No business can cater to everyone, everywhere, all the time. Scattered efforts like these will only produce scattered results. This is why you need a niche — a highly focused, targeted market — for your health coaching business.
Now, a niche isn’t something you simply come across. You create it by determining and fulfilling poorly addressed or ignored consumer needs by other health coaches.
By having a health coaching niche, you’ll position yourself as a specialist in that area. It will also give you an advantage over your competition. No large business can meet everyone’s expectations. This leaves many people with unmet needs, leaving the door wide open for you to fulfill those needs with your business.
In this article, you’ll learn how to find the right niche market for health coaches. But first, let’s take a closer look at what defines a niche…
What Exactly is a Niche?
Taki Moore, the author of Million Dollar Coach, said, “The more you try to appeal to everybody, the more nobody pays attention to you.” This is a fundamental principle of niche development. A niche market is intensely focused on only a few key groups of clients and their specific needs. Think of a niche as a subdivision of a larger group. It concentrates on offering a service ignored by other businesses.
Now, you may believe you’ve found your niche when you’ve actually identified a specialty. So, what’s a specialty then? The meaning of niche versus specialty can be confusing:
- A specialty is the type of work you offer. For instance, if you’re a massage therapist who specifically does Shiatsu massage, that’s your specialty. A specialty can help you categorize your niche, but it’s not a niche.
- A niche is a problem you solve for a targeted market. A niche addresses two questions:
- What problem do you want to solve?
- Who has that problem?
For example, in yoga, Hatha, Ashtanga, and Vinyasa are all specialties. A potential niche could be helping new mothers [people who have the problem] release the stress of having their first child [the problem you want to solve] through yoga.
By not zeroing in on a niche, your health coaching services will get lost in the masses of generic coaching businesses. Selecting a niche can mean the difference between success and failure…
Why Every Health Coach Needs a Niche
As mentioned, a niche is necessary because it distinguishes you from other health coaching professionals. Still, some health coaches are leery of niches, believing they’ll draw few clients and little money. But that’s simply not true!
Your laser-focused practice will actually attract clients who need your specific services — possibly services they can’t find elsewhere. If you don’t have a distinctive niche, you may get bypassed for someone who does. You’ll also confuse and alienate potential clients if your services are all over the map.
According to Judge Graham, a Texas-based entrepreneur, “Only by homing in on a niche can you be unique and stand out within your industry. You simply cannot be a generalist anymore.”
Choosing a health coaching niche will actually make things easier. It will help you select what specifically you should offer in your practice, the themes of your workshops and what you should write on your blog (which you can learn about in our guide) and social media. It will also point you to areas where you need to increase your knowledge to be an exceptional health coach. You’ll be more successful if you’re helping the people you’re intended to help.
Any health coach who wants to thrive needs a niche. Most likely, there’s one meant for you. You simply have to do some methodical research to find the perfect fit…
How to Identify a Health Coaching Niche Perfect for You
You may have gotten into health coaching because you wanted to help anyone and everyone. You may have wanted to be of service; to assist as many people as you could to improve their health and feel better about themselves.
While a noble goal, you’ll be hobbling your business when spreading yourself so thin. You’ll draw fewer clients and fewer referrals this way.
If you’re just starting your health coaching practice, you may be bewildered about how to develop your niche market. You may wonder:
- If your niche will be profitable.
- If you’ll be able to get many clients or make much money.
- If you’ll get bored with your chosen niche.
- If you’ll excel in that niche.
In actuality, the more defined and drilled down your niche is, the more easily you’ll magnetize the perfect clients. Although you could start with a “general” practice and perhaps identify a pattern emerging in your clients, it would be best to leap into a niche right out of the starting gate.
Eliminate the guesswork from selecting a niche by taking your time and considering the following seven questions below…
1. What Makes You Happiest?
The answer to this question is critical to your success. Pursue what lights you up, not the niche you think will be most popular or profitable. If you select your favorite field, you’ll be motivated to do your best work, and you’ll never get bored with it. You’ll also achieve peak performance, which will draw more clients.
2. Why Do You Want to Do This?
This is another important question as it helps you to delve into your purpose. Why is health coaching your calling, and why do you feel compelled to help people? What sparked your interest in health coaching? Did you have health struggles clients can relate to? How can you help because of your own personal experiences?
