How to Stop Freaking Out About Your Niche

Welcome, welcome, welcome on this episode of the podcast, this is Episode 26, we are going to talk about your niche. This is one of those things, friends, this is something that drives people in the online business world into like baddie circles of crazy, right? where it's like, I need to know my niche, I need to be more specific, I need to be less specific, my niche is too specific. It's too broad. It's too this, it's too that it's Oh, my word. And you can literally drive yourself in circles for basically forever and never settle and therefore fail and your business. The online business world sends us business owners this message that like we have to have this figured out right now. And that is the beginning of the problem. There are lots and lots of issues with that. But we'll get into this because I have feelings about dishes. So any feelings. Here's the thing, we're going to work this out, we're going to make it simple. That's the plan for the podcast today. Before we do that, let's take a second and talk a little bit about wins from this week over my papers because I can't see them. So one of the things I love to do here is to share really good things that are going on in my business, but also in the business of my clients. And last week, every now and then it seems that every client I talked to we talk about the same thing, we just hit weeks like that. And last week, we spent a lot of time, I spent a lot of time in almost all my clients talking really directly about money. We were talking very much about value about charging what you're worth, and about just money as a business owner. So in the last week, I've had three clients in particular, make really strong decisions about money and about charging what they're worth. So in one case, a client was presented with a new opportunity. And in talking it through, it became really clear that the person coming to her needed her more than she needed them. And as a business owner, you know, they as a client for her need her need her help. And when that is the case, it is not time to like price gouge. I'm not saying like double your prices. But it is time to think like Oh, wait, what is my time actually worth. And friends, your time is not ever worth $20 an hour, your time is worth more than that. Especially if you you know are, you know, 3040 in your eye, you know, you have lots of life experience that you're bringing with you even if you've not done exactly this thing before. They're coming to you for your expertise for a reason. One of my other clients had is starting to pitch a new kind of business for her. She is really settling into the thing she likes best and getting clear and clear and clear on how she wants to bring what she's best at to the world. And so what we worked through last week is how to price that and how to structure the offer she has and that she's bringing in this case to big corporations to really maximize both her time and the value she can bring them, but also to be fair to be fairly compensated for it. Because you know, her time is insanely valuable. She's great at what she does. And to package it in a way that both makes it reasonable that reason I hate that word. But that makes it really a great value for the people she's working with. And also really effective for her business matters, striking that balance. But in the in the beginning of it, it's really for her about carefully valuing her time and what she is giving to people, she brings a ton of experience and knowledge with her. And then a third client is spending a lot of time thinking about how to talk with people that she's already met about why she's pricing and how based on the result they're going to get. So she's changing her. Her way she's doing estimates and proposals for people to really dig into the value she's bringing in the results she's creating, and I have a doggy in the background squeaking having a dream. So if you could hear that. That's what's going on. She is now sending proposals focused on results. And that is going to create more money for her all of these things. All of these ways of looking at value are going to create more money for all my clients. They all start with the question, what is your time worth? So if you are thinking about value and what you're charging and pricing and all of these things, start with that question, what is your time worth? It's worth more than you think. Know that. Okay? So niches and not niches and all the things. Let's talk about it. Listen, this is something that for many new business owners, particularly causes, literally like mere constant drama. This is something I see people actually I commented a group somewhere today where you could spin and spin and spin and this I could see this woman, even just by the comment, the post she shared in this group, she's spinning and spinning and spinning in it. And she feels like if she chooses, if he doesn't choose a clear knee, she's doomed. And if she does clear, pick a clarity, she's doomed. Here's the problem when Nish, the online business world says like you have to be specific, you have to know exactly who you're talking to you, you have to do all of these things, you have to have your ideal client avatar, you have to know what they look like and what they ate for breakfast, and what kind of sex they were. And when we think about those things, our brain immediately goes to like, Oh my God, if I picture, you know, Joanne, who eats granola for breakfast and wears blue socks every day, and is 43 years old, and has curly hair, and likes, rainbows and unicorns, and kittens, I'm leaving out all the other people, your brain automatically thinks about all the people that you would be excluding. If you pick that niche, you think about all the missed opportunity. And here's the issue. When you choose a niche, that is not what you are doing. niche is not about excluding at all. And this