Ep 205 - Is it Time to Switch Niche?

Episode 205 of the Life Coach Business Building Podcast

How often have you thought about switching niches? Niche drama is probably the most common topic that I get asked about on consultation calls. But the reality is, there’s no perfect niche!

In this episode, I'm going to talk about how to find, decide, and truly land on a niche, and then what you can do to make it perfect for you. 

We'll explore the common mindset challenges coaches face when choosing and sticking to their niche. From switching too soon to staying too long, I’ll share my personal experiences and insights to help you assess yourself and gain clarity before you potentially decide to shift. 

The truth is, every single niche is filled with possibilities. It all boils down to how committed you are to creating a business that not only grants you the income and freedom to live life on your terms but also enables you to leave a lasting impact on the world.

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Preview: Are you actually doing the work? We spend so much time thinking about our niche and planning for the name of our program and trying to decide our business name and all that stuff. But none of that actually has to do with building a business. All of that is like playing in the sand. It's not really getting out there and building your castle. So I want to know. Are you really doing the work when it comes to your niche? The thought that you have is I need to switch niches. But what I want you to ask yourself is maybe you just need to do the work. Is that really the reality? Do you need to do the work to make this niche? 

Intro: 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.

Hi there. Let's talk about niche. How often have you thought about switching niches? How often do you have this question wondering if my niche is right? I want to tell you that this is probably the most common question that I get on consultation calls. And if you are a new coach, there's a high chance that you've spent a lot of time on thinking about the perfect niche. I want to invite you to our upcoming workshop that is called the perfect niche. Now, the reality is there is no perfect nation. I'm going to talk all about how you find, how you decide and how you really land on a niche and then what you do to make the niche perfect. So head over to debbieshadid.com/workshop. Join us on Tuesday, April 23rd at 1 PM Central Standard Time where we're going to help you find the perfect niche. 

Now, in today's workshop, we're going to talk about switching your niche too soon, staying in your niche too long, and just what you need to know about niching. I want to tell you at the core of niche drama, uh, It's all mindset related. Now, there are strategies that we will teach you about how to pick a niche that you will feel confident with. But honestly, you guys, niching and the drama around it is all about what you think. So you think that there is a perfect niche. You think that if you pick the wrong niche, you will fail. Am I right?

You guys are probably like, yep. You think that Google will help you. Find the right niche. You think that if you pick the right niche. You will make the most amount of money. And I want to tell you that really none of those things are true. I want you to pick a niche that really resonates with you. And again, I will share with you our four step process in our upcoming workshop about how to pick a niche.

Before we do that though, I want to talk to you about mindset. We are unveiling our brand new business growth. Self coaching training and series. I'm so excited about this. It is an eight week training where we're going to teach you the exact method that I use to do the self coaching that has really created hundreds of thousands of dollars in my business. And I want to say hundreds of thousands of dollars more. Then what I was creating. Now let's tie this back to niche and let's talk about what we will teach you in this business growth, self coaching training and how that relates to the niche questions that you have right now. Right now, you have some self doubt and truthfully you need to be working on getting yourself into belief and that's easy to say, but how do you do that?

We're going to dive into helping you change your mindset and then we have to help you commit to something. Again, that's the problem with niching. It is at the core of your business and it seems to be the thing that everybody goes back to as if it is the problem. We want to have you switch your thinking and be thinking instead of this is too hard that this is filled with so much possibility. Every single niche is filled with possibility. I want to help you go from being afraid to feeling like you can be confident about committing. I want to help you feel emotionally invigorated by having a niche that you decide to love. Y'all have probably heard me say that when I talk about branding, but the same goes here.

You're going to pick a niche and then you decide to love the niche. So the question we're addressing today is when do I switch niches? And you can see what I'm saying about the mindset coaching is probably not very often when you switch niches. In fact, I want to tell you guys a story. When I started out in my business in 2000, the niche client that I had was people in the wedding business. And for those of you who are in the wedding business that are listening to me, just know that I love you, but I picked this niche. Kind of accidentally. What I did was I started a business which was publishing a magazine and the client that I was going to be selling the advertising to for the magazine were people, women, in the wedding business.

