1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:04,559 Such a common misconception about niching is that by picking a narrow niche, you 2 00:00:04,559 --> 00:00:08,359 are limiting the amount of people you can work with. But in reality, 3 00:00:08,839 --> 00:00:12,119 when you're starting out, you are going to reach such a small number of 4 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:15,400 those people anyway, you're not even going to get close to tapping out that 5 00:00:15,599 --> 00:00:19,000 entire niche. And once you have grown your business at that point where there 6 00:00:19,039 --> 00:00:23,239 are no more potential customers in that market, then that is maybe when your 7 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:27,359 niche is limiting, and that's a sign that you can start to un niche. 8 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,839 But when you're starting out, the more specific your niche, the easier 9 00:00:31,879 --> 00:00:34,479 it's going to be to become known as the go to person, to become 10 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:41,000 known as the expert in that particular area. Welcome to imperfect Action. I'm 11 00:00:41,039 --> 00:00:44,759 Steph Taylor. For years, I read all the books, downloaded all the 12 00:00:44,799 --> 00:00:49,039 freebies, and did all the courses, but it wasn't until I started taking 13 00:00:49,079 --> 00:00:54,960 imperfect action that my business had its first million dollar year. Imperfect action is 14 00:00:55,000 --> 00:01:00,560 about doing things before you're ready, prioritizing consistent action over per perfect action, 15 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,519 and moving forward even when you're not sure you're doing it right. On this 16 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:10,280 show, you can expect mindset advice, actionable marketing tips and strategies to build 17 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:14,560 a business that brings you more profit, more freedom, and even more joy. 18 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:19,000 Are you on the list to get my daily businesses? Every day I'll 19 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:23,319 send you a bite sized prompt designed to help you grow your business in a 20 00:01:23,359 --> 00:01:26,959 more intentional way. Sign up at Steph Taylor dot co, forward slash DBB, 21 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:34,159 or at the link in the show notes. Hey, welcome back to 22 00:01:34,159 --> 00:01:38,959 in Perfect Action. This is episode seven hundred and thirty six. Today I'm 23 00:01:38,239 --> 00:01:46,640 talking all about target audience, ideal client, and niche. I've realized that 24 00:01:46,879 --> 00:01:52,599 there's a lot of talking about these three different things and using those words interchangeably, 25 00:01:52,719 --> 00:01:57,480 using those terms interchangeably. I recently had a conversation with a coach who 26 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:02,159 she was fairly new, and we were talking about how, you know, 27 00:02:02,599 --> 00:02:07,840 she hadn't quite defined who her niche was, but she knew who her ideal 28 00:02:07,879 --> 00:02:09,840 client was, and she had no idea what a target audience was, and 29 00:02:09,879 --> 00:02:14,439 there was just so much confusion around you know, what is that target audience, 30 00:02:14,439 --> 00:02:15,879 what is that ideal client? What is that niche? What are the 31 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:21,240 differences between those three things and why do they matter? Now? The three 32 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:25,319 of them do often get used interchangeably, but from my perspective as an online 33 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:30,000 business strategist, I don't see them as being the same thing. And they 34 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:34,919 are all very three very important things to know in your business, but they're 35 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:38,199 three very different things. And you know what, I've realized that so many 36 00:02:38,199 --> 00:02:43,960 people think that niching is simply defining your target audience, which it is not, 37 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:46,199 And we'll talk about that a little bit in a second. This episode, 38 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:51,080 I'm going to look at the difference between those three things, the difference 39 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,520 between your target audience, your niche, and your ideal client. And then 40 00:02:54,520 --> 00:03:00,000 I'm going to answer a very common question that I get asked all the time, 41 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:04,280 which is do I need to niche down? So first of all, 42 00:03:04,319 --> 00:03:07,199 let's look at niche. What is a niche or a niche if you're an 43 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:12,280 American Now, most people define their niche by who they work with. For 44 00:03:12,319 --> 00:03:17,000 example, I'm a business coach for heart centered entrepreneurs or I'm a life coach 45 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:22,680 for spiritual women, and that can work, But more often than not, 46 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,080 when I see somebody niching, they are niching for the sake of niche, 47 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:30,360 the niching because somebody told them you have to pick a niche rather than because 48 00:03:31,039 --> 00:03:36,479 it's going to serve their business. And then sometimes when you niche down and 49 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:40,080 you use terms like heart centered entrepreneurs, it can actually leave people scratching their 50 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:46,000 heads, wondering if you are for them, wondering