Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it is not the marketer’s friend.
Yet most new coaches default to simple imitation as their marketing mode of choice. They browse the Internet, look at other coach’s websites and duplicate what they see with a few tweaks to make it their own.
My Mistake
I know this because that’s exactly what I did when I first started.
But like a Hollywood set for a city street, those other websites façades may look great but who knows what’s really behind that shiny red door?
- Is the website adaptable and easily changed?
- Does it stand-alone or is it part of a full scale, integrated plan?
- Is their target market different than yours?
- Does the website even do what it was designed to do – bring in clients?
A marketing strategy built on imitation rarely stands the test of time.
Demystifying Marketing
But marketing doesn’t have to be a mystery.
This week I’m giving you an overview of my Signature Marketing System™ so that you’ll know and understand the foundational elements every marketing plan needs.
The Signature Marketing System has three vital components: your niche, your marketing funnel and your strengths-based marketing strategies.
Niche Avoidance
Today, let’s talk about niches.
Wrestling food from a starving man may be easier than persuading coaches to choose a narrow niche. I know because I’ve tried. Their reluctance is understandable. To narrow the amount of people they market to when they are already short of clients seems crazy.
I get that.
So today, I want to share a true account about the power of niching. Pam Taylor, one my wonderful clients, has written out her own personal journey to help you understand.
Enjoy!
Pam’s Story
by Pam Taylor
My www.LoavesAndFishesCoaching.com website has always gotten raving reviews. The web designer did a beautiful job. But a beautiful website isn’t my goal as a coach. I was reaching out to EVERYBODY! I loved writing inspirational blogs. But something didn’t feel quite right. It is good that I got started with something. And it is good that I have tweaked it along the way. But it came time to decide who my “ideal client” truly is. Kim Avery helped me with that. She helped me to think deeply and to get out of my comfort zone. UGH! 🙂
I began to finally experientially realize the first step of the process: that my niche is NOT everybody. So, if that is true, who do I reach out to? And how do I help them find me? And what do I have to offer them? I began with groups offered specifically to women through the Loaves and Fishes Coaching website. So, that was a step toward tweaking a bit tighter. It was no longer everybody. It was women. 🙂 Still not tight enough, right?
Kim often told me that my life experiences are invaluable to Moms. I resisted. I was focused on what I had done wrong. Through our coaching calls, Kim helped me to realize that I had learned as much through my mistakes as through my successes. And she helped me hear myself and to begin to see how deeply my heart longed to encourage moms. I truly could be a great resource to moms! Ok. So now we have gone from everybody, to women, to moms. Now what? Still not a tight enough niche!
Now, I began to realize how overwhelmed today’s moms are. And to see that my old website was not reflecting my “call” to help Overwhelmed Moms. Moms that need encouragement….a listening ear…someone to come alongside them in their daily lives, cheering them on to the finish line when their kids leave the nest!
And, after a time…with Kim’s patient coaching…I began to realize my true “call” is encouraging Overwhelmed Moms through my skills of coaching. I became TheMomCourager™. With the help of Susan Fleming, virtual assistant and Kim Avery, coach, we created a multi-page website at www.MomCouragementCoaching.com, a blog, and a FB page…all for Overwhelmed Moms. And it is a perfect fit for me. I have finally found my spot designed by God so many years ago. I just had to be patient as He developed me to the point I could be useful to Him to encourage His beautiful Overwhelmed Moms!
Because my niche is clear to me now, “marketing” is FUN! And…it “feels” right. It is now easy to make a focused and a concrete plan for Blogs, Newsletters, and FB posts. I am enjoying Generosity Marketing that Kim talks about. I look for ways that will specifically encourage and inspire overwhelmed moms. It is not a burden at all. I am truly ENJOYING posting on the new MomCouragementCoaching FB page. It is so much easier to know WHAT to write now for Help for Overwhelmed Moms, than when I was writing and posting to EVERYBODY on the Loaves and Fishes Coaching FB and Blog. Thank you, Kim Avery for helping take the scales off my eyes to see and understand what God has been preparing me for my whole life.
It’s Your Turn
What benefits of niching would you like to experience in your business?
Fantastic post Pam!!
It is an amazing world God created. The upside-down wisdom! Even as we narrow our focus we multiply our reach.
