Get Coaching Clients: Choose A Niche And Speak To Their Needs

Choosing a target coaching niche is the single largest stumbling block that the coaches I work with come across when starting their coaching business. I think this is because they make the choice so big in their minds that it is far easeir to avoid taking action than it is to make a decision and move forward.

Don't let this stagnation and indecision prevent you from making a decision and moving forward with your coaching business. The best part about having your own business is that all changes in course are simply up to you so any decision can be altered and corrected at any time if necessary. In fact, that is the best way to ensure success. Take action, evaluate your actions, correct course if necessary and take more action.

Making the Choice Easy

Start the process of choosing a target coaching niche by making a chart to analyze your skill, education, interests, passions, and the viability of a niche. Make a list of all of the possible target coaching niches that appeal to you and list them down the left side of a piece of paper. Next place the following columns at the top of the page Interest level, experience, accomplishments, gifts talents, size of market, ability to pay, access to market, total score.

These are the criteria we need to judge a possible niche against to determine which niche is the best fit for us as a coach and to eliminate niches that we may be passionate about but have little or no chance of supporting a coaching business.

Whatever niche you choose you are not bound to it for a lifetime nor are you limited to just one target coaching niche. However, you must treat each niche as a separate business with regard to your marketing efforts. I do suggest that you develop only one niche at a time and once you are successful in on niche then and only then move on to a second niche.

Access to Your Niche

Be certain that your target coaching niche is one that you can reach through the groups they join and the places they seek information and guidance. People with similar interests and issues tend to gather in groups and meet on a regular basis.

There are support groups for almost any situation life brings our way. It is key that you find the groups that relate to your target coaching niche and participate in those groups.

You should offer information, support and your expertise in situations where you can add to the conversation and be helpful to other group members. These are situations where your influence must be one of helpfulness. Be a contributor to the group rather than taking from the group.

Rate all of these factors in the columns described earlier. After you write your thoughts in each column rate it from one to five with one being the low rating and five being a high rating. This exercise should make your choice much easier if not perfectly clear.