if you can help their 51 00:03:46,039 --> 00:03:49,439 business, wondering if they are the right person to be working with you, 52 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:53,759 because maybe they don't identify as a heart centered entrepreneur or they're not sure what 53 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:57,840 a heart centered entrepreneur actually is. Now, if you are an expert where 54 00:03:57,879 --> 00:04:00,759 you're working with one particular category of people, for example, you're a business 55 00:04:00,759 --> 00:04:06,319 coach for lawyers, or if what you offer can only help a particular category 56 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:13,039 of people because maybe you've developed a framework or a methodology that only works for 57 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:16,560 those people. For example, you're a life coach for CEOs, then it 58 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:23,120 makes sense to niche this way. Otherwise you might be better off niching In 59 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:27,319 a slightly different way. You might be better off niching by the problem that 60 00:04:27,399 --> 00:04:31,279 you solve or the solution that you deliver. For example, you might be 61 00:04:31,399 --> 00:04:35,879 a business coach that specializes in getting people to their first ten thousand dollars month, 62 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:41,439 or an online business strategist that helps you build an online business that's profitable 63 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:44,879 when you're offline. That's what I do, that's my business. Or maybe 64 00:04:44,879 --> 00:04:49,040 you're a copywriter who helps somebody to make more online course sales through their emails. 65 00:04:50,439 --> 00:04:56,959 Or maybe you help people to quit smoking through hypnotherapy, where hypnotherapy is 66 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:01,480 the solution and quitting smoking is the problem. Now I did dive all of 67 00:05:01,519 --> 00:05:08,000 this a bit more in my free masterclass seven Secrets for Consistent Sales. DM 68 00:05:08,079 --> 00:05:11,240 me on Instagram, send me the word masterclass. I'm They're at stephtaylor dot 69 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:14,879 co and I'll send you the direct link or head to stephtaylor dot co slash 70 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,639 masterclass and you'll be able to register for that one over there. Now, 71 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:25,040 what is a target audience? So your niche is essentially who you are helping 72 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:28,800 what you are doing as a business. What is your target audience? Then? 73 00:05:28,959 --> 00:05:31,240 Now, often when I ask somebody who their ideal client is, the 74 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:34,920 answer they give me is something like, well, they are age twenty five 75 00:05:34,959 --> 00:05:39,680 to forty five and live in Sydney and have kids, and they are either 76 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:42,680 in a corporate job or they run a business. That I hear that over 77 00:05:42,759 --> 00:05:46,720 and over again. That's not an ideal client. That is an example of 78 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:53,360 a target audience. Okay, so your target audience is like the segment of 79 00:05:53,639 --> 00:05:57,920 the population who within that segment, there is going to be people who are 80 00:05:57,959 --> 00:06:00,839 like your ideal client. It is the life audience that you are targeting when 81 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:04,800 you are trying to get visible. So for example, if you were pitching 82 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:10,160 podcasts to be a guest on, then you would want to be a guest 83 00:06:10,199 --> 00:06:15,720 on podcasts that have listeners who are in your target audience. Or if you 84 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:19,079 are running Facebook ads, you'd want to target an audience similar to your target 85 00:06:19,199 --> 00:06:25,759 audience. Not everyone in your target audience is going to be your ideal client. 86 00:06:25,759 --> 00:06:28,399 They're not all going to be right for what you sell. But the 87 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:30,800 idea is that within your target audience there will be quite a few people who 88 00:06:30,879 --> 00:06:34,279 are the right fit. So then that brings me to the third one. 89 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:40,279 What is your ideal client. Now, this is often referred to as an 90 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:45,120 avatar, your ideal client avatar, and this is the one person made up 91 00:06:45,319 --> 00:06:50,680 or real, who personifies your dream client. The idea with defining your avatar 92 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:56,639 isn't that you are limiting who you work with. It's about creating focus. 