Niche Review
Over the past decade I have helped hundreds of entrepreneurs with their niche
Some people I work with are struggling utterly and bring me the most generic niches (i.e. “I help everyone with everything in every way” [sad trombone]). Some of them know their niche is generic, others bring it to me and show it with pride, not realizing how weak it is.
Some people are actually incredibly close but they think their niche is no good.
Some people have multiple niches and don’t realize it.
Some people think they have multiple niches but it’s actually all the same person at different stages in their journey (e.g. they’re a dating coach and they work with people who have just been dumped, who are getting out there and dating for fun, and those who are looking for something serious).
90% of entrepreneurs I meet are struggling with their niche.
Of course, you could ask your friends if they think your niche is clear. But I’ll tell you what over a decade of personal experience in working with hundreds of people on their niche has taught me: your friends don’t know shit. Do not rely on the opinion of your friends for this. Get a professional opinion. Mine or someone else’s. But your friends don’t have a clue about niches. Neither do most of your colleagues (their niches probably aren’t that strong either).
This is an area in which I feel very strong and confident.
In order to gather examples of niches for a private “niche vault” I launched a contest called, “So, You Think You Can Niche?” I’ve run it annually for four years in a row. I invited people to submit their niche to me in 140 characters as a meme. Those niche-memes were reviewed by others who’d submitted memes, and by myself. 50% of their grade came from the public. 50% of their grade came from me. It’s proven to be a quick, effective and useful format in which to help improve an existing niche.
Here’s How Your Niche Review Works
Step One: You submit your niche for review in a maximum of 280 characters (at the cost of $40 usd).
Step Two: Within two weeks you’ll get an audio file from me in your inbox where I share every thought that occurs to me on what’s strong about your niche, where it’s weak, and next steps you can take. The audio’s have averaged around 4 minutes each so far.
A Target Market Review Not Quite What You’re Looking For?
If you are looking for more theory about niching, I urge you to check out the free resources on this site, and/or my eBook The Niching Nest.
If you are looking for more one on one time and attention to help you properly grapple with your niche then you might consider booking a Puttering Session with me where we can talk it out.
If you are finally ready to roll up your sleeves and do the deep, deep dive and really handle this niching business, I recommend my Membership Program where you can dive into the Niching Spiral Home Study program content.
If you have no business or “thing” yet but you do have a lot of disconnected interests, passions, skills, gifts and lifestyle desires, then I recommend checking out the work of my dear friend Alex Baisley. You can check out a 75 minute, free preview of his work here.
If you’ve got a very clear, big, scary dream you want to make happen, then you might enjoy the work of my colleague Allegra Stein.
Testimonials About My Work On Niching
“Extraordinarily valuable... I have been trying to figure out how to explain what I do since 2006.”
“Just wanted you to know that your Niching Clinic on Thursday was extraordinarily valuable to me. I have been trying to figure out how to explain what I do since 2006. I have worked with more than one online marketing person (whose names you might recognize) on how to describe my niche, but none have come as close as you did in your 90 minute workshop to giving me the depth of understanding that I got from you.
The concept of ‘little circles’ was a blinding epiphany. I’d been trying to combine all my little circles (intuitive development, spiritual development, house blessings, business blessings, emotional overwhelm) into one little circle statement. Made me go in circles (haha) for years. The ‘little circles’ concept alone was worth the teleseminar. But there was something else you gave me that was even more important: Your matter-of-fact acceptance of metaphysical businesses.
Everyone else I’ve worked with has wanted to hide, minimize or disguise the metaphysical nature of my business. One even chastised me for calling myself a healer (she said I was opening up myself to everyone’s projections of what a healer is). But hello, the metaphysical aspect of what I do IS my uniqueness. I mediate between the physical and non-physical worlds. That’s who I am, that’s how I do my work, that’s what is unique about me. Let’s not cover it up. Thank you again for your help, Tad. I wasn’t sure I would like working with you because I’ve had so many experiences with marketing that didn’t work out. But you approach marketing with intelligence. I like that.”
“Since engaging with Tad, I see that marketing can be an activity that feels good - like making good friends.”
“Marketing for Hippies and I met a long time ago – about 10 years – so it’s difficult to remember the exact moment. I do remember feeling relieved to have at last found an ‘ideology’ relating to business and marketing that wasn’t icky and manipulative, that had honour and respect at its core. I admit that I’ve only purchased an ebook from Tad. When I first saw his videos, I thought ‘what a lot of sense this bloke speaks’ – I read his emails, read a book and watched his videos. I have always thought that should I have enough cash, working with Tad would be very challenging (in a good way) and cause me to do a lot of internal investigation and that I could trust the outcomes completely.
The most important thing Tad has shared for me is to NICHE! Be comfortable with not being ‘for all’. Figure out your niche and then find its ‘hubs.’ Tad’s content always reminds me to keep it human-scaled, keep it focused on being of service and to remember that marketing is more useful as a ‘filter’ to exclude those that I am not right for (and that are not right for me).
Since engaging with Tad, I see that marketing can be an activity that feels good – like making good friends. But this will require more time and attention than the ‘5-Secret Tips’ and ‘Hurry, buy now!’ type of marketing. I know that I haven’t been too ‘helpful’ to you because I’ve not purchased a course/coaching etc. – but I do mention you and your ideas to every small business person I know who is feeling that they have to sell their souls in order to get customers!”
Rachel Davidson, racheldavidsonauthor.com
“All of my promotional efforts now have a common ancestor.”
“When I heard the name Marketing for Hippies, it made me smile and want to share the namesake generously. The turning point for me was: I could keep doing what I was doing and watch my business continue to take on water or I could invest in a program and person whom I trusted. It was time to break the archaic strategy of ‘make money by not spending it.’ I decided to make a long-term investment and invite a new destiny. My first stop was the website in 2011. The eBook was a magnetic draw. And then the videos when those began to roll out consistently. And the blogs, the very long blogs.
The most useful message that I’ve gathered is to market from the inside-out–to lead with my values and point of view. It’s the difference between having a relaxed and genuine inquiry and trying to impress everyone and fooling only myself. As a result of having an inner-vision of my niche and point of view it is much easier to make congruent decisions. All of my promotional efforts now have a common ancestor. It’s spared me the burden of having to reinvent myself with every enterprise or process. It’s given peace of mind.
As for money, it’s kind of hard to tell given the influence of COVID on in person events. Some have managed to adapt to online however that has not been the case for me. I polished my systems and have built a rhythm to my business. As a result I occupy the top three spots of a google search for the top key words related to my business “Denver Yoga Teacher Training” and variations there of. The difference Tad made? It’s the difference between a few scrappy pieces of paper glued to a piece of binder paper and an aesthetically enchanting vision board.”
Derik Eselius, denveryogaunderground.com