one person instead of trying to talk to everybody. 

Erin: Yes. And as I was sitting there listening to her, I was like, what am I gonna do to help her? But then she kept on talking and then I just heard your voice, you know, and I'm like, this is how we solve this problem. And so it's a very, it's such a cool way for me to take into my own industry that it is, I'm certain not a way that is being taught, because when you're not for everybody, it's okay.

And it gives you the ability to not feel so rejected when people don't choose you because you're like, you weren't for me. And that's okay, you know? 

Debbie: Yeah. And it gives you an opportunity to really highlight what you really are for. You know, if you only have three or four really, phenomenal things that you can, or advantages that you provide, then now really you can shine the light on those three things that you can provide instead of, like you said, trying to be for everybody.

So, is there anything else you want to add? You know, for somebody else that's maybe new or getting started or discouraged, there is a lot of mental mindset changing that has to happen when you build a business because it really is harder than you think.

So, do you wanna share anything about any of those subjects that you think might somebody? 

Erin: If your story that you're telling yourself is really negative, then you're not gonna get out of your own way. And I stood in my own way for a very long time, and I think I've recently gotten out of my way in actually believing some of the better stories that I'm telling myself and I actually like it.

It's nice. And so when you allow yourself to work through the fear and the uncertainty, you actually grow a confidence that you didn't know you had. And I never believed that failure was good before, but actually believe it now. And that has been a very powerful thing for me. So I'm failing fast and I'm giving myself credit for what I have learned, and that's a very nice place to be.

I don't want to stop myself and I don't care if I look like a fool, because eventually I'm not going to look like a fool. I'm going to look good, you know. And came to Debbie for Canva training, and artistic stuff, because I am not, Canva gives me hives and hyperventilating, but I am better than I used to be. 

But I got so much more than I realized. And the group coaching is by far an added benefit that I wasn't aware of. So when I'm going to do a workshop, instead of viewing it as only one or no people coming, I view it as I am now one of the few successful people and I have rightly passaged through no one showing up.

And had I not had that experience, I would consider what I did not a success, but instead I knew going into it what to expect. And if I got one or two emails from it was a success and I would not have had that without it. And you have an entire group of people cheering you on. I didn't understand the benefit of that, and I wanna bring that to my own industry. It's more than you could think it really is. 

Debbie: Wow. Erin, that's so cool. So bringing together in the work that you do, bringing men and women together. But yeah, of course. When your people that you are supporting know that they're in the same situation as everybody else. and like you said, I always say like, when somebody is ahead of you in my group or behind you, either way it's like you have a full business picture and people are often concerned like, you're coaching people in the senior living industry and somebody else is doing weight loss coaching. How could I coach both those people? But really it's just all about marketing. Even when I'm helping one person with a message, you are tuning into like, I see where I'm not saying what I should say, so.

Very interesting point that you made about the workshops because one of the marketing strategies that I teach my clients and that I really encourage and really push everybody to do these workshops. And I say all along that you're going to do workshops and nobody's gonna come, and that sounds like a terrible idea.

And I say, you're gonna do it anyway. But like you said, Erin, you found out that you were not alone when you did your first workshop. And you had a bunch of signups, which was so fantastic. 'Cause you have email addresses, but nobody showed up because that's just the way it goes in the beginning, so. 

Erin: Like you say, we have things to give away. I have a speech that's already done. I have a big speech coming in March and I'm preparing and practicing for that. So everything, when you really believe that life happens for you and not to you, everything is a roadblock until your success.

And when you view it that way, it works. 

Debbie: Yeah. You were a summit speaker and did a great job, and now you've done these couple of other workshops and you've been bravely on social media doing things and you've been networking and just wow, you know, just the skills, the email writing, all of that, that you have learned that.

Now you're really making some momentum really, in your business as you've focused on it. So anyway, congratulations. I tell you, and I know I told Erin early on, she's going to be one of my big money makers. She's not seeing it at this moment still, but we'll come back and have this conversation later when that time comes, because you're working with people who have careers and if they're making a hundred thousand plus or something in a career to invest in getting support from you to be able to maintain their career or advance in their career, or just handle the stress of the industry that you're in. Then what you could offer them in coaching and what they need to pay you is insignificant to what the impact will be for them.

Erin: I believe it. 

Debbie: You're gonna be making the big bucks, girl. All right. Thank you for being here again. I will leave her two podcast links in the show notes and her website. And if you know either somebody who is probably close to navigating the situation with their parents or grandparents or family members, and they're trying to figure out you know, what senior living would look like for them or supporting a family member, please connect with Erin, or if you happen to know somebody who is any level of career in a senior living assisted living, memory care, nursing facility, any of those places, Erin is the girl who can really help somebody advance in their career, operate in their career in a way that is more meaningful, not seven days a week living frantically like you did for so long. So anyway, thank you so much Erin, for being here. Anything else? 

Erin: That's it. Belief starts your momentum. So believe you can do it. 

Debbie: Belief starts your momentum. That's a quotable. Alright. Have an amazing week. Until next time. Thanks, guys. Bye-bye. 

Debbie: Okay ladies, that is it for today. Before we go, I want to invite you to head over to debbieshadid.com. I have this incredible Canva training, specifically designed for life coaches where I'm gonna teach you how to use Canva to create beautiful graphics to market your life coaching. All right. Have an amazing week.

I'll talk to you very soon. Bye bye.