coaching niche

Find the full transcript for this episode at https://prosperouscoachblog.com/ep-270-arent-2-coaching-niches-better-than-1-listeners-choice/.

Also mentioned in this episode were:
Episode 5 - The Simplest Coaching Business Model
Episode - 108 - How to Develop Your Signature Coaching Program

Before we talk about the few pros and significant cons of having 2 coaching niches, let's get on on the same page about what a smart coaching niche is ...

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript and more resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/269.

How can a coach earn more with less stress and high profits?

In my 6th year of my coaching business I wanted to scale up. All the pundits said: “Group and online programs are the way to leverage your time and increase income.”

I bought into that. Just 6 years into running my membership program and two online training programs I had to take a sabbatical from my business.

During my recovery from stress I looked for a better way that I could enjoy more.

You see, online and group programs require a massive leads list and continuous marketing campaigns to keep them filled and earning well.

Profits can be low because of the pricey apps and team needed to help you do it all. If someone says they make a million doing group and online programs, realize that they haven’t shared profit numbers or the hours it takes to make that happen.

I found a way for coaches to earn well that’s low stress and high profit. LISTEN IN ...

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript of Episode 266 and other resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/266. It is a LISTENER'S CHOICE episode because it is super popular with coaches already.

Also mentioned in this episode:
Nail Your Niche session with Rhonda
Episodes: 140,  99,  7,  108 and 57

When coaches grab a Nail Your Niche Session with me and then ask: "Is this a good coaching niche?" What they really want to know but don’t know to ask is:

Will focusing my energy this way repay me with a consistent flow of clients who are willing to invest?

That's the 6-figure question.

A strategically determined coaching niche is the linch pin for your financial success as a coach. Without that direction and focus your messages and offers will be vague and won’t capture attention. Which means you won’t have that consistent flow of paying clients.

A profitable coaching niche helps you to:

• Quickly become a coach in high demand through momentum.
• Leverage your efforts and contextualize your messages and offers, instead of being all over the place.
• Command higher fees.

Test the financial viability of your current coaching niche with these 5 powerful questions.

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Episode 265 is about what you can do to breakthrough. There are shifts in perspective needed. Find the full transcript with more resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/265.

Other episodes and resources mentioned:  247,  258,  and 79.
Download my free niching guide.

In my first session with a new VIP client, something wonderful happened ... another coach chose their smart niche!

This coach is a highly intelligent person with tons of coaching experience in corporations and coaching firms. Their list of degrees and credentials is impressive and they speak multiple languages!

They are articulate, self-aware and operate with integrity.

I tell you all this because — even with all those assets — the coach started by telling me: “I’ve been stuck wanting to start my coaching business for 2 years but couldn’t figure out my niche!”

Yep. That’s not at all unusual. Coaches are often held back for years because they won’t choose a niche.

The #1 reason? FEAR. It can stop you in your tracks, if you let it. Here's how to stop that.

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full episode and more resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/264.

If you’ve come to coaching after working for someone else — maybe for decades — it’s a huge shift to have your own solo business.

Suddenly, you are completely autonomous. You make all the decisions. No one is expecting you at work. No one will tell you what to do or how to do it. No one but you can hold you accountable for your actions.

That can be terrifying! And it’s liberating. But it requires a big adjustment in the way you think and the rhythm of your work. 

These are things not widely talked about in the how-to’s out there that can make a big difference to your anxiety levels as a coach, your happiness in the work and your tangible results. 

I’ve discovered a little secret … a habit really … that helped me to stop doing, doing, doing for my coaching business in a mindless way. And, anyone can do this. It’s a business saver.

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full episode at prosperouscoach.com/263 and grab your Nail Your Niche strategy session so you can start experiencing all 12 advantages.

93% of new coaches say their biggest problem is not knowing their niche or how to attract paying clients. They are related. 

