To niche or not to niche

The blog you’re about to read will probably contradict most things you’ve ever heard about having a niche in your business…so brace yourself!

There are a few things you won’t find in this blog such as me telling you having a niche is absolutely imperative for you to have a successful business or that if you don’t have a niche, you’ll never attract any clients. 

But what you will find is how I grew my business without a niche (yep, that's right, I don’t have a niche!), tips on how to market your business when you don’t have a niche, and the benefits of not having a niche (that’s right, there are actually benefits!) 

So let’s jump right in!

What is a niche?

Niche is a word you’ll hear a lot when starting a business (and even after you’ve been in business a long time!) but what exactly is a niche? 

In simple terms, a niche is a specific target audience that you want to sell to or work with!

When I say specific, I mean specific!

Niches are usually narrowed down by specifically pinpointing things like gender, interest, age, location, career, and even life events (like people who are recently engaged!). Essentially, you’re building up the specific characteristics of the person your products or services would be for!

If you are going down the route of having a specific niche, what you need to start doing is making sure that all of your marketing is aligned with it. You can use your niche to help you think about what your ideal audience would be searching for, what they would find interesting, or the best platforms to reach them on!

So as you can probably see, having a niche can be really handy BUT it is not the secret key to having a successful business!

How do I know this? Because I don't have a specific niche and I’m running a successful business! 

You don’t need a niche to be successful 

It’s clear to see that having a clearly defined niche can definitely come in handy and help you to market your business. But unlike a lot of coaches online will have you believe, a niche isn’t the be-all and end-all of your business success!

And we can use my business as an example! 

I don’t have a niche. I work with a whole variety of people and businesses from therapists, to people in the food industry, hospitality businesses, and even automotive tech! 

Yet my business is still growing and is still successful. The only thing I really look for in a potential client is their vibe and whether or not I think we’d be a good fit when it comes to working together. 

The benefits of not niching down

As I promised at the start of this blog, I was going to reveal the fact that there are actual benefits to not having a niche!

And a lot of these benefits became apparent when I decided I wasn’t going to have a specific niche for my business so I wanted to share…

Benefit 1: Excitement! One thing I love about not having a niche is that I don’t feel confined in my work. I don’t feel limited in who I work with or how I work. I don’t feel like I can't break through certain walls because it wouldn’t fit into a certain box!

Benefit 2: A larger skill set. I can now say with a lot of confidence that I have the ability to market to a whole range of audiences. So no matter what niche my client wants to market to, I know I can help! I know how to create content for different audiences, I’m really good at adapting my tone of voice and I can help people in the eCommerce industry or the service industry! I’ve also learned a lot of other skills I never would’ve learned if I stuck to just one niche. 

Benefit 3: A lot of random and interesting knowledge. I love learning new things and the variety that not having a niche gives me is something I thrive on. I find it really interesting learning about different industries and picking up different skills. This also is a real benefit to my clients as having to learn about different industries that I’m not familiar with, helps me convey things in simple terms to their audience so they understand things better.

Benefit 4: Elevated services. By learning more about many different industries, I can give advice to my clients from a unique perspective and add to my services every time I learn something new!  So the more I learn, the more I can give. 

How to market without a niche 

The most important thing to do if you’re marketing without a niche is to be as authentic as possible. 

Rather than focusing on having that niche, focus on forming real genuine connections with people. Because you never know what connections will lead somewhere! 

Imagine you’re going for a walk and a person passes you but instead of speaking to them, you just walk past because they weren't the exact person you were looking for. Now imagine you took the time to speak to them and opened yourself up to new conversations and new experiences, that could lead to business! 

The second most important thing to do is not to panic when you see all the other advice telling you that you must have a niche! Instead, always comes back to what feels good to you. 

This is what I did several years ago when I worked with a coach who was trying to confine me into working in the beauty of the wedding industry. But this just didn't sit right with me and I felt as though I wasn’t making any progress. 

So listen to your intuition, if you're creating content for a certain group and it’s really difficult to create, that’s probably a sign you’ve boxed yourself in too small. 

My final piece of advice is to remember that having a niche is not the only thing that is going to attract clients. Things like having a consistent and cohesive marketing strategy (which you can read about how to create here!), having a recognisable tone of voice, and focusing on connections are just (if not more) than important as a niche.

And remember, if you’re offering a one-to-one service, it’s super important for people to get to know you and for you to work with people you relate to and connect to (and they might not always be the people you previously defined in your niche!).

So there you have it- the truth about niches! Yes, they can be really helpful, but if you don’t have one, there are other ways you can market your business and still achieve success!