Finding Your Niche: How Do You Know When You’ve Got It Right?

Finding your niche sounds simple enough in theory.

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Choose who you want to work with. Then focus your marketing efforts on them exclusively..

Done.

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Except, of course, real businesses – and real people – are rarely quite that neat.

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Because once you start trying to put niching advice into practice, all sorts of questions appear.

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How do I know if I've chosen the right niche?

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What if my best clients have very little in common on paper?

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Can I niche too far?

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What if people outside my niche keep asking to work with me?

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And what if I genuinely have several different ways I can help people?

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These were some of the questions my listeners brought to a special panel episode of The Art of Value Whispering Podcast.

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And while they sound like five different niching problems, as we talked, something interesting became clear.

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Perhaps the goal isn't to find the perfect niche at all.

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Perhaps it's to become increasingly clear about where and how you do your best work, the difference you most want to create, and the people for whom that difference is particularly valuable.

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And then allow that understanding to evolve.

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This week I was delighted to be joined by:

Laura Howe, Founder of Dispatch Divorceé

Adrian Ashton, an Independent Consultant

Swantje Duncker, Transformational Coach

Dr. Olga Morton, Founder of Menopause with Lifestyle

Huyla Kurt, Founder of InnKick

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Here are the questions they raised and the insight they gained. Listen to the full episode for the full discussion and niching advice.

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“Your niche should help you make decisions, not make every decision for you.” - Melitta Campbell

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Clarity is more useful than certainty

Laura asked a question I hear all the time:

How do you know when you've found the correct niche?

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There's something very understandable behind that question.

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We want to get it right.

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Especially when choosing a niche can feel as though we're making a decision that will determine the future of our business.

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But there's an important difference between clarity and certainty.

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Laura helps women rebuild their lives and identities after divorce. Right now, she's clear about the people she wants to help and the difference she wants to make.

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Does she need to be certain that this will always be her niche?

No.

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Because businesses evolve. We evolve. And our clients evolve.

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We continually learn more about the work that energises us, where we create our best results, what our clients particularly value and what we no longer want to do.

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So rather than asking:

Is this definitely the right niche for me forever?

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A more useful question might be:

Is this clear and aligned enough for me to move forward with now?

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Then pay attention to what happens.

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Who responds?

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Who gets great results?

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Which work brings out the best in you?

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What starts to feel forced?

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What do you find yourself wanting to do more – or less – of?

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That's not indecision.

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That's information.

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And the more information you gather, the more confidently you can evolve your business.

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What if your best clients have nothing in common?

Another panel member, Swantje, raised a different problem.

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Her clients don't have much in common on paper.

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They're not neatly united by age, profession, industry or the other demographic characteristics we're often encouraged to use when defining a niche.

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So what exactly should she niche around?

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This is where I think traditional niching advice can send us looking in the wrong direction.

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Because your Dream Clients don't necessarily need to look alike. And often, they are connected by something much more meaningful.

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Perhaps they're seeking a particular result.

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Perhaps they're experiencing the same kind of challenge or transition.

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Perhaps they share a belief or philosophy.

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Perhaps they want to achieve a result in a particular way.

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Or perhaps there's something about your approach, perspective or way of working that they particularly value.

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That's why demographics can be useful – but they don't always tell us the most important thing.

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Why are these people right for you – and why are you right for them?

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When you understand that, your marketing can start speaking to the thoughts, experiences and desires your Dream Clients actually recognise.

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They read something you've written and think:

That's me!

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And that's far more powerful than simply telling them they fit the demographic profile you've selected.

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Your niche isn't necessarily the people who appear on your website

This becomes particularly interesting when people outside your stated niche start asking to work with you.

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Adrian has built a strong reputation over many years and receives referrals across different sectors and types of work.

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So if people continue asking for things outside the niche he's trying to develop, what should he do?

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First, recognise what those enquiries are: information.

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They may be telling you that people value something about your expertise, your thinking or the way you work that travels further than the category you've chosen.

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That doesn't automatically mean you should broaden your niche.

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And it doesn't mean you have to say yes or no.

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Your niche isn't a rule telling you who you're allowed to work with.

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It gives you focus.

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It helps you decide where to invest your marketing energy and what you want to become known for. And when an unexpected opportunity appears, you still get to choose.

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Does this work play to my strengths? Do I want to do it? Can I create an excellent result? Does it support where I want my business to go? Or would saying yes pull me away from the work I really want to build?

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In my first business, I said yes to almost everyone who wanted to work with me.

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The clients were happy. They paid me well. On paper, everything looked successful.

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But I eventually burnt out.

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I was very capable of doing the work, but it wasn't the difference I really cared about making.

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That experience taught me that being able to help someone isn't necessarily a good enough reason to build your business around helping them.

