How to Find an Aligned + Profitable Niche That You’re Excited to Serve

Read time: 5.5 minutes

Today I'm going to show you how to find a niche where you can use your magic, doing work you love, for people who are eager to pay for it.  

Trying to serve everyone without niching, and I would even argue micro-niching, makes everything in your business more difficult.  

Not convinced?  

When you look at your resources, infrastructure, team size, and marketing budget are you more like Walmart with its 10,000 stores and over 2.3 million employees, or more like a small boutique speciality shop on a downtown main street?  

Or imagine for a minute that you were interested in clothing and fashion.

Would you have an easier time becoming known as the best overall clothing store in your area code or as the spot with the best selection for tall men?  

Narrowing down your focus is the fastest way to feel like and actually BE an expert. When this happens, your confidence increases, your message can deeply resonate with those you serve, people will seek you out, you can charge higher rates, and you'll have a much easier time helping your clients achieve the results they're after.  

Unfortunately, many never find an aligned and profitable niche because it can be hard to figure out.

The common mistakes people make:  

• Thinking your industry is your niche and not niching down far enough
• Focusing too much on where you think the "easy money" will be without considering whether you can actually provide this group immense value while loving the work
• Focusing solely on your skills, passions, or interests without considering whether there's an eager and thirsty crowd for what you're offering
  
  

Let's tackle this head on.

I'm going to show you exactly how you can find a niche that you love to serve and is eager for what you offer.  

Are You Able to Provide Them Immense Value? 

If you're reading this, I doubt you're looking to trick people into giving you their money based on FB ads with you posing in a rented Lambo.

That means you need to be able to genuinely help people. You need skills, knowledge, and experience from either helping yourself or helping others achieve the results you're promising.  

How do you figure out who you can provide immense value to?

You could do a full archeological dig on your life and accomplishments, but I find it's easiest if you start by asking yourself these two questions:  

• What problems you have solved or challenges have you overcome in the last few years that you could help others with?
• What are things that people ask for your input, advice, or guidance on?

I became a Habits Coach in 2019 because people came asking if I could help them with their habits. They'd seen me sharing the incredible impact of my journey with habits on IG and how it was making me more confident, creative, and joyful. They wanted those same results.

Up to that point, I was doing leadership coaching internally at the tech companies I was working in while doing some coaching with creative people on the side. 

My next pivot came in a similar way.

My goal was never to "coach coaches and other purpose-driven consultants." Nope. But people began asking to "pick my brain" about how I got clients overseas and started with a full client roster when I quit my Director level role. It was a problem that I had solved for myself, others wanted to know how I did it.  

If you've already worked with clients, reach out to the ones who've had the best results and ask them: How have I been most useful to you?

Their answers will be invaluable.    

Do You Love the Work + Are Passionate About Serving These People?

If you focus solely on trying to find a niche that you can provide value to, or one that you believe is profitable, without also ensuring you are passionate about helping those people solve that particular problem, you'll struggle in different ways.

You’ll struggle to stay inspired through the difficult periods. You'll be dependant on external motivators to keep you going.   

And without passion for the work, it'll be harder for you to connect with your audience in a meaningful way. Passion is contagious and it's hard to fake passion.  

Questions to ask yourself:

• What are things you absolutely love to do?
• What "work" (using the term loosely) would you do for free if you won 100 million tomorrow?
• Who are the people, or types of people, that you enjoy helping the most? What do they have in common?
• What are things that you regularly go above and beyond for?

 
    


Is there An Eager + Thirsty Crowd?

When you find the intersection of people you can provide immense value to and things you love to do, the last piece is finding an eager and thirsty crowd. Why is this last piece important? Without an eager and thirsty crowd you might be able to create a hobby, but you'll be hard-pressed to build a sustainable business.  

What makes for an eager + thirsty crowd?  

They have huge pain that they're compelled to address and the purchasing power to do something about it.  

Things that are painful....  

• Feeling stuck in a job you hate
• Being sore from being out of shape
• Being miserable in a struggling marriage
• Feeling overwhelmed + working 70 hrs/wk
• Feeling lonely + believing you’ll never find love
• Being told you're a bad leader after being promoted
• Worrying you won't make payroll for your employees
• Being afraid to speak up + letting others dictate your life
• Fearing you'll have to go back to a day job after starting a business
  
  

Even if you find people who have a big pain, it doesn't mean they have the ability to pay for your services. A client of mine loved working with students who were desperate for career guidance after grad school. He found the work rewarding and knew it was impactful.

The problem?

Students don't have much money.  

The moustached man circled in the picture below is my pops. In the 90s he had an ice cream business where kids on bikes with freezers peddled around town, rang bells, and slung delicious frozen treats to people on the street.  

We happened to lived on an army base where thousands of teenage cadets came for training every summer.

They were isolated on a camp in the woods, miles from any store, with nothing to do in the evenings. My dad negotiated a deal to have one of his bikes there every night of the week. They were captive, bored, hungry, and had no problem affording the solution being offered.

On his best day, my dad sold over 2000 ice cream treats to those cadets in one 24 hour period.  
  
If you're not sure what your potential Dream Clients are struggling with, look at the questions people are asking on Quora, Reddit, and other forums. Check the comments on YouTube videos and Amazon book reviews regarding your potential niche, and most importantly, SPEAK TO PEOPLE.

Instead of guessing, talk to actual humans and ask them about their big bold dreams and the hurdles they're facing.  

If you follow this guide, do the exercise, and answer the prompts I've given you, you'll start seeing patterns. You'll find unique intersections where you can use your magic, doing work you love, for people who are eager to pay for it.  

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When you're ready, here's 2 ways I can help you

1. Clarity, Clients, + Confidence Workshop: Want to learn exactly what you need to consistently grow your coaching business with clients you love to serve, without the BS? Check out the free workshop here.

2. Die Before They Do: "It's a work of art! The depth and raw humanity is unparalleled!" and "Must read for anyone on a personal development journey- especially entrepreneurs." Those two of glowing five-star reviews of my book Die Before They Do.