Some say let your niche find you. Float around and coach all sorts of people about any topic. You love the process and just want to coach. I get it. 

If you aren’t ready to become an entrepreneur and earn well at coaching that is a good approach. 

But if you want to leave your current job and make coaching your new career and if you're serious about being your own boss from now on … give yourself ALL the advantages by niching in a smart and profitable way. 

That single decision will empower you for long term success with exciting opportunities you can't even imagine yet. There are 12 huge advantages to a smart niche. 

I’m talking about your life getting easier because you make one smart choice and stick with it … 

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find this episode and more resources for coaches who are serious about their success at prosperouscoach.com/261.

Also linked to in this episode are Coach Training Alliance and Episodes 65, 75, 258, 125, 218, 60, and 223.

New coaches often go looking at other coach’s websites and become worried … is coaching too saturated? Should I be more like this coach?

And, some of the sites seem like ghost towns. The content is clearly not current or there are out of date events, which can seem even scarier. You might be thinking … what happened to this coach? Will I flame out too?

So, look, just like all entrepreneurial pursuits, many coaching businesses don’t make it.

It’s definitely not because the coaching field is too saturated. There is plenty of room for you! 

More likely it’s because the coach lacked determination and didn’t do enough to stand out in the crowd, which is critical in this marketplace.

Building and sustaining a coaching business is a creative feat. And, you can do it! 

Let’s look at 10 specific things you can do right now and keep doing that will make all the difference and help you become a coach in high demand faster.

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Two years into coaching, I was commiserating with another new coach. Most of our clients only invested in 3 months of coaching. That meant we were in a constant state of chasing clients.

We were clueless about how to find more coaching clients. All the low hanging fruit had been picked — colleagues, friends, and friends of friends. You too?

I’d had a sample coaching session with them all, which was part of the problem. Those who enrolled didn’t perceive the long-term value of coaching. 

I still hear coaches say:

Where are the clients who get the value of coaching enough to invest in it?

Chasing coaching clients instead of attracting them has to do with:

1.     What you’re selling.

2.     How you’re selling.

3.     How you think about what you’re selling. 

Let’s dig into this ...

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript for this episode and more resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/257.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with coaches living in 16 different countries. It’s been a delightful and culturally expanding experience with each one.

Have you ever thought about serving international clients in your coaching business?

Most often, new coaches are not thinking about that possibility because, at the moment, they just want to attract any client they can get!

But once they land on their ideal target audience and niche, they start blue sky dreaming in ways not previously imagined. The idea of an international clientele becomes more appealing.

And, there’s one big reason why that’s a strategic choice, which I’ll explain.

Plus, there are other reasons for opening your business to cross border clients and a few challenges as well. Only one is a deal breaker in my mind. The rest can be managed in partnership with your client.

Let’s explore whether having an international business is right for you. 

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is a Listener's Choice episode because it was popular with coaches before and I don't want you to miss it!

Recently,  one of my VIP clients asked me to share the #1 lesson I’ve learned in my 20 years of running my coaching business. Find the full transcript for this episode and more resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/256.

I have a feeling you’re going to be surprised by my answer … the best lesson boils down to LESS IS MORE.

It took me a long time to learn this lesson. Now that I have integrated it fully into my business and coaching mindset and habits I see the real power of this lesson. It applies to so much, not only in business but other aspects of life. It's about ease and happiness as well as earning well.

And I’m so grateful to the experienced coaches and business owners who shared this wisdom with me long ago. 

I'll share 4 ways that less means more for your coaching business. 

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find this episode transcript and more resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/254.

Are you networking to build connections in your coaching business, yet? If you are, that’s smart.

Networking isn’t just about meeting potential clients, although that can happen. It’s more about having a professional community and leveraging the resource that’s helped businesses thrive for hundreds of years — other business owners.

You can meet centers of influence or an opportunity might find you. I’m lucky that happened for me. Networking can spark long term mutually beneficial connections and referral partners.