is why it causes people so much drama, because you imagine it like like being in a house with 1000 doors and you just closed 999 of them, then there's only one left, you're like, Oh my gosh, I closed 999 doors, what am I going to do? That's not it. When we're thinking about niche and thinking about leaving people out, we're looking at sort of like, you know, it's a glass half full glass half empty kind of problem, you're looking at the half empty side. Because if you choose a nation, you're very specific, there's still probably 1000s of people who have what you want, that need what you have. You're not excluding. You're just being clear. Right? So for me, all of the things out there in the online business world, about picking a niche about getting specific about your ideal client avatar, but all these things. They're all in pursuit of clarity. And sometimes we just take it too, literally. So the analogy I like to think of has a lot to do with doors. I like to think of Nish by starting with imagining a really big house. So sit and like close your eyes for a second. Imagine this really big house. Imagine you're there for like an open house, or whatever you want to do. And every room you see has a door on it. And they're all open. And so in this house, you're wandering around going from room to room to room to room to room. Now imagine you're doing this and this open house was like full of people like a full on party. Okay. So you have some options. You can in this house. keep wandering from room to room and actually like run from room to room, poke your head into every room and see what's going on in that room. And then and then feel like you're missing out and see what's going on in the next room and feel like you're missing out and see what's going on in the next room. And just poke your head in and constantly like live in FOMO of like, Well what if I pick that room? What am I missing in that room? If I pick that room? What am I missing in that room? And if I pick that room, who am I leaving out? Hmm. So that's one approach. The other is to stand in the hallway and try to start like official conversations and do presentations. You know, I think of it as like standing in the hallway. Like a weirdo doing like a like a presentation on the thing you love with poster boards standing in the hallway and the people are walking by the party like what on earth is she doing? Like why is she standing in the hallway or you can walk into a room in that house and decide to own it. Now when you walked into the room in the house and decided to like take over the conversation and like be the as one of the coaches I follow her name is Stacey beam and as she says be the strongest energy in that room. When you go into that room and decide to own the room. What you didn't do was run around the house and slam all the other doors. What you didn't do was run around the other all that through the house and say Anybody who's not standing in my room is not welcome. Get out. You also didn't, you know, bring your presentation from the hallway and just like stand in the corner and give it choosing a niche is really just moving into one of the rooms in the house. It is not excluding all the other people, it doesn't mean you can't wander out into the hallway from time to time and look around, it doesn't mean that you'll never pick a different room. It doesn't mean that people won't filter in and out and see what you're about. It doesn't mean any of those things, it doesn't mean that everybody who's not exactly there, right, this moment has to leave. It's all about standing firmly on your feet in the room, you're in and owning your space. So if that's how I think about Nish, it really is about clarity, you stand in that room and give your talk and talk about the thing you love the most. The interesting thing that's going to happen is think about a party like this, what's going to happen is if there's something really cool going on, and one of those rooms is somebody standing in there and being like amazing. In owning that room, people from other rooms will like over here, and like wander and take a look and start to like feel the vibe and be like oh, this is really cool. Interesting. There will be other people who are wandering by in the hallway who like poke their head in and be like, Hmm, this is really interesting. And there will be people who are in the room right now we're like as not for me. And they will filter themselves out. And that is exactly what you want your niche to do for you. You want it to draw in the people that are like, ooh, she's for me. You want it to like filter out the people that are like, yeah, my vibe. And you want it to showcase you at your best. This is clarity. Okay, so to think about this, what do you actually do? You start with the first question. The first question is, who do you love to work with? And why? And no, I don't care what color socks she wears. I don't care what color hair she has. I don't actually care how old she is. No, you don't have to draw a picture. And I have actually had to like name my person. I've done this, like 10 ways till Sunday. We've all done this 10 ways till Sunday, you've done it all the ways. I've made Lego figures. I've done all the things. But think about what habitudes the people you like working with best have? Think about what you know about them what the themes are? Do they have demographic themes? Do they have themes about the kinds of things they like to do? Do they have themes about the kinds of work they've done? Do they have themes about the kinds of products they buy? What are they who are they connected to? How do they connect? How do they communicate? What are their mindsets? What are their behaviors? What do they all have in common? Like for me, most of the people I work with come at the world trying to serve as a teacher in some way, shape or form. They tend to be women. But they're not exclusively, they