Show Notes

I’m going to say something that might be a little polarizing:

You need a niche.

I know. We’ve gone through an era in the coaching industry where people are saying you don’t need a niche. You can be multi-passionate. You are the niche. Talk about whatever you want.

And I think we’ve gone too far.

Because niching down has literally made me millions and millions of dollars.

But more importantly, having a clear coaching niche has helped me get my clients better results, grow my audience faster, strengthen my messaging, and make it easier for people to understand exactly why they should hire me.

So, if you’ve been afraid that choosing a niche will put you in a box, I want to offer you a different definition:

A niche is just a specialty and a direction.

It is not a cage.

It is not your identity.

And it does not have to be permanent.

What Is a Coaching Niche?

A niche is simply a specialty.

Think about doctors.

You can be a doctor, or you can specialize and become a pediatrician, dentist, or eye doctor.

Your niche works the same way.

It tells people what you specialize in and gives your business a clear direction.

That’s it.

Your niche doesn’t have to represent every single thing you care about, every interest you have, or everything you could possibly help someone with.

And choosing a niche doesn’t mean you’re making a decision for the rest of your life.

I’ve changed mine multiple times.

How Niching Down Helped Me Make Millions

I have always chosen a niche throughout my entrepreneurial career.

But my niche has evolved as I’ve evolved.

I first started as a life and career coach for busy 20-somethings.

I had a podcast called The Busy Girls Club, and I talked about having a nine-to-five, a career, and a relationship at the same time.

Career development became a natural specialty because of my own experience.

I landed my social work job at Duke University in February before graduating in May. I was one of the first people in my cohort to get a job, so people started asking me:

How did you do it?

I helped with resumes. I talked about careers. I coached people through their professional lives.

That business made about $10,000.

Then people started asking me how I was getting clients and building a podcast while working a nine-to-five.

So I became a side hustle coach.

My Instagram was literally called SideBizCoach. I had a Facebook group around side hustling. My entire brand was about building a business alongside your job.

That business made about $40,000.

Then I transitioned into general business coaching for coaches.

That business made about $300,000.

Eventually, I became a sales coach for women of color.

And that niche has made me millions and millions of dollars.

Do you see the progression?

The more niche and specific I got, the more money I made.

A Clear Niche Can Help You Get Better Client Results

The financial growth matters, obviously.

But something else happened as I became more specific:

My clients got better results.

I knew what I was selling.

They knew what they were buying.

Everybody became more focused.

That clarity also helped me build an audience faster because people were looking for specific solutions—and my name could become associated with those solutions.

That’s one of the biggest advantages of niching down.

You give people a reason to remember you.

Your Niche Is the Beginning of Your Sales Process

Your niche isn’t just something you put in your Instagram bio.

It kicks off your entire sales process.

You need your niche to know what content to create.

You need it to know who you’re speaking to and what audience you want to build.

You need it to understand the problems you’re selling solutions for on sales calls.

You need it to anticipate objections.

And you need it to determine what you’re actually delivering to your clients.

That’s why struggling with your niche can make everything else in your business feel harder.

If you don’t know your niche, you may struggle to know what to post.

You may not know who you’re trying to attract.

You may struggle with your messaging.

You may not know what frameworks to create.

The niche is the first domino.

You Are Allowed to Change Your Coaching Niche

One of the biggest misconceptions about choosing a niche is that you have to get it right forever.

You don’t.

Look at my own business.

Career coaching.

Side hustle coaching.

General business coaching.

Sales coaching.

Your niche is supposed to evolve as your expertise, confidence, experience, clients, and market evolve.

I personally reevaluate my niche every year.

I look at the market.

I look at my skills.

I look at my messaging.

And I ask whether my niche is still giving me the highest-converting opportunity to make sales and help my clients.

Your niche is not one-and-done.

How to Know When It’s Time to Reevaluate Your Niche

When I’ve reconsidered my niche, there are a few things I’ve looked at.

First:

Do I have a new skill or specialty my clients want?

That happened when I moved from side hustle coaching into general business coaching. I was no longer only helping people build businesses alongside their jobs. I had developed the ability to support full-time entrepreneurs with their businesses more broadly.

Second:

Is something new emerging in the market?

Your niche doesn’t have to chase trends, but your business also doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

Look at what people need.

Look at how the market is changing.

Look at the skills you have.

Then ask how those skills should be positioned right now.

