You are not alone if you are still struggling to figure out your niche. Almost every Virtual Assistant I coach is struggling to find their niche so thought this would be a great topic today…

We all know the RICHES are in the NICHES right?

Then why do we always have such a hard time figuring out our niche? I mean if finding our niche means making more money then it should be NO PROBLEMO to figure it out, right? 😉

In a nutshell, figuring out your NICHE doesn’t have to be overly complicated so let me break it down for you:

N-ARROW. First, narrow down all the skills you are proficient in by putting all your skillsets down on paper. Take a strong look at these skills and see if any patterns start to form in any areas. Typically you will lean toward administrative, creative, or technical skills. Take some time here to narrow them down to figure out which skills you are most proficient in.

I-NDUSTRY. Next, write down on paper any experience in any specific industries you have gained over the years, and if so what are these industries? For example, maybe you’ve worked for years doing payroll/bookkeeping and you are well versed in the specific tools, software, programs and lingo working for Accountants.

[Most likely you are starting to see a pattern form here by narrowing down your skillsets and figuring out what industries you have experience in. If not keep studying what your wrote down or ask your coach or accountability partner for their feedback.]

C-LARIFY. Now thinking about those skillsets you have and the industries you are experienced in I want you to clarify (again on paper) what the pain points are for this market. Because if you know your clients’ pain points, that will help you serve them better.

[By this point you probably have a strong direction about a few niches that you could do.]

H-EART. You still have to take into consideration when choosing your niche if your HEART is into it. Does this niche even interest you? It doesn’t have to be a perfect fit but if you are passionate and your heart is into the niche then you’ll stick with it and persevere. Whereas if your heart isn’t in it, well you won’t stick with it when those common business challenges come across your desk that every business owner experiences at some point.

E-ARNINGS – And last but SUPER important is potential earnings! Could this niche make money for you? If not, it’s probably not a good area to niche yourself in. So now it’s time to go do your research and make sure there’s earning potential in this niche.

And those are the main points you need to consider when trying to figure out your niche.

Don’t miss my VA Summit starting in a few days to learn more about figuring out your niche!

Craig Cannings is one of 20 speakers and he will be speaking on “The Fine Art of Niching Down”. One of the absolute BEST strategies to consistently attract great clients is to NICHE DOWN! When you specialize your services in a specific market, you become distinct, memorable and in-demand! In this session, Craig will discuss a simple, 4-step process to discovering the RIGHT microniche for your business. He will also share what specific niches will be in-demand in 2022 and how you can position yourself for great success! Don’t miss this one!  GRAB YOUR TICKET HERE

NICHE myths I thought needed to be addressed today too:

1. If I niche myself I will quickly get bored doing the same thing over and over again.

I’m a jackie-of-all-trades so in the beginning, I was afraid I’d get bored if I didn’t keep offering a zillion different services. Even when I was a kid I jumped from hobby to hobby. I did knitting, crochet, needlepoint, folk art painting, ceramics, rubberstamping, etc. In school I played tennis, lacrosse, hockey, baseball, was on the track team, you name the sport, I tried it. My point being, I was never happy doing the same thing over again and always wanted to do something new and exciting. The whole idea of niching down bored me to tears!

Then I took a leap of faith on the advice of my coach and gave it a go. I niched myself! Fact is, I’ve never been bored since because I’ve never done the same thing for any clients after 20 years working in my niche! All my clients have different tasks or problems that I solve for them and I love this challenge, it excites me. You will not be bored, trust me, there will always be something more to do or learn in your niche.

2. If I niche I will have to turn away people not in my niche so I’ll have less client opportunities?

Just for giggles, let’s say your niche was helping chiropractors by relieving them of their admin work so they could crack more necks.

Now go to Google and type in “chiropractor business” and you’ll see over 37 billion results. Think you’ll ever in your lifetime have time to sell your services to all of these chiro businesses? I’m thinking not.

BONUS… your marketing will become easier because you’ll know exactly who that ideal client is and where they hang out. The sooner you narrow your focus on a niche, the sooner your message will be clearer to attract your market.

3. I don’t feel I have the expertise to serve this niche?

If you’ve done the NICHE steps above that means you have ‘some expertise’ in this niche already. Probably at least more than any other person within walking distance. Now it’s just a matter of sharpening those skills and becoming an even brighter expert in this niche.

If you love what you do you’ll find that every day you are fine tuning your skills/knowledge through resources and educational training in this niche. Like I’m an expert in Photoshop but every time I turn around there’s another new filter or tool I could learn. It’s doubtful I’ll ever learn every photoshop trick online today but you what? You can bet this confident grin that I’ll “feel” I know more than the person next to me I’m talking to because I love what I do and am well-versed in it.

4. What if I choose the wrong niche?

There are thousands of niches in the world that have awesome earning potential. And guess what? You’ll never know which one will work for you until you “simply give it a try”. 😉

AND GUESS WHAT? The knowledge you’ll gain in the process niching down can be passed onto the next niche if this one was the “wrong” one for you. I’d rather see you learning the process of how to niche yourself by doing it than sitting on the fence for months on end never moving forward. I’ve changed my niche a few times over the years myself and each time I do, I’ve learned from the process and can jump right into the next niche and make it work. The wrong niche is no niche.

That’s it for today…if you want to learn more about finding your ideal clients then make sure you attend my VA SUMMIT on Monday. Tickets here.

STARTS MONDAY > Got Your VA SUMMIT Ticket Yet?