4 Liberating Truths About Niching That Will Help You Sign More Clients
Episode Summary:
Hi sweet friends. I'm so excited to chat with you about four liberating truths that will help you when it comes to your niche, your message, and your marketing. I really wish I had this training when I started my business because when you start your online business, you are obviously passionate about whatever it is you’re doing, but marketing and sales is a whole other skillset and that takes time to learn. I know for me, it took six months to click and I really don't want it to take that long for you if you're at the start of your business or if you're really not consistently making money yet, it could be because you don't get marketing. So this is like a marketing pep talk and I hope this is helpful for you.
Topics Discussed:
Why not being fully booked does not mean you’re not a good coach or shouldn’t be a business owner, rather you need to practice better marketing
Remembering that your marketing doesn’t 100% define you or your niche
Allowing your message to change overtime as you evolve as a business owner
Believing boundaries are liberating and how this will help you choose a niche
Letting your message get clearer over time and knowing you may get things wrong at first
Episode Resources:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google | Stitcher
-
Anna Rapp (00:01):
Hi sweet friends. I'm so excited to chat with you about four liberating truths that will help you when it comes to your niche, your message, your marketing. And I really wish I had this training <laugh> when I started my business because I think when you start your online business, right, you are passionate about something, helping people with parenting or business or life, whatever it is, right? But marketing and sales is a whole nother skillset and this took about six months to click for me in my business. And I really don't want it to take that long for you if you're at the start of your business or if you're really not consistently making money yet, it could be because you don't get marketing. So this is like a marketing pep talk. And I hope this is helpful for you. But first I wanna do a big reminder and that is next week I'm doing a free live zoom workshop called Nail Your Dream Coaching Client.
Anna Rapp (00:56):
More into this and to really help you if you are a coach or aspiring coach or consultant or you're thinking about adding a coaching or consulting offer to your business, this will really help you get much clearer on your ideal clients so you can sign more clients in your business. So I've run this workshop once last year and women loved it. And so I'm bringing it back and it's a teaching and a training and I have a workbook, but I'm also gonna be coaching you live because like that's how I know how to get women results. And so I'm gonna be there personally to do some hot seat coaching on some of you that are feeling stuck around your niche and messaging. And I'm so excited, I'm so excited. <Laugh>, there is nothing I love more in this world than to coach like I could not be happier than when I'm coaching <laugh>.
Anna Rapp (01:40):
So make sure that you sign up for the workshop. I'll drop the link below. It's absolutely free. You get a free workbook, free coaching workshop next Tuesday. And then also remember to join the wait list for getting coach your first client, your first or next client because at the end of this month we're starting a new route of my group coaching program. It's a small group coaching program that I run a few times a year and it really is designed to help you do two things, sign paying clients and get better at marketing in your business if you're a coach, this is a coach specific program. And also help you work on your coaching skills because I find for a lot of res women, the reason they're not signing coaching clients is they're feeling a little insecure about like, okay, but if I sign them, would I get them results?
Anna Rapp (02:22):
And so how I support you in that is not just by helping you sign clients but also helping you work on your coaching skills and the backend of your business. Sophie, you feel confident signing clients into your practice. I'll drop the link for that too. If you sign up for the wait list, you get $200 off when the doors open. So make sure you sign up. Okay, let's dive in. So today's topic I'm super passionate about again because this held me back so much in my business and just the fact that I didn't quite get marketing right? If you aren't fully booked with coaching clients, it probably isn't because
Speaker 2 (02:58):
You're not a good coach, it probably is because you don't quite get marketing yet, okay? And I don't say that in a mean way. I say that and like maybe it's a skill you've never learned. Like maybe you didn't go to school for marketing, maybe known in your family, owned a business and you didn't have to learn the skill of marketing in sales, right? Marketing is something that you can learn, which is a blessing, but I think a lot of women come in and they make themselves wrong for that. Kinda like I talk in about in my book Freedom Fund, right? Like money is a skill, money management, finances is learned behavior, things you have to educate yourself on. And so don't feel bad as a strong woman, especially if things have come easy to you before, right? If you feel like marketing isn't something you've learned yet and you're expecting yourself to already know it, if you feel like finances is something you've never learned and you're expecting yourself to, no, just tell yourself, okay, this is an area yay I get to learn and grow it, right?