tend to be over 30. And they tend to be you know, closer to 40. and higher because they've you know, done teaching, they've done other things. And now they're like moving into doing their own thing. Most of the people that come to me are already in business full time. But that's not all of them. Most of the people that come to me are contrary and think of something else. But here's the other thing. They're not all anything. They are not all people that were former teachers there, you don't have my client list right now was not. They're not all people who are building a particular kind of business. Some of them are service businesses, some of them have products, some of them have other kinds of things. Some are coaching, some are not different, they're all different. So what I know about them is they're all learners, they're all people who have a lifelong level of learning who want to do new things. I know my clients are all people who, you know, have set a goal at some point and then been scared off. You know, they all have planning and perfectionist tendencies because teachers have that way. And they want to do it really well the first time but no, that's not the way it works. So for me when I talk to people and I stand in I space and I talk about things. Those are the kinds of things I talk about. I talk about simplicity, I talk about consistency. I talk about evaluation, because these are the things that the people in my niche, the people I speak to most clearly work on. That's all. So think about who you love to work with, go through people you already know people who you loved connecting with people who maybe you didn't work with in a formal capacity, but you did help. What are the commonalities? What did you love about them? What did you enjoy most? What kinds of skills and attributes mindsets did they bring? And then go talk to those people? So step one is, Who are they? What do they have in common? Step two is go talk to them. And actively release, here's the action act of really release all the thoughts you have related to the glass half empty. Like there's people I'm leaving out, there's, you know, not going to be enough people. I don't know if this is going to be valuable enough for them. I don't know how I'm going to find my clients. I don't all let all that go. Just go talk to people about what you love, and seek out the people who fit with the other people you love. You know, use the people you love as models. Just go talk about it. Like my theme and my business. How I literally created my business in the first year was like my goal every week was to go talk to more people. Like that was it. And then as you talk to people as you think more and more carefully about who they are and what you love, and what you love about working with them. Evaluate regularly. That's it. So what's working right now? What's been difficult, like what isn't clear what doesn't feel like it's landing with people? And why don't you think so? Do you just need to say it more often? Or do you need to adjust a little bit. And here's the thing, evaluate is not determination, pick a new one. Like this is now where you run? manically from room to room to room, this is a stand in your room. And if you know, maybe there were 50 people in there and right now there's five, like, okay, there's five more people will wander back in. It's gonna be okay. You don't have to freak out. So the key is, here are what choosing a niche is all about clarity. It is not ever about excluding. It's not about who you're leaving out, it's who you're speaking directly to think of it as talking to the people that are perfect for you. It's also not forever, niche evolves, mine has adjusted and evolved over the last two years. That's okay, that's normal. It's going to evolve as you talk to more people, you're gonna get better and better at it. That's fine. Remember that like deciding today? What your niches and then going to talk to those people in six months to be like, hmm, that was sort of right, but not exactly right. Okay, it evolved, there was no rule that said the nice police are gonna come get you if you change, just saying, don't change on a whim every 30 seconds. Like let's be measured and careful about it, right? Because the people that we want to attract need time to hear us in like wander into the room and decide if they are like liking the vibe and like then wander a little closer and wander a little closer. That's what you're doing when you're talking in your niche. Okay? So think about who you love and why. Go talk to more people, and then evaluate how that's working. That's it. Remember, niche is about clarity, nothing else, period. Like Don't let it be more than that. It doesn't need to be in like I know that there's some business world hair like heresy there's I know that people won't agree with that. But that's it for me. Like it's about being clear on who you serve, and how you're going to love them. And from there, whatever. Like don't draw pictures, it's going to be fine. If I can help you with this, if you are stuck in this endless niche loop, please, let's talk about it. I answer email. I would love to talk to you about your business. I would love to talk to you about coaching. If you want coaching on your niche and getting out of this drama forever. We can do this. I can help you fix this. It's not broken. It just needs to be adjusted. Send a message you can email me at sara@torpeycoaching.com or you can just come to my website which is torpeycoaching.com and book an hour for us to talk. We'll talk through what's going well with you and your niche. What What is working for you right now and then we'll talk about what it would look like to coach together. Either way, you'll walk away from the conversation clearer about what you're doing, why it matters and who it's for. I promise might be the best hour you spend. So come hang out, and I'll talk to you all next week. Bye.