As it turns out, I didn't even love anything to do with the wedding business. So I'm sorry, you guys, my clients, my old clients, any wedding professionals here. I love business. It’s what I love. So the niche client, the people in the wedding business, I didn't really understand. All of why people were so passionate about that. But what I want to tell you is that when I committed to that niche anyway, because I was committed to having a business, I was committed to my magazine, the publication that I'd purchased. I was committed to making a career that would support my lifestyle, that would support the goals that I had, which was to be available for my daughter, which was to be able to take care of my family, which was to provide a living.

Even though those women were in the wedding business, they were not what I was most passionate about. I had committed to that and I stayed committed to it. This is one lesson that I want you to hear. Now, I stayed too long. I'll be honest with you, but I'm talking about 18 years. I'm not talking about 18 months or eight months. I stayed for 18 years. And how did I do that? It's because I had a mindset that I could manage because again, bigger than the specific woman that I was helping. I was helping people learn how to market their business. That is actually what I was passionate about. And the other thing I was passionate about was making a living, being able to take care of my family.

So from the very beginning of my business, I've been able to manage my mind around what I was doing. So I don't want you to stay in a niche for 18 years that you don't love, but I definitely want you to go all in on a niche for gosh, at least one year, 18 months, something like that. Before you decide to potentially shift, you will hear me say that there is no wrong niche. You make your niche right. By number one, deciding to love it and number two, by marketing it consistently. So here's the questions that I want you to ask yourself before you consider switching niches. And these are the questions that are going to be, gosh, maybe you need to look in the mirror and ask yourself these questions because they're really about you.

It's really about you getting brutally honest with yourself about your niche. Because the first question is, are you actually doing the work? We spend so much time thinking about our niche and planning for the name of our program and trying to decide our business name and all that stuff. But none of that actually has to do with building a business. All of that is like playing in the sand. It's not really getting out there and building your castle. So I want to know. Are you really doing the work when it comes to your niche? The thought that you have is I need to switch niches. But what I want you to ask yourself is maybe you just need to do the work. Is that really the reality? Do you need to do the work to make this niche? 

Sometimes you might be feeling resentful towards your clients and you might think, well, I don't know, the niche isn't right because I feel resentful to my people. And I also want you to get clear on that because I have found myself over the years being resentful to clients and it was all my own doing because I was offering too much support. I didn't have boundaries when it came to my clients. I was working hours that I didn't even want to work. I was over giving and over delivering far beyond what I had sold or what I had thought they paid me for. I was unprepared in some cases. So do you feel resentful towards your clients or you put a feeling in there, whatever the feeling is, that might be a negative feeling towards your niche. And you need to ask yourself, have you done something yourself to create that negative feeling? Cause chances are you're the one who needs to tighten up on your boundaries. You're the one who needs to really take a look at how you're delivering your services. That was my case. The client said I was coaching.

I was the one who was coaching when I didn't want to. I was the one who was answering emails way too late at night. I was the one who kept doing more and more and more, probably overwhelming my clients too. So check in with yourself to see if you think you don't like this niche anymore. If it's really because of what you're doing, I also want you to think about your niche. And if it's not working, ask yourself these questions because your niche isn't working. What does that mean? 

The question is, what have you truly done to find the person? If you think it's not working because there's nobody who wants it, what have you truly done to find that person? Are you sincerely and honestly talking to people? If you say, I go to networking events, nobody wants to find my coaching. I can't find anybody in my niche. Are you actually really truly talking to people like really going into a deep conversation? And even beyond that, do you even know how to talk about your business?