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Okay, so this is your marketing seminar. This is your marketing pep talk in the form of me sharing four things that are going to absolutely liberate and form how you see messaging and nicheing and marketing in your business. And with the goal of you improving your messaging in your niche so that you can sign more paying clients as a coach. Does that sound good? Okay. So four little truths for you, I wish I had these at the start of my business. <Laugh> first one is remembering, and this is relevant, whether you've never signed a client before or if you're getting ready to grow and scale your business and maybe you assign clients here and there, but you're either not yet fully booked or you're really not having the onslaught of interest that you'd like in your coaching practice, right? It's maybe time to refresh your messaging.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Okay? So number one, remembering that your message is your my coach at the start of my business, Lacey sites told me a version of this truth. I think I like called it a this, but anyway, this vibe is from her and that is really remembering your marketing is just an on-ramp to working with you, a marketing on-ramp. And it doesn't define you, right? I think I'm like a creative person, I'm a person that likes to have a lot of integrity. And so for me, I was really locked in around my niche, totally defining every element of me, right? And it's remembering at the end of the day, obviously your messaging should be in alignment with your values and should be in integrity and congruent. But that's different than having it absolutely fulfill you or define you. It's okay if what you market in your business isn't your absolute life.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
And I think a lot of times women are hesitant to narrow their niche because they're like, yeah, but I like to do this thing too, right? I like to do that thing too. I don't want this to limit and define me. And what I mean by that is, for me at the end of the day, like I was actually stuck between a few niches, but why I pick business coaching people ask me this all the time is because I love talking about money, number one. Number two, I love working with super driven women. And I was finding when I was like looking at all the different niches and all the different options, like I was kind of trialing out a few different niches and I was coaching a few different clients in a few different areas. I noticed for my entrepreneurial women, they were driven af <laugh>, they were really going after that.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
They really had that drive and ambition. So for me, I can coach someone on anything and get the results on anything, but for me I really felt like that was what I would enjoy the most. But the cool thing is, behind the scenes in my business, what has happened is yes, people come to me for business and yes, I help them sign clients and grow their business and make more money, right? But in the backend, I also help them with their marriages. I also help them with their kids. I also help them with, you know, their stress level. Like I help them with everything. And so if you're someone and you're like, Ooh, my client, I like to help my clients with a little bit of everything, no matter what you niche, you are gonna help them with everything. Cuz guess what? If you are a parenting coach and people come to you to be a better parent, you're probably also gonna help them on a lot of other things.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Because if you're a mom like me, you know, when we have, you know, a parenting problem, it usually means there's other areas in our life that need some perking up, right? And so just to give you permission of like this is just an on-ramp, the marketing is just an on-ramp to working with you. But once someone's paying you money and coaching with you, you can help them on anything they bring to the table, right? You can't be like, Nope, you signed up to me to talk about your health. You cannot talk about your stressful job, right? Even though their stressful job is probably what's keeping them from exercising and eating healthy, right? And so just allow yourself to sink into that niche. If you're like, you know what? Overall, you know, I have a freebie, 12 profitable proven coaching niches. As you look at that, if you're like of all these niches, the one that excites me most is health coaching, right?
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Even though like I love helping women in their career or whatever, you're probably gonna manifest clients that need that health coaching help, but on the backend are gonna be venting about their career too, right? Like, just remembering it's okay to be clear, it's okay to be narrow, it's just a marketing on-ramp. Okay? The next truth I wanna talk about is your message can change over time. You've heard me say this before, A lot of times when women have a messaging or nicheing resistance, I just tell them, you know, you only have to commit to your message 90 days at a time, right? Not for forever. Your message can change. So really thinking through what are you selling, what are you offering in your business? Spoiler alert, that's your niche. It's as simple as that, right? What are you selling for paid that people have a problem on that they're willing to pay you to help them solve?