If you’re not networking because it’s uncomfortable, I get it. It has been a big challenge for me. And I think most people find networking difficult, but not my guest today ... 

She loves it and will share tips that will take the squirm out of this for you. By the way, she’s a coach!

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

In this episode I share details about a coaching session I had with a coach where her money mindset shifted. Find the full transcript and more resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/251.

Also mentioned Episode 82 about the mindset "ACT AS IF".

How is your money mindset, Coach?

A healthy money mindset is a make it or break it thing in coaching business success — especially when it comes to confidently asking for money from potential clients.

It’s fascinating because it doesn’t matter if a coach had a high-powered job before, how much money they earned, how many certifications or degrees they have, or even how confident they appear — I hear the same admission from coaches …

“I’m afraid to ask for money!”

I felt the same way until I made some mindset shifts. I now know how to attract clients in a non-salesy way. And also, I’ve discovered the power of investing in one’s future.

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript of this episode, which you might want to print out, at prosperouscoach.com/250.

If you are putting yourself out there as a life coach and talking about life coaching on your website and on socials, you may face some or all of these common challenges:

•   Potential coaching clients have trouble justifying your fees.

•   You aren’t earning enough to even cover your costs.

•   Your friends and family don’t really understand what you do.

•   You're getting too few referrals.

•   Your groups don’t fill.

•   Networking isn't working.

•   Your social posts about life coaching topics don’t get much traction.

I hear these complaints from new coaches all the time. And, I always encourage them to refine and pivot instead of quitting.

Let’s look at these 7 challenges as symptoms of one root cause — it may surprise you what it is and also be a big ‘aha’ that helps you realize there’s nothing wrong with you or your coaching. It’s something else.

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript for this episode and more helpful resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/249.

Also mentioned:
Episode 184 – How to Charge More for Your Coaching
Episode 191 – Low Pricing Could Kill Your Coaching Business

Initially I thought being a professional coach would be like being a therapist. People would find me in listings or by referral, keep buying sessions for years, and refer friends. A few years in, no coach I knew had a business like that. It set me to studying successful coaches.

Now, I like to test a coaching niche idea and see if it has “legs”. The coaches I work with look for confirmation in 2 ways:

1.     Their chosen audience is viable — actively seeking solutions and willing to invest in resources.

2.     Their niche is designed to fit their audience’s stated big goals and the problems in the way.

This keeps my clients from coaching niche mistakes that would slow them down. It sets them on a confident path.

Did you test your coaching niche before creating your website and putting out content on the socials? It’s never too late.

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript for this episode and other resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/248.

When you need it most, confidence is elusive. As a new coach, you are on a roller coaster of fear, excitement and overwhelm with imposter syndrome always in your face. I know that place!

One of my current clients is in the Market Research phase of developing her coaching business, which will assist every aspect of her business — from writing the most compelling web copy and determining the milestones of her signature program, to exactly how she'll market every day. 

I'm so proud of her for diving in to do the interviews even though I could tell she was initially afraid. I was totally confident in her abilities. Which is easy for me, right?

See, she had no basis yet for confidence on that project. 

And that’s what you need to know first … you cannot have confidence about something you’ve never done before, but you can have courage.

Courage is even better than confidence. It can take you anywhere you want to go!

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript and other resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/247.

Nail Your Niche - 90 minute strategy session with Rhonda Hess

Also mentioned, Sofia von Celsing, coach to high achieving women leaders.

Why do some coaching niches never pay off?

Coaches, with their big hearts, tend to focus on what their audience NEEDS. But I found out through trial and error that marketing a coaching niche that focuses around needs rarely results in enough clients or income. And I think coaching around needs can wander extremely close to therapy.

People buy support to get what they need from known resources like therapists or doctors.

Coaches that focus their niche, marketing and offers around what their specific audience WANTS —their BIG goals and the BIG problems in that way of achieving those goals — will get more traction, attract more clients and earn more. And by the way — those are things you want.

