Coaches Comment on Highly Profitable Niche Series

February 2, 2011 | Share your comment

Over the last three weeks I had a free video series online called How to Choose a Highly Profitable Niche. If you missed it, I’m sorry, it’s no longer available. But stay tuned because I’ll be doing more teaching videos soon.

The video series drew over 200 comments and I was tickled, amazed, delighted and touched by coach’s sharing their aha’s and also their poignant stories. Many expressed gratitude for no longer feeling alone in what seems like an endless search for the right coaching niche.

To give you a taste of the rich conversations, here is a sampling of comments and, in some cases, my responses. I’ve also provided some references to articles that illuminate some of the struggles and success stories about viable niches.

Bottom Line: You’re not alone in your niche search. There is a highly profitable niche market out there that you’ll enjoy! You just need to know where to look and how to choose wisely for the long term.

Does What I Want to Do Translate Into a Viable Biz?

Mel said:

Thanks so much, Rhonda! I’m currently enrolled in a coach training program and have been confused about choosing a “niche”. It seems to me everyone in class has an idea of who they want to work with/for, what “type of coaching need” they want to work on. But nobody seems to have done any research on whether that “what I want to do” translates into a viable business need.


Continue reading Coaches Comment on Highly Profitable Niche Series

Topic: Niche Marketing for Coaches
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How to Get More Value from Every Business Building Program You’ve Taken

January 26, 2011 | Share your comment

Have you ever invested in a teleseminar, home study program, or live event to get your coaching business off the ground, and then months later felt guilty for spending the money and frustrated that you didn’t reap the promised results? If so, you’re not alone.

But did you waste your time and money? I think not. Here’s why those programs haven’t worked their magic for you… yet.

You have invested in valuable programs full of cutting edge tools and proven techniques to amp up your income and bring you a better business. But without a solid foundation in place, you cannot fully leverage these techniques, even if you do your best to implement them.

Do any of these scenarios sound familiar:

Get leverage by setting your coaching business foundation

  • You’ve learned from the best how to fill your teleseminars or launch high ticket group coaching programs, but you still don’t know where to find enough people to enroll in your programs, and you don’t know exactly how to communicate the benefits in way that has them saying “Yes!”
  • You’ve got all the steps for creating membership programs and other recurring revenue products, but because you’re not certain of your niche, you’re not confident that if you build it, they will come.
  • You’ve learned how to enroll clients using the most powerful set of questions, but you’re having trouble scheduling people into your consults in the first place.

There’s a building block needed before these skills will reliably work for you.

Continue reading How to Get More Value from Every Business Building Program You’ve Taken

Topic: Niche Marketing for Coaches
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The “Shotgun” Approach – Too Much Work for Too Little Payoff

January 18, 2011 | Read 8 comments and join the discussion

Recently, I posted a free 3-part video series called How to Choose a Highly Profitable Coaching Niche. I’m so touched by all the comments from coaches who are:

  • struggling to narrow their niche
  • still giving away their services for cheap
  • or not able to find enough people who are motivated to hire them.

You’re in good company, but I know you’re tired of working so hard and are ready for easy consistent results!

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out my video series now. It seems to be landing with coaches.

The videos will only be up until January 28. And please leave a comment sharing your aha’s (and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a FLIP Video Camera!).

A Great Comment Inspires Another Video

One of the comments was from Ed, who said about Video #1 in the series:

“Rhonda, brief to the point and makes a lot of practical sense. About a year into my business and I’m still using more of a shotgun approach. Still in the process of trying to narrow down that niche.”

Ed’s comment inspired me to do another quick video for this week’s blog post illustrating why targeting a viable niche market is so much easier and takes less effort than selling fill-in-the blank coaching or marketing to a big market.

Ed, this video is for you and for any coaches like you who know that the “shot gun” approach to building your coaching business is too much work for too little payoff.

Click the link to access my video series: How to Choose a Highly Profitable Coaching Niche.

Topic: Niche Marketing for Coaches
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6 Signs That It’s Time to Narrow Your Coaching Niche

January 11, 2011 | Read 10 comments and join the discussion

Here’s one of the first things I hear from most of the coaches I work with:

“I know I need to narrow my niche, but I just don’t know how.”

This is actually a great sign. It means coaches understand that if you’re not getting the results you want with the niche you have, you probably need a narrower one.

The power of narrowing your coaching niche

A smaller niche will bring you more clients? That’s right. Not intuitive perhaps, but right.

But here’s the catch. Coaches may know they need to narrow, but most often they don’t want to give up what they’re doing, even when it feels fruitless. It’s scary to narrow your coaching niche, even when it’s not working for you.

Yet there comes a time when sticking with the status quo is worse than facing your fears. That’s when a reality check can help.

So, how can you be sure you need to narrow?

Signs of a Coaching Niche that Won’t Go the Distance

Here are some tell-tale signs of a fruitless niche:

Continue reading 6 Signs That It’s Time to Narrow Your Coaching Niche

Topic: Featured, Niche Marketing for Coaches
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Where to Start with Your Coaching Business Makeover

January 4, 2011 | Share your comment

Here in Colorado the new year came in on a snow-scented breeze, with an air of purpose. It feels like 2011 is off to a running start.