Speaker 2 (08:26):
That's your niche. <Laugh>, right? That's your niche. And so really for me, you guys know my story. I really committed to my niche for 90 days and I was like, I'm just gonna talk about this consistently in my social media, in my messaging and my marketing for 90 days and reminding yourself that after 90 days you can shift it if you want to, you can change it, right? And the cool thing is if you have multiple offers, your niche can change a little bit because you're gonna be talking about what the offer is that you're selling at the time, right? Like, you know, for me, I love and nerd out about helping coaches make money online. So I talk about that because my program getting coaches aligned with that. But I also talk to all service providers, right? When I market my mastermind sell with heart because that mastermind is for coaches, but also for women that have service-based businesses.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
And so I really talk about sales in that time that I'm marketing that, right? And so really ask yourself, what do I wanna message for the next 90 days? Not what do I wanna message forever in my life? Okay, next truth around that, the complimentary one that I kind of hint at is, but still you need to pick like, sorry, but you have to pick. Like you have to pick <laugh>. Yes you do. You do. And for me, I was like an Nina f p, like I didn't wanna be like limited down by my message, but I really feel like at the end of the day, this is what I feel like some of you guys need to hear. Boundaries are liberating. Boundaries are liberating. Boundaries are liberating. Discipline is liberating, right? Routines are liberating. And I know, hi Stephanie, happy Monday. I know as an E N F P, I hate someone telling me what to do.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Like the reason we started our business is so that we could be your own boss cuz we don't want someone telling us what to do, right? So in some ways, when we niche or narrow our marketing, right, or we simplify our offers or we simplify our social media plan, right? Simplicity is the way to go when to make more money, but we resist it because it feels limiting and constricting and we're like, no, thank you. I wanna be free, right? But what I've found, every time I've limited myself, either with a boundary or with a sru, a structure or with a niche, I've found that like once I make that decision, I actually feel freer within it, right? This goes back to the conversation, you know, I'm obsessed with, which is like the stereotypical masculine feminine energy, right? Masculine energy is more structured and boundaried.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
And within that the feminine can be creative and flow and be free, right? So what happens when you finally like pick one clear message, right? Even though you're like, I don't wanna be limited, blah blah, blah. Once you pick it and stick to it, pick it and stick right? When you're in it, then suddenly you're gonna have a lot of ideas within it, right? Let's say you have like nine coaching offers and you're like, okay, fine, I'll just pick one because Anna says I'll make more money if I just promote one coaching offer, right? Once you just limit yourself in that way, you'll notice, ooh, I have a lot more ideas of how to promote this one offer, right? Your creativity will still flow, but your creativity will go deep instead of wide deep instead of wide and what boundaries and structure and routines and narrowing and simplicity, what it does is it does not take away your freedom, it multiplies your freedom, but allows it to focus and it allows it to go deep.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Okay? So I really want you to be the best marketing committee you can be for things that your brain tells you aren't sexy. Simplicity isn't sexy, it's boring, right? Routine isn't sexy. It's constricting, right? Nicheing isn't sexy, it's limiting, right? It's not like it is on the other side of those boundaries is that freedom is that creative energy, right? But you have to have those hard lines so that you can color in between them. Does that make sense? <Laugh>? Okay, so truth number four, your <laugh>, my handwriting message gets clear. Okay? I did, I read my handwriting. Your message gets clear over time. We in business want certainty and control. This is life in general, right? We want promises that everything's gonna work out, right? We want so many women are holding back from fully showing up in their business because they're like, I wanna guarantee if I show up and I get visible, will x, y, Z happen an X amount of time?
