No, you don't have to niche down -- you can bring all your interests into your authentic business!

No, you don't have to niche down and constrict your passions and skills and experiences down to one specific problem that you solve or one specific goal that you help people achieve. Or using one specific niche, you don't have to niche down. So that's what I want to talk about in this video and where this comes from is that I have been coaching thousands of solopreneurs and really multi passionate people over the past 13 years. And this is one of the most common pains that they, that they come to me with. They tell me, George, I have heard from other marketing experts that even though I have these different passions and interests, I have to just choose one of them. I have to just get down to that specific pain point that I help or specific set of pain points within a certain niche, within for a certain type of person or within a certain stage of their journey. I have to get down to that specificity in order to have a successful business, in order to have people buy from me. And well, I have seen many people try to niche down. Right. So what has happened, maybe some of you have had that experience too. And I really encourage you to comment below and share with us what your experience is, has been of niching down. I've seen so many people do it and yes, some people are able to make it work. People buy from their narrow niche and they're happy with how it went. So yes, that's true. And yet many people, especially the kinds of people that I tend to work with who are multi talented, multi passionate, maybe a very, very holistically minded where they see connections from for everything. And so it's hard for them, it's painful literally for them to kill all the connections and just go, I'm only doing one specific thing. So that's what happens is they try to niche down. Either they can't and then they think they're a failure or they niche down and then before long they realize they're not happy because it's not, it doesn't really speak to their authentic business, the whole of what they can bring into the service that they provide for their clients. So here's the main message I want to share in this video. It's not really about niching down if you want a successful business. It's about credibility. So have you ever had that friend who has so many different interests and then they just, you know, and you enjoy hanging out with them. So when they say hey, let's today, let's go and try this thing that we've never done before or that you've never done before. I. I enjoy it sometimes. Let's go try some hobby, some activity. They're like, cool, yeah, okay. Because you just enjoy hanging out with them. And then, you know, a month later they're like, hey, I want you to read this book. And it's not, it's not something you and they have ever talked about before, but hey, I want you to read this book. It's really good. And you don't think they're an expert in this topic, but you like what they're what you generally like their values and their way of thinking. And so you're like, sure, I'll go check out this book on a topic that we've never talked about. And I don't know that you're an expert at it. Okay, this is what can happen when you have an authentic business. This is what I've been talking about for years. When you have credibility with people, you can offer just about anything. And if they want it, that's the key. Obviously, you know, let's. Your friend. If they, they introduce a book to you, if you don't care about the topic, no matter how expert they are, and it's like, oh, thanks, but actually, I'm not interested in that topic. You know, that's fine. You don't have to, you know, but you still like your friend. You. So, so if you have credibility with an audience, you can sell anything. And if they want it, they'll buy it. Today, a lot of you, gratefully, I have credibility with a lot of you. You, you trust my values overall. And you, you know, believe you, you enjoy the way I think, maybe the way I teach. So today, if I launched a how to make origami course. I've never talked about this ever, right? None of my content's about origami. You've never seen me do it. You know, you don't see any origami in my office. But if I launched how to how to make origami, I bet some of you are going to buy it, right? If you want it, right? Like if, if especially something you've been thinking about. Or, or let's take a totally different topic. Let's say today I want to launch. I'm going to launch an online course about how to gracefully set boundaries with family members. Let's say. Now, I've not, I've never really talked about this. I mean, you could say that I have had some adjacent, you know, in my joyful productivity, maybe there's some adjacent, you know, connection to setting boundaries with family members. But I've never really taught about it. You don't see me as an expert on family relationships or family dynamics. Right? You don't. But you like the way I teach and you like my, you we are aligned in our values. And so if I sold you a course on how to deal with family dynamics and, and of course, on that sales page, I'll explain what my, what I think about it, you know, what, what my perspective is on it and what might, maybe my experience on it, why I think I am credible to teach this class. I