You’ve reached your goal of becoming a coach, and you’re smashing it by helping clients set goals, build their confidence, regain their motivation and consider how to approach their problems in ways they’ve never thought of. Pretty neat, huh? However, do you feel fulfilled? Think about it. Take a step back, give yourself a few minutes and ask yourself: “Am I working with the type of clients I really want to work with?” Why? Because being all things to all people can lead to you spreading yourself too thin. Sure, you might be getting lots of work but does it give you a buzz? If not, niching down can make you focus on the type of coaching you really enjoy, allowing you to work with clients you can help the most. And when you’re working with the clients you really want, you’ll be much happier in your work.

The benefits of niching down.

Whether you’re a newly qualified coach, or worked in the profession for years, niching down doesn’t mean you’ll end up with fewer clients. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, specialising can land you more. When you choose your niche you:

• Build your reputation and position in that industry
• Attract a better quality of client
• Can raise your prices

And you also get better at helping clients. Why? Because working with people with similar issues every day means you start to notice familiar patterns, giving you vital experience in helping them much faster.

How to choose your coaching niche.

So, how do you choose a coaching niche when there are so many options, including:

• Life Coaching
• Business Coaching
• Leadership Coaching
• Career Coaching
• General Health Coaching
• Health & Nutrition Coaching
• Mental Health Coaching
• Relationship Coaching
• Spiritual Coaching

And a bucket load more! But niching down isn’t about turning to another form of coaching, otherwise, you’re going to stay a small fish in a massive pond. Scratch that. Ocean. No, it’s about looking deep inside yourself to work out what type of coaching will bring you the most joy. And one to do that is with the ‘What, Who and How’ method: Put simply, when you consider:

• What your experiences are, as a coach and in other areas of your life
• Who the people are who’ll relate to you and your experiences
• How you can help them

Your niche starts to emerge, and can you guess what happens then? Yep, you become a big fish in a small pond, so big in fact your flippers will be flapping around freely on the grassy banks. And it works! Don’t believe us? Check out a few coaches we’ve worked with who’ve employed the ‘Who, What and How’ method when choosing their coaching niche:

Susan Shaw

What type of coaching : Life Coaching. Who she helps : Athletes, Coaches and Sports Executives. How she helps them : Coaching, Workshops and Talks/Speaking. Susan’s background in coaching is with executives and CEOs, but Business Coaching wasn’t her passion. However, Susan is also a retired, semi-professional basketball player. So, she mixed her coaching and sporting experiences together to offer Life Coaching for Sporting Professionals and Executives – and she gets them because they want to work with someone just like them.

Christopher Mifsud

What type of coaching : Leadership Coaching. Who he helps : Executives in the Gaming Industry. How he helps them : Coaching, Training and Retreats. After working for over 20 years in the gaming industry, leading and training creative product development teams, spanning multiple technologies, Chris branched out into leadership coaching. Chris aligned his services towards gaming industry professionals, which means he continues working with and helping the people he loves working with the most.

Loliya Harrison

What type of coaching : Health & Nutrition Coaching. Who she helps : Menopausal and Perimenopausal women. How she helps them : Personal training and Nutrition. Loliya was a personal coach, working with anyone and everyone who came along. However, although she was working as a Health and Nutrition Coach, she was in a very big pond with a lot of big fish. By taking her personal coaching experiences, and adding her experiences as a woman, she niched down into coaching menopausal and perimenopausal women with specific issues. Now she only works with women who are trying to regain confidence, feel amazing in their clothes and want to enjoy life again during and after menopause. And if that’s you, you’re going to want someone who understands you, like Loliya. Changing your coaching niche doesn’t mean changing who you are or how you work. But working with the types of clients you love will boost your energy and love of what you do.

Are you ready for change?

Changing who you’re targeting is daunting (We get it, because we’ve done it too, check out our story in our post: The simple changes we made to increase website traffic), but when it’s done right, you can win more clients by becoming an expert in your field. Over the years we’ve built hundreds of brands and websites for coaches, so we know a thing or two about what works — and what is a complete waste of time, money and energy. If you’re ready to niche down, check out our Coaches & Consultants page to see how we can realign your website and branding in double-quick time. And if you’ve changed your niche and have a story to tell or need more advice on how to switch, get in touch or leave a comment below.