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Right? And I think, and so then they don't get visible and show up because like for me, how this came across in my messaging is I was like, I wanna be sure I picked the perfect message in niche cuz I don't wanna show up and waste time, right? <Laugh>, I was like, I don't wanna waste time, I don't wanna be wasting time. So I wasted a lot of time not picking, right? This is the thing, like if you show up online, you are gonna make mistakes, you are gonna do it wrong. But guess what? That's the path to getting it right, right? You wanna get from like point A to point Z, right? Without any casualties, but guess what? You're gonna mess things up. But also the messing up is the way that you figure it out, right? So what I'm saying about that is like maybe you pick a message, maybe you stick with it for 90 days and then you find out, Ooh, this isn't it.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
I've had clients do that where they picked a message, they're like, I for sure wanna do this type of business. I for sure do. And then a few weeks into it they're like, oh my gosh, I hate talking about this, right? And I'm like, well that's great news. They're like, no, that's horrible news. And I'm like, no, this is good news because we found out you don't wanna talk about this and you found out that you wanna talk about this. Instead. I have clients all the time where they're like, Anna, I'm so stuck in scaling my business, I can't get past six figures. And then when we get into it, we're like, oh my gosh, you are in the wrong business, right? You hate your, you need to massively shift your business. And they're like, that's bad news. I'm like, actually that's good news, right?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Because when you shift your business, even though it might be a tiny step back in the long run, it's a huge step forward, right? And so I think the cool, what I wanna say here is your message and your marketing is gonna get clearer the more you put yourself out there and the more you do it right? And we want so much clarity in our little safe bubble of isolation, right? But that's not how it happens. Cla we get clarity in the work, we get clarity as we're coaching. Like for me, you guys know my story at the start of my business. I coach a ton of people for free with boundaries. <Laugh>, I find most people as coaches aren't getting momentum because they're not willing to do enough free work or they don't have strong enough boundaries around their free work. So it actually brings them long-term clients and money in the long run, right?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
So we talk about in getting coach, so the thing is right for me, I would just like, you know what, I'm just gonna do the work. I'm gonna do the work. And so it's, I stopped downloading freebies and listening to podcasts and taking courses and doing all that stuff. And I just started doing the work. I started coaching people, coaching people, coaching people, coaching people. Not only did that improve my craft, but it also helped me get really confident and really clear in my message, right? And I think when we get stuck in this la la land of marketing and freebies and updating our website and all the backend stuff, like that's where we get stuck at any level of growth in business, at any level of breakthrough. And so if you are feeling stuck right now in your business or life, I wanna ask you how much are you exposing yourself, right?
Speaker 2 (15:23):
In a healthy way, right? We don't just wanna like vomit on the internet <laugh>, right? Like there's certain conversations just for your coach. But in general I think it's like, and, and I think for me, this is what I notice in my life business. I go through different seasons where I am a little bit more private or reclusive or I'm just doing my own work and then seasons where I'm ready to go out and about a, a a bit. And I think some of you who are listening to this are in a season where you need to go out a little bit and it's scary whether it's at the start of your business or at a shift, a breakthrough momentum point every time we put ourselves out there, it's scary, it's vulnerable, right? Because you are putting yourself out there, right? That's why entrepreneurship has such a big potential for profit.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
And you know, satisfaction because there's also the cost. And the cost is are you willing to take risk? Are you willing to put your heart out there? Are you willing to put your belief out there again and again and again and again. That is what God in the universe ask us up and asks us of us in business, right? And so it's remembering that as you do the work, whatever it is that's your work in your business, are you doing it? And are you practicing it? Whether you're getting paid or not, because that's what's going to give the universe confidence that they c it can give you clients because you're willing to do that work, right? Let's say you're a health coach for a second. Are you willing to health coach people and get them breakthrough even if it's for free in a free container?
