How to Make Sure You Don't Get Pigeonholed by Your NICHE.

A lot of coaches and creators fear the idea of choosing a niche, because they think they will be stuck inside that niche forever.

It's a real fear, because it happened to me.

But, if I knew what I know now, I could have totally avoided it (and be much further along than I am today).

Let's talk about this so you can avoid my mistakes.

When I first started coaching, my niche was real estate investing.

(the obvious choice, as my background is flipping houses & buying rentals)

Everything I posted was about real estate investing.

My bio and website were all about real estate investing.

Over years, I built up my podcast to getting over 1,000 downloads per episode.

I grew an email list to 3,000 people.

I had a coaching business doing about 30k/month.

All was going well, until...

I totally lost my passion for real estate investing.

If I had to teach one more person how to run the #'s on a rental property...

I was going to puke.

Not that things were that bad...

I just really wanted to do something different.

What I wanted to do was help others start passion businesses.

Specifically, I wanted to help people become coaches.

So, I made the pivot hard and fast.

I shut down my real estate coaching business and started helping people become coaches.

The first month went well. I think I made about 25K with my new offer.

But after that, things slowed down.

My audience was mostly interested in real estate investing.

That was what they came for.

My podcast downloads went from 1,000+ down to 100.

That was when I had to dig my heels in and build a new audience back, around the topic of coaching.

That was HARD.

And, I started to make the same mistake.

My whole brand was about coaching.

This is known as building a transactional audience.

They aren't there for you. They are there for tips about the topic you teach.

If you change your niche, they are no longer interested.

And...

If they become disinterested in the topic, you are no longer of value to them.

You are only as valuable as your niche.

That is, unless you learn to position yourself differently.

How to Avoid This

You must learn to position yourself as a personal brand.

You must talk about the lifestyle you aspire for yourself and for your people.

You must talk about principles and values you hold dearly.

In essence, you broaden your positioning — a bit beyond your topic.

For example, I help people do two things:

1) I help new coaches and creators discover their niche, build their offer, and get clients

2) I help more experienced coaches and creators publish books to get more clients

And, some of my content is around these exact topics.

Perhaps too much of it.

But, more broadly, I stand for a life defined by:

• The freedom to do what you want, when you want, and where you want
• The opportunity to express yourself creatively
• Systems and productizing to create leverage
• Taking care of your health and aspiring to find more inner peace (growing spiritually)
• Being a great parent who is there for his/her kids because they've built a life of autonomy
• Goofing off, having fun, not taking life so seriously
• And a whole lot more

Now, if i don't want to be pigeonholed by my "niche" (books, coaching businesse)...

I need to zoom out and talk about the bigger picture.

I should talk about what it means to be a creator, and why I believe everyone should aspire towards that...

Every single piece of content I create shouldn't be "How to pick your coaching niche" or "5 tips to write your book".

This type of content is commoditized...

Can be created by AI, and...

Pigeonholes the creator to a niche.

(meaning they can't pivot without destruction)

So...

Take some time to slow down and think...

What's the lifestyle I am selling?

Lululemon did this well.

They first sold people on a lifestyle...

Then offered some expensive-ass pants to help people live it.

Go broader and you retain your freedom as a creator.

Create in peace -

Brian

P.S. - Part of what we do in my ​14 Day Nail Your Niche Challenge​ is to define your brand from a broader perspective.

That way you have a plan for creating content that communicates the bigger picture AND sprinkling in the content about your niche.