will explain on that page and what kind of things we're going to cover in the course. Some of you are going to buy it, I'm pretty sure because I, I have, generally, I have quite a bit of credibility with some of you. Do you see what I mean? So it doesn't matter what I sell you. I have credibility with you. So you're going to buy from me generally, all kinds of different things. I could sell you, I don't know, I mean, I could sell you how to, how to, how to garden. I'm pointing at a plant I have here in the office. How about, oh, I, I, I, I have shown you several plants in my office. So you might, I might say how to have a thriving home plant, you know, situation. I don't even know what it's called. You see, it doesn't matter if I have credibility with you, you're going to buy it. So this is true with your audience too. If you have credibility with them, if they trust your values, if they like your presence and your style and the way that you talk, teach, write, whatever it is you do, you can sell them anything and if they want it, they will buy it. You can sell them one thing today and a completely different thing next month. Today I will sell you my house plant course. Next month I will sell you, you know, how to downhill ski course. You didn't know I was a downhill skier, did you? You didn't know that I'm not, I'm bunny slope right over here. But, but if I were, if I had the secret hobby, didn't know I was a professional. I am really good at downhill skiing or whatever. Is there uphill skiing? I'm not sure why I'm saying downhill, but you see what I mean? I don't know what I'm talking about. But if I, if I, if I did it and you, I never talked to you about it, chances are if I, if I do it often, I'll probably actually mention every now and Then. But see, this is what happens. Like, chances are you're not going to sell something completely out of the blue that you've never talked about. Because if it's a passion of yours, if it's part of your life, if you give energy to it on a regular basis, it's going to leak out in your content. I mean, this is why I talk all the time about why it's so helpful to create authentic content consistently, to show up as yourself, as your whole self. Talking about the various things that you do that energize you that you may want to provide a service about or sell something on one day. You see, like if I were a skiing person, skier, I don't know what it's called again, bunny slope guy over here, right? But if I did that on a regular, on a somewhat regular basis where I could like teach a course on it or sell some product about it, you're going to hear me occasionally talk, oh, I just came back from skiing or, you know, whatever. Like, that would be just part of my content because that's just part of who I am. So then if I sold you some, like, if I became an affiliate for some skis or some ski equipment and I sold it to you, some of you trust me enough generally that you'll go, you know what, I like skiing too. If George recommended, I'm going to buy it. Or George is teaching. Do you see what I mean? So it really, you can, you can be your full self. You can be a Reiki master astrologer and an animal communicator, and you could teach flower arrangement and you could teach dog training and you could be a, you know, software tech wizard and you could be a career coach and you could teach people how to have a better marriage. All of that on your website? Yes, all of it. All of it. Now, some of you struggle with the homepage on your website. George, I, you know, that's really what I care about is, I don't know how to say, do I have to restrict something? No, the homepage is just your values. Hopefully I've just changed their life right now. Oh my God. Really? The homepage doesn't have to be one specific niche? No, your website's homepage, when they come there, by the way, very few people go there. This is important. When you are a multi passionate or authentic business, you are selling one thing at a time. You're not gonna in, okay, so this is what not to do in a single social media post or a single newsletter. You're not gonna say hey, everybody, I would like to sell you my flower arrangement course, but also my downhill skiing course and also my how to have a better marriage course. I mean, why would you do that in one message? I mean, maybe some of you didn't realize you shouldn't do that in one message because it's just like, oh, okay. And some of you. Some. Some of your audience will. Will have so much. You'll have so much credibility with some of your audience that maybe one or two or three people will buy all three of your. Those courses that are completely different. Fine, but generally what you do is you do one message at a time, right? Today, I'm selling you my skiing course. Okay? Two weeks later, I'm selling you my flower arrangement course. You know, four weeks later, I'm selling you my how to make origami course. And, you know, three weeks later, I'm selling you. I'm an affiliate for, you know, this kind of, you know, essential oil or. Or whatever other product and sell it to you. And if I have credibility with you, you'll take a look. If you're actually interested, certainly you'll definitely take a look. So why. I. I like you and you. I want this thing and you're recommending it, so I trust you. I'm gonna buy it. It's. It's. Life