You might have a niche that is like a million dollar niche, but if you don't know how to communicate. Then that's really the problem. Again, it's not the niche. It's communication. Are you scared about your coaching? Are you scared to coach? Maybe you have a story that you're not a great coach. In fact, we have a client right now that's in our program that is at the root cause of her business building and all the money that she's invested over all the years in courses and coaches and all this, what's really behind all of it is she thinks she's not a great coach. So she's continuing to find people to help her with her niche. And the reality is it has nothing to do with the niche. It has nothing to do with the foundation that she's built for her business. She's one of our clients and she's got it all in place. Yeah. The core of her problem is that she thinks she's not a great coach.

So if you're in doubt, that is another place that you need to look at. What are you in doubt about? Again, I said, look in the mirror and ask yourself these questions. Is the niche the problem or are you the problem? Is your ability to coach Or what you think about your ability to coach the problem. So how do you know if it is too soon to switch again, it is looking at whether you are running from the reality of what you are not doing to build your business, changing niches keeps you from ever getting your business built. Blaming the niche instead of taking responsibility for not staying committed is probably what you might be doing. Oh, I know this is a hard podcast. Changing niches instead of getting the help that you really need to learn how to market your business. Is that the reality?

It is so easy to say, Hey, this coaching thing didn't work. I went and got certified and the, The school that I got certified, they misled me, or the market is oversaturated. And that's why my niche doesn't work. No, my dear chances are your niche is not working because you're not working. Let me help you again about mindset because it really is your responsibility to cultivate positive thoughts about your niche. And it really is. Your responsibility to self coach yourself every day around this business doesn't happen just because you decided you were going to be in business. Business happens because you intentionally show up every single day. You think about how you're going to communicate with this niche. You think about where they are. You continue to evolve as a business owner so that you can, you know, connect with your niche in a more positive way. 

I wanna talk about McDonald's for a minute because if we think about McDonald's and we think about their french fries, everybody knows about a McDonald's French fry, and I swear they have this secret salt and my aunt told me they actually do, 'cause we've had a discussion about their salt. So what if McDonald's just decided to change their french fry recipe? What would happen? People would be like, what is wrong with them? Why did they do that? Right? Everybody expects that from McDonald's. They sell happy meals and they're known for it. And the only difference between you and them is they didn't quit selling happy meals.

They don't quit marketing happy meals. They're not changing their salt just because it's a whim. They don't change their mind. It is the core of their business. And what is at the core of their business remains the same. So if you're committed to a particular niche. You don't change that. Now, if we think about McDonald's again on occasion, and I don't even know if they still do this, cause I don't eat at McDonald's, but they used to have when I was a kid, like peppermint green shakes for St. Patrick's day or peppermint Christmas peppermint shakes, you know, during the holiday season. Maybe they still do that, but that was a very limited time. Did they introduce new things into their product line? So how often are you doing that? How often do you like trying to figure out what the next best thing is instead of staying and remaining committed to the core of your niche?

Don't be scared about picking a niche. When you pick a niche and you stay committed to a niche, then you can learn how to communicate with the niche. Then you can continue day after day to say to yourself, where is my person? Let's say yesterday I didn't find him here. So where am I going to find him today?

Are y'all following me on this? So if you're in a niche for 18 years that you don't love, and at some point you've built a business that's big enough, like I did, that I was able to say, okay, I'm going to shift and I'm going to be talking to a different woman, which is you guys, my coaches. I stayed in the same business model marketing. That is really what I was committed to. I just switched my avatar. So my niche is all about helping women create businesses. The only difference was my ideal client avatar was somebody who owned a wedding business. Now you, my dear, are my ideal client avatar. You're a coach. So what's the timeline? Again, probably 12, 18 months, but only if you are taking consistent action day after day after day.

Let me revisit the mindset part of this. If you are procrastinating, then we need to work on your mindset in our business growth, self coaching training series that we are starting on May 2nd. This is an opportunity for you guys to work with us and work with us at the lowest price program that we've ever offered, $500 two payments of 250. You can work through the mindset process that I have used to create hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars in my business. So we're going to help you stop procrastinating. We're going to help you learn how to take immediate action. We're going to help you stop feeling overwhelmed. We're going to help you figure out the self doubt that you have. That's the problem. The niche is not the problem. We're going to help you figure out how to be connected to your business at a deep, deep level and how to stop stressing about what you're doing as you build your business and how to enjoy building your business.

