The NEW Way to Niche

You're listening to the PT Profit podcast, episode number 221. Today we're breaking down the new way to Niche. Are you ready? Let's get started.

Hi, I'm Beverly Simpson, former fitness manager turned online personal training business owner. And this podcast is where smart fitness professionals, including trainers and clinicians, discover how to increase client performance in movement, package and position their products and services and get out of their own way so that they can increase their revenue to live a life that they love without sleazy sales. Welcome to the PT Profit Podcast.

What's up coach? Thank you so much for pushing play on another episode of the PT Profit Podcast. I'm your host, Beverly Simpson. It's currently Sunday morning and I am on a roll. My kids aren't awake yet and because I am staying true to word and I am repurposing my content on multiple different places, I thought let's just go ahead and batch out some of the episodes. And so today I wanted to talk about something that is a question I'm seeing consistently across my free groups inside of my PT Profit formula membership as well as my accelerator intensive coaching program. And so this is a question. So if you're anything like us, the high achieving coaches, you might be wondering how to pick your niche or how to pick your niche, however you pronounce the word. Because the truth of the matter is the traditional ways of finding your niche are old, outdated, and they might in fact be keeping you from growing your business. And here's why. Most people are going to teach you that. You need to find out you know your age demographics and you need to really be thinking about some superficial components when it comes to finding your niche. Now, I get why they tell you that the ridges are in the niches or that they tell you if you speak to everyone, you speak to no one. And I get it. There's truth in that. The trouble is is that most people will then be like, okay, well I work with women or people who identify as women ages 35 to 40, and it's really surface layer ways of connecting with your audience that are outdated, they're old, they are not specific enough. In fact, they keep you struggling. Because a 35 year old woman in New York City who is single, working full time, doesn't have kids, is going through a much different experience than someone who say 35 in Ohio or even, you know, 35 in the suburbs of New York with two kids, single mom. Their experience is different. So then what happens is, is that then people start to pigeonhole themselves into this box of I can only help this certain type of demographic because that's what my coach told me to do. This is how I'm going to narrow in. And that can sometimes prevent you from generating income. Let's say you' someone who's new and let's say you. You haven't had the experience yet of working with all different types of people. So then the question becomes, okay, well, how do I connect with my person? How do I stand apart in the industry so that I can find my ideal clients? Because really, what people are trying to teach you to do is to stand apart in the space. And. And when you are general, you are running the risk of speaking to no one and running the risk of leaving revenue on the table because your ideal client doesn't realize that you're for them. So in this episode today, I want to break down the new way to actually find your niche without niching. Because the traditional ways, I just don't think that they're helpful. So what I like to help my clients really think about is because what we're talking about in niching is not really demographics. We are trying to get to specificity is going to be your lightsaber. This is going to be what separates you. This is how you start to cut through the noise in the echo chamber of social media is specificity. And you can be specific and layer in specificity in four different areas. And now this is how we are going to find your niche, in my opinion, release trying to find your niche and instead get specific in one or more of these categories. And you will subconsciously connect with your ideal client. And they'll raise their hand and say, yep, you're for me. Because that's what we're trying to do when we're niching. So here are the four layers of specificity that you can start thinking about inside of your business. And it'll also start to remove the pressure from you to have it all figured out. And instead, what I want you to do is start from this place of, oh, this is what I want to talk about. And this is another misstep. Most people will tell you to start with niching, but then you start looking out into your audience. You'll go survey your audience and you'll be like, oh, what? What do people want to hear from me? No, I don't want to start there. I want to start with what are you called to do? What specifically are you wanting to create? And then from there we can work backwards with, okay, well, who needs that? And so Here are the four layers of specificity that I'm going to share with you. Number one is get specific on the problem. So if you know that this is the solution, then let's work backwards. What's the problem? What is preventing them from getting to that outcome? And when you can layer in the specificity in the actual problem, you'll subconsciously connect with your people. So think about it like this, right mom, you know, people