Another reason why certain coaching niches fail is that not all target audiences are viable — by that I mean the audience is easy to access, full of seekers and eager to evolve. Let’s dig into that and I’ll have lots of examples for you.

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Here is the full transcript for this episode and other resources for coaches.
Other episodes mentioned include:
Episode 41 - 5 Questions to Test Your Coaching Business Integrity
Episode 102 - No One Can Succeed in Their Coaching Business Without This
Episode 215 - 4 Ways to Stop Feeling Lonely in Your Coaching Business
24 episodes about money mastery

Early in coaching, I longed for someone who could step me through exactly how to succeed in my coaching business. It’s fun to geek-out on coaching skills, but that didn’t help me where the rubber meets the road.

Where was the guide who could take me step-by-step on the business side — help me zone in on what works? Online tactics training wasn’t personalized and was missing foundations of business success.

Nine years in, I launched Prosperous Coach because I was then surrounded by new coaches who had no business roadmap either. Step-by-step guidance is one of my zones of genius so I filled that hole with VIP mentoring.

There is a clear difference between the mindsets and actions that help you succeed in your coaching business and those that could end with you quitting and losing all your equity in this career. This episode is about 7 specific tipping points to land on the positive side. 

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript for this episode at prosperouscoach.com/239.
Also mentioned episode 229 Why is it Hard to Sell Coaching?

Ten years into my coaching business it dawned on me that selling coaching sessions was keeping me from earning well.

At the time, I was continually frustrated with:

1.     How I was chasing every client and every dollar.

2.     How I was working too hard for my income.

3.     That my clients were not ideal clients for me.

4.     How most clients would not stay with coaching long enough.

5.     How difficult it was to plan my time because I never knew how many clients I’d be serving.

Can you relate to those frustrations?

I worked on a solution that solved them all using strategic thinking. Honestly, I hadn’t done that much before then. Like many solopreneurs I was just scrambling day to day to scrape together a good income.

I want to share the solution I came up with that forever erased those 5 business problems. This will be eye opening! 

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript for this episode here.

Other episodes related to and mentioned in this episode:
187 to create your Avatar
225 for 5 ways to limit yourself for success

Coaches spend a lot of money, time and hard work developing their coaching skills, niche, offers and more. Then, over the next 18 months after launch, one of three things usually happens:

1.     Some stay true to their niche, leverage everything they’ve created and earn well.

2.     Some get distracted by opportunities that don’t align and lose momentum.

3.     And some give up because they don’t have the focus or drive to stay the course.

I feel compassion for all coaches. Focus and drive requires a lot from a human being and it is not easy. But it can be learned.

You’ve probably heard that only 1 in 5 entrepreneurs make it to year two. Well, I’m serious about improving the ratio of successes to failures among coaches and do everything I can to set my clients up for success.

How can YOU be sure that you are still in business 1, 2, 5 … 10 years from now? Let’s talk about how to stick and stay true.

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript for this episode and more resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/237 .

Have you ever gone through something truly arduous and come out stronger and wiser than you were before? I have — so many times.

It could have been a health crisis or relationship crisis. It could be a tragic loss of someone or something — some part of yourself that you’ll never get back.

I hear poignant stories from many coaches that hire me for a Nail Your Niche session. They share how they overcame something – by facing the truth, studying and learning to care for themselves.

So often those stories are a clue to the coaching niche they’ve been seeking. In many ways their personal transformation makes them far more credible than a pile of credentials.

Let’s talk about the coach archetype that emerges from personal healing journeys. You may have this archetype and it may shape your coaching business with meaning.

Other Episodes mentioned:
17
73

Coach's Companies mentioned:
Sofia von Celsing
Synergistic Stepparenting
Thriving Moms of Autistics
Live a Life After Loss
Fibromyalgia Coaching Institute

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.