Is your business feeling the new winds blowing? Mine sure is. I‘ve upgraded my Ideal Coaching Market workshop and moved my membership site over to a WordPress platform. I’m about to launch a couple of new marketing approaches, and some new programs are also in the works.

Where to start your coaching business makeover

All this inspired me last time to write about reasons to make over your coaching business, and that post brought some pithy comments. One coach asked – now that I know a business makeover is necessary, where do I start?

A great question that deserves an in-depth answer, so I thought I’d address it here.

The essence of the business makeover is to systematically go through everything in your business to uncover what’s working and what’s not working, and then replace what’s not working with something better. To make the process manageable, keep your focus on four fundamentals: market, message, offers and conversion process.

Start With Your Niche

Start by looking at your coaching niche. Is it viable? That means, have you targeted a narrow niche market that is accessible to you and ready to invest in their own personal and professional development?

Continue reading Where to Start with Your Coaching Business Makeover

Topic: Coaching Business Tips
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A New Year Means a New Coaching Business

December 22, 2010 | Read 7 comments and join the discussion

It seems like every year I do a business makeover. Somewhere around September or October I go into innovation warp drive, and by January of the next year I have a completely refreshed business.

Right now, everything I offer coaches is getting reworked and upgraded. (Watch for specials coming soon!)

I like it. It keeps me on my toes and rings in the new year in another delightful way.

But why do I do it? And is it really such a good idea to keep changing up what I’m doing? I think so. It’s about staying aligned with what is most alive in my business. And there are more concrete reasons too.

8 Compelling Reasons to Make Over Your Coaching Business

These eight factors have spurred me and my clients to close up a program, start new ones, upgrade, and update to a new business model. Are any of these at work for you right now?

  1. You’ve realized what you love to do more than what you were doing.
  2. You’ve grown new skills and deeper knowledge.
  3. You’ve learned more from the folks you serve about what they really want.
  4. You want to scale up to serve more people, so you can leverage your time.
  5. You’re utilizing new technologies and systems.
  6. You want to model the best practices of your mentors.
  7. You’re amping up your income and profits.
  8. You’ve refined to a more profitable niche.

The most important thing is to let your business grow and evolve as you do. If you’re like me, you sometimes make changes of a lifetime in mere months. No moss gathers on you, because you’re always seeking ways to better yourself, better your life and help others do the same. That should be reflected in your business, because your business is a reflection of you.

Continue reading A New Year Means a New Coaching Business

Topic: Coaching Business Tips
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How to Get Repeat Business from Your Coaching Clients

December 14, 2010 | Read 2 comments and join the discussion

I hope you’re enjoying the week before Solstice and Christmas! Wouldn’t it be great to amp up your coaching income to cover all your holiday cheer? Repeat business from your current or past clients is the least effort, most profitable way.

An often overlooked approach is to simply call your previous 1:1 or group coaching clients to come back for more. You might feel shy about doing that, but don’t. Your call may come at the perfect time and they’ll be thrilled. At the very least, you’ll show once again that your curious about their life and supportive.

  1. Check in about something you worked on together before. Where are they on that now?
  2. What do they want most for the near future? That gap is your next step together.
  3. Have a program or coaching package at the ready. Don’t forget to pay yourself well.

Call rather than email and don’t leave a message. Try again until you reach your past client directly. The high touch approach really works.

Seed Repeat Business Early On

The best overall approach to repeat business is to “seed” the idea of their return before your clients are finished with their current coaching program. Design a natural flow with all your programs that drives clients to your next step. This is known as a funnel or pyramid.

Seed Repeat Business Early OnIt begins with listening to what people in your niche market specifically want:

  1. Relief from pain, correct mistakes.
  2. Solutions to challenges, filling holes in their knowledge base.
  3. Guidance to achieve their ultimate desired outcome.

Convert that “intel” into valuable freebies and programs that will inspire and motivate your prospects to invest. Catchall programs and topics don’t draw as well as very specific outcomes your market wants.

Continue reading How to Get Repeat Business from Your Coaching Clients

Topic: Coaching Business Tips
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      • Barbara "Thank you for responding.  Yes, I'm still doing pro bono work. I have not taken this to the level where I'm getting paid.  You make a good point and although there are a vast number of women in this category, it does make me wonder if you're on the mark here. I was told to focus in on..." in response to How to Attract Clients in a More Coach-Like Way
      • Barbara "Wonderful article Rhonda.  I have been a "pro bono" coach for as long as I can remember.  I have gone through a program, hired and worked with a mentor coach, have a company and domain name,  business cards and a Pay Pal account.  Sounds great you might say!  Well, I haven't been able to take it..." in response to How to Attract Clients in a More Coach-Like Way
      • Angela "I truly truly credit you Rhonda with making me realize how incredibly important this is in business.  Now I run around telling everyone how much THEY need to do it!  Still working on my rebranding but it's coming together soon :) ..." in response to How to Attract Clients in a More Coach-Like Way
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