Maybe You’re Not Afraid of Niching Down—Maybe You’re Afraid to Decide

This is where the conversation gets deeper.

I don’t actually think most people resist niches.

I think they resist making a decision.

Entrepreneurship sells us this beautiful idea of freedom.

Make your own hours.

Create whatever you want.

Talk about whatever you want.

Build whatever products you want.

You’re in control.

So when someone comes along and says, “Okay, but you need to choose a direction,” something can come up.

Wait.

I have to decide?

I have to commit?

I have to stick with something?

Suddenly, choosing a niche feels like losing the freedom you became an entrepreneur to have.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean your niche is wrong.

It might mean you need to look at your relationship with decisions, commitment, freedom, and restriction.

What Does Your Resistance to a Niche Actually Mean?

I’ve coached people where I can almost see their inner child come out on Zoom.

No! I want to talk about what I want to talk about!

I want to change my mind!

I want to do what I want!

It’s giving stomping on the ground in the middle of Target because your mama said you couldn’t have the toy.

Y’all know what I’m talking about.

And in those moments, I want to know:

What is this decision actually bringing up for you?

Where else have you felt restricted?

Where else have you made a decision and later regretted it?

Where else in your life do you feel like you don’t have freedom?

Because sometimes we’re trying to create an experience of freedom inside our businesses to compensate for feeling restricted somewhere else.

And that can lead us to throw away really good business decisions.

I Had My Own Niche Drama at the Million-Dollar Level

I’ve experienced this too.

Around 29 or 30, I started questioning everything.

Did I still want to talk about the same things?

Did I still want to be a business coach?

Did I want to be a sales coach?

I had the same drama y’all have—and I was already at the million-dollar level.

But I had too much evidence that niching down worked for me.

So instead of immediately changing my niche, I asked:

What is this actually about?

And I realized I was feeling restricted by time.

I was approaching my 30s. I was thinking about having a baby. I was thinking about starting a family.

I had all this anxiety about time, and it was coming out in my business.

The niche wasn’t necessarily the problem.

The feeling of restriction was.

That distinction matters.

Being Decisive Is a Business Skill

There is so much power in being decisive.

Once you make a decision, you can move.

You can create content.

You can test messaging.

You can grow an audience.

You can sell.

You can gather data.

But if you keep revisiting the decision over and over and over again, you stay stuck at the starting line.

I’ve watched entrepreneurs spend months talking about their niche when they could have spent those months creating content, attracting leads, signing clients, and collecting evidence.

At some point, you have to choose.

Without a Niche, You May Be Selling a Mystery Box

Here’s another way I want you to think about this:

When people don’t understand what you sell, you’re asking them to buy a mystery box.

Imagine asking someone to hand you $2,000 for an unlabeled package.

One day you’re talking about health.

The next day you’re talking about relationships.

Then identity.

Then purpose.

Then parenting.

What exactly is the buyer purchasing?

Your potential client shouldn’t have to figure that out.

When your niche is clear and consistent, people understand your expertise.

They know why they should follow you.

They know why they should trust you.

And they know what they’re paying for when they hire you.

Choosing a Niche Is Also About Responsibility

I believe niching down is about more than marketing.

It’s also about responsibility.

Responsibility to yourself as a salesperson.

Responsibility to your clients.

Responsibility to your community.

And responsibility for building a professional company that doesn’t completely change direction every time you have a new interest.

Of course you’re allowed to pivot.

I’ve pivoted several times.

But those pivots can be thoughtful.

They can be supported by data.

They can benefit your clients.

And they can make sense as part of the evolution of your expertise.

There’s a difference between evolving your niche and changing your entire business with the wind.

Your Niche Is a Direction, Not a Cage

I want you to remember this:

A niche is just a specialty.

You are still a whole human being.

You can still have multiple passions.

You can still evolve.

You can still change your mind.

You can still pivot your business.

But clarity gives you somewhere to go.

And if you’re constantly resisting choosing a niche, the question might not be:

“Which niche is perfect for me?”

The better question might be:

“What is making it so hard for me to confidently choose a direction?”

Because the more decisive and specific I became, the more my audience grew, the better my clients’ results became, and the more money I made.

Niching down didn’t put me in a cage.

It gave my business a direction—and that direction has made me millions.

Join Dielle for the 5 Day Know Your Niche Workshop: https://forthe23percent.com/niche

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