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Are you willing to do that? Do that. And are you also willing to pitch your stuff for paid and say, Hey, my package is worth $3,000, right? Pay this to me. Your life is gonna be changed. Like it's the willingness to do both, right? Okay, hope this was helpful for you. When you think about these four truths in your messaging, and I'm just saying this with all the love, right? And I really want you again to put on that mindset of it's safe to be better at marketing myself than I ever have been before. It's safe to learn new things. It's safe to like when you think about some of the visibility you do online, whether it's reels or whatever you use to get visible on social media, really telling yourself the message. It's safe to learn new things. It's safe to learn new things again and again and again.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
And I'm resilient and I can figure it out and I will do it. And I trust myself. I trust myself to be resilient in this next chapter to expand and grow. And I'm willing to be brave again. I'm willing to risk again. And I think sometimes when we get comfortable in our coaching business where we're like have some clients so we're not yet fully booked, I think we get to this like comfy place where we're like, yeah, I don't wanna brisk again. Versus at the very start of your business, sometimes it's a little easier to risk cause we're like, we've got nothing to lose. You know what I mean? But I just wanna say it's safe for you to risk again. It's safe for you to try again. It's safe for you to push out and be resilient, to take up space, to be bold and whatever it is you're selling, to see your programs grow.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
And just know that in my heart I say prayers for you, heart center, entrepreneur, ladies, all the time for blessing and increase and peace. You guys know my story is that I was able to save enough money to buy home. I'm actually, if you're listening to this in real time, please say a prayer for me because I put an arm in a house, super, super excited. Not sure if it'll go through, if it doesn't go through trusting that God has something better in store, but really I hope this one works out okay. <Laugh>, I hope this one works out. So please pray. And just feeling really excited and grateful and just almost like a really full circle moment, right? Of feeling like, you know, I'm so grateful I did do some of that limiting myself at the start of my business and nicheing and getting clear and being able to make money and like all of that, right?
Speaker 2 (19:00):
And it really is because I was able to learn the skill of marketing. And I just wanna say, if you're at a place in your business where it's not sustaining you, where you're not making six figures as a coach or beyond, it's safe for you to learn how to market. It's safe for you to learn how to sell, right? It's safe for you to have that new skillset because that really is what makes you money as a coach being good at coaching so that people return to you. But the other half is being willing to improve your skill, your coaching skill, your sales skills, your marketing skills. And so really confirm that within you. And just remembering, like you probably went to school for stuff, right? Like you learn things in school so you can learn whether it is listening to my podcast and improving on your marketing skills that way, whether it is getting a book on marketing, like it's safe for you to literally learn how to market yourself better, how to sell yourself better so that you can get paying clients.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Cuz we know when you get those clients, you're gonna serve them well and serve them with heart, right? Okay. Please, please sign up for the Getting coach wait list if you want more information about the group program that I run. Again, this is a 12 week group coaching program. All coaches of all types are welcome, whether you're a brand new coach or an existing coach. And if you're open to improving your coaching skills or talk about coaching skill and if you're open to doing a new way of marketing online, right? If you're willing to do a new way of marketing so that you can fully book your coaching practice fully, book your coaching practice. I have had clients go through this program to sell out their one-on-one practice. I've had coaches go through this program to sell out their group coaching practices, their group masterminds, right? And I really feel like it is all that I have my best work when it comes to helping you grow your coaching practice. Be a better coach. So proud of this group program. So reach out if you have any questions, but I would love to have you in and honestly,
Speaker 3 (20:46):
I would just love to group coach you if you just wanna hang out with me for three months and get coached personally and get your worksheets reviewed. It really is marketing coaching 1 0 1. And I'm so proud of this program. Okay, my love's heavy, beautiful rest of your day.
PS: In the midst of this challenging time I’ve been asking myself what I can do to help? One of the #1 ways I support my clients is by helping them simplify their business so that they can increase the flow of money without creating extra work. In this season simplified visibility and sales is needed more than ever.
So if you’re craving personal support as you reposition your free and paid work, I’d love to help you simplify your sales process so that you can produce income in your business even during a challenging time. If you want support you can check out my services and book a free discovery call here, or you can send me a DM on Instagram.