How to find your coaching niche and why it’s important.

In my live class where we develop client personas for health coaches I ask, “what does your client persona look like?” I get a wonderful list of people they are going to support; it truly is exciting, and I love their enthusiasm and their desire to help others. 
 
Discovering your unique coaching niche is like finding your compass in the open ocean, guiding you to clientele you’re meant to serve. Narrowing down and knowing your coaching niche is not so easy, however putting in the hard work early on will pay dividends. There are many good reasons for understanding and knowing who exactly you are going to "serve".
 
So read on and let me help you.

What is a coaching niche

First off what do we mean by ‘coaching niche’?
 
The definition of ‘niche’:
1. A job or position that is very suitable for someone, especially one that they like
She has carved/made a niche for herself as a non-diet coach
Source: Cambridge Dictionary

Some examples of niche coaching include:

• Health Coach
• Financial Coach
• Performance Coach

 
To narrow health coaching down even further, we see niches in:

• Women’s Health Coach
• Menopause Health Coach
• Anxiety Health Coach
• Sleep Health Coach
• PCOS Health Coach
• And so on….

Why do I need to define my niche?

It is important to narrow down your niche for a number of reasons. Defining the type of client, you want to coach means you can focus your time, efforts and energies on activities that will provide the greatest results with your ideal customers. Apart from directing your marketing efforts more strategically, knowing your niche will also:

• Better serve your target client than generalists will be able to,
• Bring clarity to you as a coach and may help clarify your coaching methodology,
• Marketing why your service is essential to a specific group is much easier than to a wider general audience,
• Help you identify your clients pain points so that you can show how your coaching services truly support their unique problems,
• By working in a particular niche, you therefore have a particular skill set, skills which potential clients will pay more for than with a general health coach.

 
Here’s an example:
I’m a women’s health coach for women with thyroid problems.

• Women’s health coach is the niche.
• Women with thyroid problems is the target market.

By not narrowing down from 'Women's Health Coach' you run the risk of not grabbing your potential clients interest.

How do I know my coaching niche?

​If you asked yourself what your ideal client looked like when you first started coaching and compared that persona to where you actually landed you would most likely agree that the vision changed along the way.
 
When you are just starting out as a coach you probably questioned and doubted if you were working in the right coaching niche. That’s perfectly normal and it’s quite healthy.
 
So how do you decide on your coaching niche?

​You would have come to study coaching as you are passionate about some aspect of health and wellbeing, most of our students come to us from lived experiences and positive outcomes they want to share and support with others going through the same journey.
 
Ensuring you have your niche area doesn’t mean you can’t do other niches or that you avoid other areas or topics. Having your niche clear in your head means you can start to develop specific, targeted coaching sessions, you will have clarity on how to write marketing speak and you can focus on sharing your strengths and the topics you are passionate about. You can add further niches as your business grows.
 
Here are some steps to get you started, below are a few questions to help you brainstorm:

• What skills come naturally to me?
• Why did I come to study health coaching?
• How do I approach problem solving?
• What topics do I enjoy learning about, the ones that excite me the most?
• How do I enjoy spending my free time?
• Do friends, family and colleagues request my advice on a specific topic?
• What skills do others always compliment you about?

 
Answering these questions will help you to identify your core strengths. This allows you to build on a niche idea you already have and love.
 
If this doesn’t quite work for you, you could pop them into a spreadsheet and find what scores highest, example below, each score is out of 10.

Conclusion

​Finding your niche is ultimately about identifying where your passions, skills and market demand lie. It may take some time and exploration, even soul searching, but choosing a niche is not a permanent decision. As you evolve professionally, your niche can evolve with you. Embrace your multi-passionate nature, it’s a strength.

PS - WCG students, make sure you take our free live class "Developing your client persona". This will help you with your niche development.

Author

Michele Cooper is the Digital Media Manager for Well College Global.
You can find her at Michele Cooper Creative where she specialises in small business, start up health coaching business's.