will say, so this is the old way. The old way is, oh, I work with 30 busy moms, age 35 to 40. Okay, so busy moms, let's just break that down. What does that even mean? Because the problems that a busy mom experiences are going to be different levels. Like when someone, my clients say, well I want to work with moms. And I'm like, okay, so are we talking mamas? So in the postpartum fourth trimester stage, are we talking mommies? Moms who are in the toddler little, little kid age, are we talking moms? So now we're in school age kids, are we talking empty nesters? Because an empty nester mom is going to experience problems in a very different way than a busy mom who just had a baby. This is what I mean when I'm talking about layers of problems. And so here's the other thing though. Is, is okay. And this is, this is something that was accidentally happening to me is that I would be talking about like pelvic floor stuff and my empty nester moms were like, oh hey, that's me. That's because when you speak to the specifics of a problem, people will self identify. Oh yeah, that's me. She can help me with that. So what are the specific problems that you are solving? And then the second way that you can niche is start to get very specific in your process. So you're going to create your own unique solution, your own unique mechanism. Now this is a concept that came through from this book, Breakthrough Advertising, which is no longer in print. In fact it costs thousands of dollars to find it. And the idea is that when you start layering your own unique skill senses of you, you start to transcend out of the noise and become the fifth layer of marketing where you are one in a, in a market of one. Because what the truth is is there's no such thing as saturation. You could trust that the desires of your heart are safe guidance because there's a reason you're a coach, there's a reason you're a physical therapist, there's a reason you're A personal trainer instead of a kindergarten teacher, instead of a hula hoop artist instead of a Broadway performer. The desires heart are safe guidance. And it doesn't matter how persuasive or tricky or whatever, you're never going to get me to be a kindergarten teacher. That's just not who I am. That's not my calling. And thank God that calling is out there for other people. Because my children, I'm so lucky and blessed to have incredible people who care about what it is that they do, because that's who I want my kids to be around. So you could trust that your heart's desire are safe, guided. So really start asking yourself, what is it? And instead of looking at it as like market saturated, you start looking at the way that you can start being more sophisticated. Because the brain is looking for something that grabs attention. What's new, what's unique and what's revolutionary. And I'm not saying let's go reinvent biomechanics. No, a squat is a squat is a squat. A deadlift is a deadlift is a deadlift. That's not what we're trying to do. But when you start layering in your context, your unique mechanism based on principles, you start to transcend into a new market, a market of one and its specificity. And you'll be able to communicate that type of specific process way of solving the problem and you'll start to cut through the noise and stand out. The third layer of specificity is the actual promise. What is the outcome? Because the process and way you solve, you know, losing or releasing the first five pounds might not be totally different than, than the last five pounds, but the way that you're communicating the promise or the way that you're com, you know, have to go over, you know, overcome some of the mindset stuff, there's specificity in there. So when you are specific, and here's another way to describe your process as something that's different like, and that, and that people miss this step is that if, you know, maybe you're, you're someone who, you really cares about habit based training. Well, there are people out there that think that that's the second step. And what they really need to do is easy is earned and you need to calculate, you need to, you need to do your macros. I'm not here to make anyone right or make a case for what is right. I'm here to help people get results. And I trust that you're here listening to this podcast because you care about the science of training of biomechanics, of movement and at a high level. And so, you know, there are people inside of my accelerators that don't agree. And so that's great. That's, to me is the true, that is the true mark of diversity for me is that we are not searching for confirmation bias. Instead, we are here to listen, to learn from each other and to still go all in on you and your process and the way of being and living. In the end, you can help people where there are now and continue to grow, learn and expand and change your mind. That's a level of uniqueness that you can add. The next thing I want you to be thinking about too, when you're helping people move through solving the problems of the last £10 versus the first £10 in the way that you're doing it. As an example, lose up to 50 pounds without counting calories, macros, or sacrificing your favorite foods. And that outcome was something that they wanted. That came from my context, that came from a habit based approach. So I was working on reaching the people that were ready for this