Discover Your Coaching Niche

Archive for the ‘Discover your niche’ Category

I’m currently sharing the four secrets of Discovering Your Coaching Niche with you.

The first two secrets come from within you; the second two come from the market.

In the last post we talked about the first secret to Discovering Your Coaching Niche. That was to have a niche that you are passionate about. You can’t fake passion – not for long, anyway – it has to be real.

So are you ready for the second secret?

Secret 2 – Discover your key knowledge, skills and experience

You must have credibility in your chosen area of coaching. You’ll have credibility where you have relevant experience and are using your key skills and knowledge.

Few clients will take on a coach with no relevant skills, knowledge or experience. And we’re not talking about coaching skills and experience here. You need to demonstrate you have the relevant skills, knowledge and experience for your client.

Do you have a track record of success in the area in which the client is being coached – be it weight loss, relationship coaching or financial coaching? Do you have a system you follow?

Do you know what the major issues are, and have ways to help your client overcome them? If you do, you’ll have credibility, and will be able to attract coaching clients. You are also far more likely to get testimonials and referrals.

Discover Your Coaching Niche Teleclass

To really get a helping hand to Discover Your Coaching Niche, why not join me, Alun Richards, on 21^st November, 2006 at 8pm GMT (12pm Pacific, 3pm Eastern) for a free teleclass. Sign-up details are here: http://www.askalunrichards.com .

Find Your Coaching Niche And Find Coaching Success

Introduction

Do you know the one thing that stops most coaches from being dramatically successful? Do you know what prevents coaches from charging the rates they should command? Do you suffer from the key problem that affects 68% of all coaches?

Read on to discover the four secrets to discovering your coaching niche – and making your practice dramatically more successful!

What Determines Coaching Success?

There are more coaches in business right now than ever before. I’d love to say all of us are wildly successful in our chosen profession, but the reality is somewhat different. Many of us are finding that we are not getting the business we expected when we trained.

Recent research I’ve undertaken indicates this is not primarily related to our coaching skills. It relates to our marketing – and the fundamentals of marketing are what services we supply to what target market. In other words, what niche we have as a coach, and what target market we have chosen to supply.

You must, you must, specialise

But here lies the problem: over two thirds of us coaches do not have a niche – we are generalists. We will coach anyone to do anything. And many of us love being generalists.

But let me ask you a question – when you really need your car serviced, do you take it to any old garage or a garage that specialises in your make of car? When you need an eye examination, do you go to a GP or an Optician?

And which business makes more money – one with a general motor mechanic, or one with trained automotive engineers who specialise in your specific make of car? A General Practitioner or a medical consultant like an ophthalmic surgeon with a specialisation?

We seek out these specialists because of their specific knowledge of problems and how to resolve them. And we’re prepared to pay a premium because they get the right results faster. Yet we as coaches resist selecting and sticking to one coaching niche. And our practices suffer as a result.

But how do we do we discover our coaching niche? Well, it’s all down to the four secrets I reveal in this and subsequent posts.

Secret 1 – Discover your passion

You must have passion for what you do. Long term you will not stick at anything you do not love. Passion is what drives your coaching business forward. Look at anyone who is truly successful and you will see a passion about how they conduct their business.

Ask yourself – do you love what you do in coaching? Is there a fire, a drive behind what you do? Discover what it is you’re passionate about. Are any of these things reflected in your coaching practice? If so, great – that’s the first step completed!

If not, perhaps you would benefit from exploring those things that do inspire you, and to incorporate this into your coaching niche.

So the first secret is passion. For the next three secrets, come back to this blog over the next few days.

Discover Your Coaching Niche Teleclass

And to join my free teleclass Discover & Reach Your Coaching Niche on Tuesday 21st November 2006 go here: http://www.askalunrichards.com

I’ve written a number of articles aimed at coaches, which are published on the net by ezinearticles.com .

Just click here to get to them.

http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Alun_Richards

There are three there at present:

• The Four Secrets To Discovering Your Coaching Niche
• Top 10 Ways For Coaches To Get Clients
• How to Research Your Target Market

These will be joined by others.

Those of you who would like to join my free teleseminar Discover & Reach Your Coaching Niche on 21st November (just go to http://www.askalunrichards.com) might like to read the first article prior to the teleclass.

There are differing definitions, but essentially a niche is a narrowly defined market that has specific needs and wants. It’s a group of people with similar aspirations, outlook, problems and challenges.

It’s a group of people for whom you can supply specialised products and services.

Because niche markets are so much smaller than mass markets it is possible for individuals such as coaches to compete effectively against larger organisations.

Steve Van Yoder, author of the book Get Slightly Famous (http://www.getslightlyfamous.com/) , points out the following benefits of discovering your niche and branding yourself.

• Differentiate yourself from your competition
• Position your focused message in the hearts and minds of your target customers
• Confer “top of mind” status to you and your services
• Increase your authority and the credence of your decisions
• Place yourself in a “leadership role”
• Enhance your prestige
• Attract the right clients and opportunities
• Earn recognition for yourself (and for your services)
• Increase your earning potential

There are other specific benefits for a coach

• You maximise word of mouth marketing
• You gain re-use of coaching material
• You are more likely to gain referrals from your target market
• PR opportunities are more likely
• If you’re active in a niche, you’ll get known quickly
• Through understanding the niche’s needs and wants you’ll spot trends and be able to respond quickly to them

These are commonly cited nicheing benefits

Now ask yourself these questions:

• Are you experiencing these benefits currently?
• Which ones would you like to benefit from, specifically?
• Do you know the first steps to take for you to experience these benefits?
  

I’m holding a teleclass to help you discover your coaching niche and experience these benefits. Why not check out this link for more details – http://www.askalunrichards.com ?

Hi, this is Alun Richards of www.brandingyou.org. I’m a consultant and coach and I help coaches find their coaching niche.