93 00:06:56,680 --> 00:07:00,519 It's about knowing whenever you're creating a piece of content, whenever you are writing 94 00:07:00,639 --> 00:07:05,120 copy, whenever you are creating a new offer, whenever you're writing out messaging 95 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:11,120 for your offers, you're focusing it in on this one dream person. But 96 00:07:11,279 --> 00:07:15,199 you're not saying no to everybody who isn't this dream person. But it's about 97 00:07:15,199 --> 00:07:18,600 creating focus, right Whereas niching, you would potentially be saying no to people 98 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:21,560 who do not fit within that niche. So if you were the business coach 99 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:26,480 who specializes in getting people to ten k months, you would most likely say 100 00:07:26,519 --> 00:07:30,000 no to a client who is looking to get from fifty thousand dollar months two 101 00:07:30,079 --> 00:07:34,240 hundred thousand dollar months because you can't help them with that, Whereas somebody who 102 00:07:34,519 --> 00:07:39,680 is not your ideal client, you can still potentially help them, they're just 103 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:43,240 not that dream client that you are focusing the content and the messaging and your 104 00:07:43,279 --> 00:07:48,439 offers towards. Now, the idea with the focus is that you don't then 105 00:07:48,519 --> 00:07:51,839 have to try and talk to one hundred different people with one hundred different problems 106 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:56,959 at once. You're speaking to the one person with the one problem, knowing 107 00:07:56,959 --> 00:08:00,319 that there are going to be other people within your target audience who have that 108 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:03,879 same problem who are also going to resonate with that messaging, But you're not 109 00:08:03,879 --> 00:08:07,959 trying to talk to everybody in one go, and you're making it less By 110 00:08:07,959 --> 00:08:11,600 trying to talk to everybody in one go. It becomes really confusing, It 111 00:08:11,639 --> 00:08:15,439 can become really overwhelming. It can lead to people asking is this for me? 112 00:08:16,199 --> 00:08:20,240 Okay? So it also means you can dive deeper into your ideal client's 113 00:08:20,279 --> 00:08:24,519 pain points, frustrations, their struggles. You can get into their heads, 114 00:08:24,519 --> 00:08:28,759 you can uncover what they believe, and that makes it so much easier than 115 00:08:28,759 --> 00:08:33,399 to create content that meets them where they are at, and that moves them 116 00:08:33,399 --> 00:08:39,080 towards buying from you, rather than trying to meet your entire target audience where 117 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:43,600 they're at. Now, do you have to niche? Do you have to 118 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:46,080 niche? A lot of people out there will tell you that, yes, 119 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:50,240 you absolutely have to niche if you want to have a successful online business. 120 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:54,559 I don't believe you have to do anything you don't want to in your business. 121 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:56,840 It is your business, after all, you get to make the rules. 122 00:08:56,879 --> 00:09:00,720 If you do not want to niche down, you don't have to niche 123 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:03,720 down. But the great thing about niching down is that. Firstly, it's 124 00:09:03,759 --> 00:09:07,440 not permanent, and I'll talk about that in a second. But the other 125 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:11,200 great thing about niching down is it doesn't have to be what you think niching 126 00:09:11,279 --> 00:09:13,559 down is. Right. So I talked about this a bit earlier in this 127 00:09:13,639 --> 00:09:18,159 episode, where it's not about saying, well, I only work with these 128 00:09:18,279 --> 00:09:22,440 people. You can niche down by the problem that you solve or the solution 129 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:26,080 that you deliver. And when I say that it's not permanent, very few 130 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:31,879 decisions in your business are actually permanent. And the niche that you pick for 131 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:35,799 now doesn't have to be forever. If you are that business coach helping people 132 00:09:35,879 --> 00:09:39,600 get to ten k months, maybe that's something that you'll do for the first 133 00:09:39,639 --> 00:09:43,840 couple of years in your business. And then maybe once you've grown your own 134 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:46,279 business and you've learned how to scale to fifty k months, maybe your niche 135 00:09:46,279 --> 00:09:52,080 becomes helping people get from twenty k to fifty k months. Right, So 136 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:54,960 you can change all of these things. And in my own business, I 137 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:58,480 have niched and pivoted and unniched a few times, and sometimes these have been 138 00:09:58,519 --> 00:10:03,080 really so shifts in messaging. Other times they've been completely big pivots where a 139 00:10:03,159 --> 00:10:07,759 fired clients and started from scratch and retired all of my offers and started again. 140 00:10:09,519 --> 00:10:11,480 Back in episode six forty two, six hundred and forty two, I 141 00:10:11,519 --> 00:10:16,159 shared some signs that you might be in the wrong niche and how to choose 142 00:10:16,159 --> 00:10:20,039 the right niche for you. So, if you want the direct link to 143 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:22,399 listen to that, send me a DM on Instagram. I'm there at Steph 144 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:26,519 Taylor dot co. Send me six four to two, six hundred and forty 145 00:10:26,519 --> 00:10:28,960 two, just that number and I will send you the direct link to listen. 