So helpful to READ Pam’s story. Loved the Hollywood facade pic and analogy. Today, I plan to do whatever it was that I wrote down that I’d do. I have a sneaking suspicion that it involves connecting a back up drive to retrieve stuff from a crashed computer — first this may involve finding the right back up drive from the right crashed computer.
Perfect example of the power of drilling down. Love it!
WOW! This is stunning to see here in print! Especially since I am here to confess that I still didn’t “get it” on a deep level as far as posting blogs goes. There was ANOTHER STEP GOD wanted me to experience. I was bundled up in my recliner because the heat was off in my building (6 degrees outside) and decided to google my website on my cell phone. And all the MomCouragementCoaching blogs showed up. I realized the one that published today about ‘fessing up about my own personal mothering regrets and giving hope PAST the REGRETS we feel as Moms, was finally on course. The other blog posts were the same spiritually inspirational posts that I used to write for the other website (loaves and fishes). It was only when I saw what Moms saw when they google me, that the glaring contrast hit me on a deep level. So, I thought it wise to share this next step in the NICHE-ing journey with you here. WOW! Again…Kim had told me that and I THOUGHT I understood until I saw it with my own eyes. Hope this VERY LONG reply helps somebody out there to skip some of the steps I stumbled through and gets you right to the finish line! 🙂 Again…thanks for your patience with me Kim. I am sure I still have a lot to learn and that tomorrow and the next day, etc, I will continue to tweak and grow and improve my service to Moms.
Hi Pam – Thanks so much for taking the time to share your update and the lessons that God continues to teach you on this marketing journey.
Your generosity and transparency is a huge blessing.
I forgot to hit notify me of follow-up comments
Having a specific niche would make it easier to market my business, and I believe it would be more exciting for me too 🙂
Pam, thank you so much for your willingness to share both your mistakes and things that have worked. You are also being an encourager to overwhelmed coaches. What I’d like most about knowing my niche would be clear focus and direction for any marketing activity I’m involved in.
God’s economy always amazes me! Less is more! I began understanding the wisdom of a narrow niche while attending Kim’s presentation at the AACC Conference this past September. While working through an exercise with two other coaches during that presentation, my narrow niche became clear: grandparenting, especially to those who are doing so long distance. Makes all the difference to narrow down your niche.
Today I posted a new post on my blog.
This is a combination of Wow! and Ouch! Thanks to both Kim and Pam. Have not seen the importance this way so–will start the process of narrowing the niche.
Today–brainstorming with coach over new blog plans, ideas, and methods. New expansion of writing already being done.
This sure speaks to me! While I, too, have started out as a “generalist” I began to realize, with the help of my coach, that I needed to specialize. What am I passionate about? Helping parents of children with special needs. As a former counselor with special education experience and mother of two children with special needs, my heart’s desire is to offer hope and encouragement to parents as they navigate day to day living with children with special needs. I’ve realized I’ll need a new website to go with my blog as I move forward but it truly is a blessing to know my niche, their needs and to provide expertise and assistance through my experience both personally and professionally. God has been speaking to me about this for some time and I’ve taken some steps. I need to get moving on the rest.
Today I made an appt with our mayor to have my picture taken for an article in our local newspaper for “Business of the Month.” I’m praying that many folks will be introduced to me and coaching through this article!
I heard Wednesday night about a Colorado effort that virtually eliminated the “wait and place” issues in Foster and Adoptive Parenting challenges. Does anyone know the exact website? This is a niche, and we are to look after the orphans and widows in our community. Marketing for money–probably not, but 501(3)c nonprofits across the country could eliminate this escalating problem in their own communities–not enough beds, inappropriate foster parents, specific needs for diapers, bedding, emergency transitions–
I am open to focusing on developing my niche. My husband and I wanted to start a marriage coaching business, but we have done no marketing. I developed a website and we have the materials but no clients. Week two business cards and a website but no idea how to market this. I am also open to the idea that maybe God has a different niche for me since my husband still is working and does not seem to find the time to help me with this.
I hope to have found the structure that I need to go forward.
This was such a great story. Pam, thanks for sharing. I am experiencing the clarity of focus that comes from knowing who to focus on and identifying what their specific problems are.
This is Kim’s site, but I did want to say a quick thank you for the kind words to me personally.