So do you know if your business is not working because of your niche? It's not, you guys. It's probably not your niche. It is you that is not working. So do some checking with yourself. Again, the question is to ask yourself, are you really doing what it takes? And what does it take? Maybe you don't know, but day in and day out working on your business. Now, I don't mean weekends. I don't mean evenings. Remember you create your ideal schedule, but are you thinking about your niche? I literally think about you guys and I think all the time, what is it that they need to hear from me? How do they need to be inspired by me? What is it that I need to learn to inspire you?

I want to talk about your desire and your excuse. Which is that I'm a multi passionate person. I hear that as a reason too, for changing niches. I'm a multi passionate person too, but you know what? I am more than multi passionate. I'm committed to making a living. I'm committed to creating time freedom. I'm committed to helping you guys. And I can only do that. When I have some self control, I set aside my multi passions for other things in my life, and I only focus on learning about you guys. All the work that I do, any coaching education that I take is all based around helping my niche client. Yeah. Helping you guys create better businesses. So all of that energy of education and learning and developing all goes into helping you. So again, this is kind of like a mindset thing. If you're multi passionate, okay, welcome to the world. We all are, but you have to decide, are you multi passionate and confused about your niche, willing to switch all the time, or are you committed to creating a business that creates income and lifestyle freedom and where you really make a difference in the world? That's what I'm committed to. So in this short podcast today, that really is the answer. This is about a level of commitment. So your niche is not the problem. 

When is it too soon to switch niches? If you haven't done this for 12 or 18 months, it's too soon. All right. If you are not consistently marketing your business, I'm really deeply committed to marketing your business. It's too soon. All right. We're going to wrap up today's podcast episode. I think you guys realize that mindset is really at the core of probably these news questions you have. And again, I want to invite you to join us. For our business growth, a self coaching training series, which is going to be incredible. I mean, we have really poured our heart and soul into this. Now, how do you find out about it? First of all, I want you to follow us on Instagram, Debbie Shadid. Head over to Instagram.

You'll find me there and we share all the details. There'll be a link in my bio of where you can join. That's probably the easiest way for you to get to it. Also, I want to invite you to join us. At our workshop, debbieshadid.com/workshop, which is our niche workshop, but we're also going to be talking about this program and what else is included in it. Now, I want to entice you because if you are ready to go, if you know that this is the opportunity you've been waiting for, if you know you have been wanting to work with us for a long time, a lot of you guys have listened for a long time and you're like 500, I want to be in with them. 

I also want to tell you that we are doing two bonus coaching sessions for those of you who join early and you'll have an opportunity to actually work with us for 10 weeks for 500 through this business growth, self coaching training series. The first two weeks are going to be a deep dive where we look at your business mindset. We're going to actually go through there and help you identify what the problems really are. So that when we go through the training series, you'll be able to really pinpoint those problems. So I cannot wait to have you help us again. If you'll follow me on Instagram at Debbie Shadid and you click on the link in the bio, all of the links to all of these things are there.

It's always the best way to stay connected with us. You'll find the link to be able to head over and find the final details. Along with the payment link of the business growth, self coaching. You'll also be able to sign up for this workshop, the perfect niche and for every workshop, and let's just stay connected. Make sure you shoot me a DM there. If you've got any questions, listen, I appreciate you guys. Please take advantage of this opportunity to be able to immerse yourself in this mindset method that I use that literally, I cannot tell you the difference. I went from consistently making a hundred thousand dollars a year, top in sales to making hundreds. 

All right. Do you want to be part of that? Well, it's all part of the mindset coaching that I do for myself day in and day out. All right, guys, I'll see you soon. Thanks a bunch. Bye bye.

Outro: 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.