146 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:31,600 Otherwise, you'll find the link to that episode in the show notes for 147 00:10:31,639 --> 00:10:37,919 this as well. When you are niching, I think it's really useful, 148 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:41,720 especially when you are starting out and you ye you're yet to establish your expertise, 149 00:10:41,799 --> 00:10:46,559 you're yet to become known as the go to for something. It becomes 150 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:50,159 a lot easier to make waves in a swimming pool than an ocean. This 151 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:52,440 is Seth Godin's analogy, and I love it. If you think about jumping 152 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:56,159 into a swimming pool, there's gonna be waves, You're gonna make ripples, 153 00:10:56,159 --> 00:10:58,200 Whereas if you dive into the ocean, it's not going to really make much 154 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:03,679 of a ripple impact anybody at all. So if you pick a really well 155 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:07,919 defined niche, it's a lot easier to become the go to person to create 156 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:11,840 those ripples in that smaller swimming pool than it is to try and go out 157 00:11:11,879 --> 00:11:16,080 there and compete with everybody else who is in that larger category, right, 158 00:11:16,159 --> 00:11:20,679 the unniched category. And once you have made waves in the swimming pool, 159 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:24,440 you can look at expanding to more swimming pools or to a bigger pool. 160 00:11:24,279 --> 00:11:28,320 But it's much easier when you're a brand new because there is so much less 161 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:33,159 competition in those smaller, smaller niches. And no, it's not limiting your 162 00:11:33,159 --> 00:11:37,039 business. I know this is such a common misconception about niching, is that 163 00:11:37,679 --> 00:11:41,519 by picking a narrow niche, you are limiting the amount of people you can 164 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:45,559 work with. But in reality, when you're starting out, you are going 165 00:11:45,639 --> 00:11:48,240 to reach such a small number of those people anyway, you're not even going 166 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:52,200 to get close to tapping out that entire niche. And once you have grown 167 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:56,759 your business to that point where there are no more potential customers in that market, 168 00:11:56,240 --> 00:12:00,840 then that is maybe when your niche is limiting, and that's a sign 169 00:12:00,879 --> 00:12:03,600 that you can start to un niche. But when you're starting out, the 170 00:12:03,679 --> 00:12:07,679 more specific your niche, the easier it's going to be to become known as 171 00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:13,320 the go to person. To become known as the expert in that particular area 172 00:12:13,759 --> 00:12:18,320 and specificity it sells, right. So I think about, for example, 173 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:24,559 hairdressers. Somebody who is a hairdresser versus being a colorist that specializes in blondes. 174 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:26,919 It's going to be a lot bit easier to become known as a colorist 175 00:12:26,919 --> 00:12:31,440 that specializes in blonde hair than as a hairdresser because there's so much less competition 176 00:12:31,759 --> 00:12:35,600 and you can do one thing really really well and become known as the go 177 00:12:35,639 --> 00:12:39,919 to for that one thing. Or a business coach versus a business coach that 178 00:12:39,919 --> 00:12:43,240 will help you to launch your first course. There are so many thousands of 179 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:48,440 business coaches out there, but there probably aren't as many that specialize in just 180 00:12:48,519 --> 00:12:52,679 launching that first course. So you'll become known as that person who is helping 181 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:56,320 them to launch that first course. It means that you can speak so much 182 00:12:56,399 --> 00:13:01,519 more clearly to your ideal client, to the problem that you sol and to 183 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:05,720 the specific solution that you offer, and that means that you can become that 184 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:11,080 go to person, you can build up that reputation as that go to person, 185 00:13:11,759 --> 00:13:15,200 and then it becomes a lot easier to grow your business from there. 186 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:18,879 So there you have it. There is the difference between your ideal client, 187 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:22,960 your niche, and your target audience, as well as a couple of little 188 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:26,600 tips about niching down. But if you really want to know how to identify 189 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:31,039 your niche, head on back to episodes six hundred and forty two. Send 190 00:13:31,039 --> 00:13:33,759 me a DM on Instagram at Stephtaylor dot co six four two, six hundred 191 00:13:33,759 --> 00:13:37,080 and forty two. Just that number and I will send you the direct link 192 00:13:37,159 --> 00:13:43,039 to listen to that. And if you're looking to increase the sales you're making 193 00:13:43,039 --> 00:13:46,000 in your business, make them more consistently. I have a free training for 194 00:13:46,039 --> 00:13:48,799 you seven secrets to consistent Sales. Send me a DM on Instagram, send 195 00:13:48,799 --> 00:13:52,120 me the word masterclass and I'll send you the link or head to stephtaylor dot 196 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:56,559 co slash Masterclass and you can register for that one over there. If you 197 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:01,519 have learned anything from this show so far, please take thirty seconds to leave 198 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:03,679 a quick rating and review. It means a lot to me. I read 199 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:07,120 every single one of them, and yeah, it just reminds me that there 200 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:11,360 is humans on the other side of the microphone that I spend so much time 201 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:15,919 talking into. Thank you so much for listening. Catch you next time.