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Can you niche too much?

Olga's question came from almost the opposite direction.

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As a doctor specialising in lifestyle medicine, she'd already become increasingly specific about the women she wanted to help.

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But how far should she keep going?

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Can a niche become too niche?

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Of course, commercially, there is a point where a niche could become so small that there simply aren't enough people to build the business you want.

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But I think there's another distinction that's even more useful:

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It's less about narrowness and more about relevance.

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A highly specific niche isn't automatically a strong niche.

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You could define a tiny demographic group with enormous precision and still have no compelling reason why those people should choose you.

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Equally, your work might be relevant to a broader group because they're connected by the same need, result or approach.

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So instead of continually asking:

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Can I make this narrower?

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Ask:

Does making this distinction help the right people recognise why this is relevant to them?

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If it does, it's useful.

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If it doesn't, perhaps you're simply adding more criteria.

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And sometimes the only way to discover that is to experiment. Broaden your message a little. Test something new. Notice who responds. Then narrow again to help you focus your resources where they can have the most meaningful impact. 

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There is no previous version of your business that can tell you exactly what will work. And that's part of both the challenge and the fun of entrepreneurship.

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A diversified portfolio doesn't necessarily mean you don't have a niche

Hulya brought another interesting question to the panel.

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What if you genuinely do lots of things?

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Coaching. Teaching. Writing. Speaking. Workshops.

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How do you build a clear personal brand around a diversified portfolio?

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The important distinction here is between what you do and the result you help create.

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Coaching, speaking, teaching and workshops are different ways of delivering value.

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They don't necessarily represent different niches.

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There may be a common transformation underneath them all.

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A common problem you solve. A common philosophy. A common reason people seek you out. Or a common thread running through the work.

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So rather than putting every skill, service and capability on your website and asking people to work out what connects them, look for that thread.

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What do people consistently come to you for?

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What change are you particularly good at helping them create?

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What do they value about the way you help them get there?

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That's often where the real niche is hiding.

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Because a diversified portfolio isn't necessarily the problem.

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A portfolio without a recognisable connection between its parts or clear value is.

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Are you diversifying because it's right, or because you're afraid to close doors?

There's another question worth asking here.

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Do you genuinely have several complementary ways to create a result you care deeply about?

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Or are you keeping lots of things in your business because you're frightened that focusing will mean losing opportunities?

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Those are very different things.

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As we gain experience, most of us accumulate more skills, ideas and possibilities.

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We could do lots of things.

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But that doesn't mean they all deserve equal space in our businesses.

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Part of becoming more confident as a business owner is learning to choose by recognising where you do your best work. Knowing when to say no if an opportunity doesn't feel aligned. Feeling comfortable letting go of something that once made sense but doesn't anymore.

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And sometimes to recognise that an unexpected opportunity is worth following.

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Your niche should help you make those decisions.

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It shouldn't make them for you.

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Your niche is allowed to evolve

Perhaps this was the strongest thread running through the whole panel conversation.

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Your niche isn't a box you climb into and stay forever.

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It isn't something you have to get perfectly right before you're allowed to move forward.

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And it isn't necessarily defined by a neat demographic description of the people you serve.

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It's an understanding that becomes richer as you learn more about yourself, your clients and the results you create together.

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That's why your Value Sweet Spot is so useful.

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It's the place where your expertise, experience, values, strengths and way of working align with what your Dream Clients particularly need and value.

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And as you learn more about both sides of that relationship, your understanding of that sweet spot can deepen too.

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So perhaps the question isn't:

Have I found the right niche?

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Perhaps it's:

Am I clear enough about where I can create real value, who particularly values that, and the work I want to become known for – to take my next step?

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Start there.

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Pay attention to what comes back.

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And give yourself permission to evolve.

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Because finding your niche isn't about restricting what you're allowed to do.

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It's about creating enough clarity for the right people to recognise why you're the right choice for them. 

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Listen Next

Continue with Episode 320 — Struggling to Find Your Niche? You May Be Starting in the Wrong Place

If niching has ever felt restrictive or confusing, this episode will help you see it differently. Discover why finding your niche starts with understanding your own expertise, strengths and approach – rather than simply choosing a target market.

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About Your Host, Melitta Campbell

Melitta Campbell is the creator of the Value Whispering® methodology, a 3x bestselling author, TEDx speaker and an award-winning communications and marketing expert with more than 30 years' experience helping organisations, leaders and service-based experts communicate their value more clearly.

Through her books, keynote talks, coaching and this podcast, she challenges conventional marketing wisdom and helps experts become the obvious choice through smarter - not louder - marketing.

Her work is built on one simple belief:

‍People don't choose the best expert.
They choose the one whose value they understand best.

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Learn more about working with Melitta here
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Connect with Melitta

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