type of transformation. Now, if I was a macro person and I was really wanting to reach the people that needed to solve their problem in this way, I might say something like, intuitive eating isn't intuitive. Because if that were the case then, then why is it that so many people struggle? This is part of what it means to make a case for your process, for your program, is we need to discredit other options. Now, that doesn't mean making it wrong or bad. We're just trying to connect with the person that needs our process. There are people that are very successful with macros. I was for a time, but I needed to release that and I wanted to work with people that were ready to release that. So I'm okay if they're like, now I want macros, but I wanted to work with people that were ready to just start really loving themselves. Lean. Now, part of my messaging and part of the ways that I were to find and connect with those people, those moms, was through using specific language that helps highlight some of their behavior mistakes that they're making without realizing it and then the misconceptions that they were operating from. Well, once I've done that and someone decides, no, I still, that's not for me. I just have a lot of success with this, then great, they're not my client and that's a good thing. We're not here to help everybody. Let me rephrase. We are here to help everybody. But you're not going to be everybody's coach. If I had to only work with Arnold Schwarzenegger, even though his signature is on my college diploma, because I went to a California state school, but I wouldn't be happy with that. I have tons of respect for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Don't get me wrong, he's great, but if he had to be my trainer, I probably wouldn't have stuck to it. Then the last layer of specificity. This is where we can start thinking more about the person, but not in the traditional ways of niching. I already gave you the mom example, example of the person. But instead of thinking necessarily some of the, you know, demographics, start thinking about the psychographics. What are the pain points, the experience that they're currently in, and what is it that they want. And when you can really speak to those things in a way that makes a case for your offer, then the niche is going to take care of itself. People are going to self identify and say, oh yeah, that's for me. This is why I say things like health professionals. I've worked with diets, registered dietitians, health coaches, personal trainers, physical therapists. People will self identify. And then the truth is, when you can speak this specifically in one or more of those categories, people will slide into your DMs and raise their hand and say, like, hey, I know you work with health professionals, but I have the same problems. Can you help me? And then you can decide whether or not you want to. For me, I've helped people that are in preventative systems or in, like, senior care. I've helped people across all different kinds of niches because I can. But the reason why I stick to health professionals is because I love it. And this is my industry, this is what I have. These are the metaphors, examples that I use. I know what it's like to go to create a business, from business to consumer, and then help others do the same. So this is why I chose health and wellness. But people can. I could essentially use these principles across anyone who wants to build a business, but I don't want to because I want to work with people in the fitness and health and wellness industry so that we can raise some of the industry standards. That's what I'm going for and that's what I care about. And when you are very specific in this way, you will cut through the noise and the echo chamber of the world, of the spaces of social media, and then just continue to go all in on you and focus on what is it that I need to say to serve my people today instead of focusing the gap on, oh, I need to just go viral, I need to do these weird trends or, oh, these are the people in my audience. So maybe I'll create for them. Magnetize yourself by going all in on you. Layer in these levels of specificity and then start showing up. Start creating the content for them in a way that is consistent for you. Now you'll hear me say, just post every day is not a business strategy. It's not. But when you really come from it, from this way and you really start thinking every time you post, it's another opportunity to be introduced to someone who's never heard of you before. You might start finding yourself wanting to post more. And if you're there, that's exciting. And if you're really at max capacity, then what is the schedule that you can stick to? Because for me, I get so excited to see and to create and to connect with people in, in the space, in the world, to help them help more people. Because that's, that's what I, I'm here to do. So if this episode helped you and you want to go deeper and you want more coaching and more support on how best you can implement and you can find your niche, find your layers of specificity, then sen a DM over on Instagram @bsimpson Fitness. Let me know that you listened to this episode, let me know what questions you have and we'll go from there. I'm looking forward to connecting with you. I'll catch you on the next episode.

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