is more fun this way, and you know it. Life is more holistic this way. It's more fun when you can sell anything you want and talk about anything you want, because that's the fact. It's true. Who. Who is saying, you have to focus on one thing. Here's where. Here's where I can see why some. You know, this is. This is. You could tell I have a. I have a rant coming on here. It's already been a rant. You might say my rant is about this. So many of you are held back by this one line. Don't confuse your audience. It could confuse your buyers. And a confused mind says, no, who the F is saying this? Please tell me who the F is saying this, because it's not true. I mean, okay, it's like I said, you probably aren't going to sell three randomly different things in one message. I. I get it. That's a little bit too random, you know, but you could sell one thing and then the next week sell a completely different thing. And your email newsletter subscriber, your social media subscriber, if you have credibility with them, they're not going to say, I bought your flower arrangement class the other day and now you're selling me your skiing class, suddenly I don't trust you anymore. Why would they say that? If they ever. If they enjoyed your flower arrangement class, then they enjoyed your flower arrangement class and now they're. You're selling your skiing class and they go, oh, I didn't know you skied and you have some pictures of you skiing and whatever. Oh, I didn't know you. Oh, that's cool. Okay, where's the confusion? I don't get it. I'm confused by this idea of the confused mind says, no, I'm confused. Okay, now I get that on a sales page, when you're describing a service or product, I understand that if you're not describing it well, then people are confused about what the service and product is. Yes, I get it. But I don't get how people apply this confused mind says, no crap and my audience might get confused. If I sell four, eight completely different things, my audience might get confused. Who is the person who's confused? Nobody's. Your audience is smarter than that. Why would they. If they're not interested, they'll just keep scrolling. And they're not interested in your skiing class, they're not interested in your knitting class, they'll just keep scrolling. Oh, I like your dog training. Oh, your dog training class, great, I have a dog. I like you. Why wouldn't I buy from you? It's about credibility. It's. Forget the confused. Like, oh, my website has 12 different niches. Great. That means somebody who goes to your website and go, I'm not interested in your niche number 3 and 7 and 5 and 4, but I'm interested in your niche 1 and 11. Those, those are interesting to me. I'll check those out. Your audience is smart who is confused. Now you might see the search engines might be confused and that, that might be, that might be true. We're not talking SEO here. Search engine optimization. There is a. It is true when it comes to search engine optimization, Google prefers that you are like, each website is a deep expert on one, the narrowest topic possible, right? And yet, get this, Google loves Wikipedia. Mic drop. Wikipedia is the most multi passionate, multi pronged website in the whole world. You go on there, you see everything. Why come Google SEO loves Wikipedia? Why? Because Wikipedia, even though it has a million different topics, each page is quite in depth and people link to that page and they, but people don't go, Wikipedia. I don't trust Wikipedia because, you know, I no trust Wikipedia. And there may be one. Wikipedia is written by lots of people. Yes, that's True, but one. Have you. I mean, I've heard of people who volunteer to write Wikipedia articles and they write on all kinds of things. I mean, would they say they're an expert in, you know, photography and in plants and in, you know, 16th century British history? They probably wouldn't say they're an expert, but they've written Wikipedia articles on it on Easter. Right, you see? I mean, like, stop it with the whole confusing my audience with multiple niches. No, it's about credibility. So let's talk a bit about that before finish this video. It's going a bit long here. So credibility comes from a couple things. It comes from connection, caring connection. It comes from content, comes from collaboration. Right. And it comes from. I'm trying to think of another C. But it's. It comes from the experience they have with you on particular topic. So if you could find another Steve for me, that'd be great. So let me collaborate. So connect. Caring connection. This is that example where you have a friend that you like. You like hanging out with your friend, and they suggest you all kinds of random activities and random topics to research and rent. And you're like, great, I like you. I like the way you think. I like your values. Sure, I'll check it out. Even though I don't think you're an expert in this, you recommended that to me. I like. I'm. I'm looking at this topic right now, so I'll check it out. So that's caring connection. Meaning. And that's how that translates to your marketing and your audience. Well, if you're, if you, if you, if you have been, you know, messaging with your audience, you know, maybe they comment on your things every now and then, and you, you reply to their comments or you message them, and maybe you talk to some of your audience members, they like you. They. They feel that you really care about them as a, as a per, as a server service provider. Your clients, of course, feel your caring connection, too. Think about your clients, right? The people who have worked with you, they feel your caring connection. If you were today, you find out, let's say you are a relationship coach, great. And, and they like you generally. Do you think they think you're trustworthy and a caring person and, but you're a relationship coach, let's say today they told you that they're interested in visiting, you know, Italy or whatever, and you say, oh, my gosh, you know, I, I've been thinking about visiting Italy. Let me give you some resources on what I found on Italy. They're not going to go. Yeah, but you're not an Italian expert. I'm not going to trust you. No, they're going to be like, great, I like you generally. Now, they might not trust some random other person who sends them. You see what I mean? They're not going to transm. Random person who sends them links on Italy. They're like, what? I don't know who you are. I don't trust you. And, but somebody that I. So carrying connection creates credibility that they're, they're going to be, if they're going to be willing to take a look at your, whatever new product or new resource that you're suggesting, and if they want it, they will buy it or check it out. They will consume it. They will buy it. They'll, they'll sign up. Okay? Caring connection. Content number two. If you have seen me talk about how to breed rabbits, okay, I think rabbits breed on their own, but if you've seen me talk about how to breed rabbits again and again on my content. And now I'm going to sell you a rabbit breeding course or rabbit breeding supplies. Here's going to say, George, I, I've seen you talk about rabbit breeding for, for, for months now. You're going to sell me this rabbit. Sure, of course. I trust you, Autumn. You see, that's where credibility comes from as well. Content, collaboration. Okay. If I, if you are a horse, horse person, okay, you, you, you love riding horses, taking care of horses, being with horses. And I, you've never heard of me. Yeah. I have no credit, but suddenly your horse trainer, your horse mentor introduces me as a fellow horse trainer who works with, you know, I don't know, some aspect of horse relationship. I don't know much about horses. But you're going to say, like, I don't know who you are, George, but my mentor recommended you and you did a webinar together. You had a collaboration. Now I trust you as well. I'm going to buy your course. I don't know who you are and you don't, you don't even have to realize that I am, you know, on the side. Most of my time I talk about Facebook ads or I talk about, you know, household plants, but in this collaboration, this webinar you attended, I talked about my horse product. And so you, you know, you're not going to go. Well, before I buy your horse product, I'm going to go and research everything about you. Oh, you also sell house plants. Now I don't trust you anymore. I'm confused. Who's going to say that you're on the webinar. I sell you the horse product, you buy the horse product, end of story. Or you, you, your horse mentor sends you a link to my sales page, specifically my horse product and why I'm credible to sell this product. And there's no confusion. You just, you're on that webpage or you're on that webinar or you're on that social media post. That's all you're seeing. If you're looking for it and if there's credibility, you buy. So be everything that you want to be with your audience. Don't worry about confusion. There's no such thing if you have credibility. Now, I understand people say niching down because I'll, I'll just give my final kowtow to the people who are all about niching down. They're giving you a shortcut. Because if you niche down and focus on only one thing, then naturally you're going to create a lot more content on that thing. So you get credibility there. You're going to do a lot more collaborations, just about that one thing. So more chances of people buying from you and you'll, you'll just have more caring. Every time you connect with someone, you're talking about that one very specific thing. So, yes, I get it. But, you know, it's just, it doesn't feel quite right. Of all of who you are. Be all of who you are and sell one thing at a time. Yes. On the sales page, just talk about one thing. But you can have 28 different products, 28 completely different niches on your sales page, on your website, just one sales page at a time and you promote one thing at a time. You could promote something different every month for sure. You could promote some. I could promote rabid breeding this month and I could promote how to install lights in your home the very next month. And if I have credibility with you, you're going to buy. And if you're interested, obviously you might be interested in installing lights. And one month you saw me selling my rabbit breeding course. You're like, I, whatever, scroll past it. You know, I don't care. Oh, you want to learn how to install lights. And I like Georgia. Great. So I hope this is liberating to help you develop your authentic business. And thank you for joining me. I look forward to your comments and your examples below. Thanks.