Do a little stream-of-consciousness writing. What experience and training do you already have? What types of people do you enjoy working with? What subjects do you like discussing? Which professionals do you admire? What would you love doing even if you weren’t getting paid?
3. Who Do You Want to Help?
If you could help anyone with their health and wellness, who would you choose? Why?
- What part of our healthcare system did you find lacking, prompting you to get into health coaching to begin with?
- Would you rather work with women or men?
- What age range do you want to address? Children? Teens? Adults? Seniors?
- Do you mind if your clients don’t know much about health, or do you want them to be knowledgeable?
4. What Are You Good at That Makes You an Effective Coach?
What comes to you effortlessly? What’s your skill set? What do people ask you for help with that you also deeply enjoy?
5. What Questions Are You Regularly Asked?
Most coaches base their business on their personal health-related experiences. When clients realize they’re not alone in these challenges, they’ll ask you questions, which can help you on your journey to find a niche.
- What are the top questions you’re asked?
- Do you enjoy answering these questions?
- Specifically, why are people asking you?
- Can you answer these questions easily?
6. What is Your Passion or Purpose?
What’s the underlying motivation that drives you to do what you do? Delving into this question will help you pinpoint what fires you up about coaching.
7. Who is Your Ideal Client?
Take your time answering this one. Set aside 15 minutes a day for one week and journal about this prototype client. Build a persona for him/her.
- What does he/she do for a living?
- How does he/she spend his/her free time?
- What’s his/her annual income?
- Does he/she have a family?
- How old is he/she?
- What are his/her values?
- What does he/she look like?
- What does he/she do on a Saturday night? How about a Monday morning?
- What issues is he/she wrestling with?
Keep revisiting and tweaking this client persona. The more specific you can be, the better. If you know someone who fits this profile, ask him/her a few questions to get some real-world answers.
Now it’s time to whittle down potential niches that could be suitable for you. After all your brainstorming and journaling, what leaps out? Jot down a brief list of possible niches. You may want to write a list of pros and cons to gain more clarity.
If one particular niche presents itself as “the one” you can easily outline its specifics in a mission statement or elevator pitch for a health coach:
“I am a health coach who helps [ideal clients] who are struggling with [specific issue] to [the service you provide] so they can benefit [the benefit you provide].”
For example:
“I am a health coach who helps stressed-out professional women who are struggling with burnout to learn self-care so they can feel energized, confident, and sexy again.”
“I am a health coach who helps sleep-deprived individuals who are struggling with insomnia to practice healthy sleep hygiene so they can achieve the recommended hours of sleep for health and rejuvenation.”
There are limitless possibilities for health coach niches. You can get as creative as you want and as specific as you want…
Health Coach Niche Examples
If you’re having difficulty determining the niche you’d like to create, here are some examples to point you in the right direction:
- Helping underprivileged elementary school children – You’ll inform kids about having an awareness of what they’re putting into their bodies, how it makes them feel and guiding them to make healthy choices. Your goal is to help instill good health habits while they’re young.
- Helping middle-aged women control cravings – The problem isn’t what they eat, it’s trying to identify the underlying reason they binge. Your job as a health coach is to help them decipher the reason.
- Coaching for caregivers – People who care for loved ones who are ill may often be besieged with worry: worried about their loved one, worried about the future, and worried about money. They try to keep up a front even though they feel as if they’re breaking. A coach won’t just say, “be positive.” A good coach will know that caregivers, too, need some support and that’s where you come in to help devise a plan.
- Coaching introverts – For this demographic, you would coach reserved, shy people, to understand and help harness the power of their understated strengths.
- Coaching men in midlife crisis who hate their jobs – In this example, you would help men to reclaim their sense of self, rediscover their life purpose and flourish.
Conclusion
Once you identify your personal skill set, your passion, and your ideal client, you’ll be ready to create your own unique niche. The most successful coaches will always have a super defined niche. There’s always a niche market for health coaches and your niche can easily be one of them.
So, what are your thoughts about niche markets for health coaches? Leave your comments below!
Sources
The saying (by Taki Moore, the author of Million Dollar Coach, said, “The more you try to appeal to everybody, the more nobody pays attention to you”) that you cited, reminds me of a saying that goes like this: “Jack of all trades, master of none.” Another one is, “a Rolling Stone gatherer no moss.”
So, one that’s trying to be everywhere, will end up no where. Therefore, niches are a must for both health coaches and all bloggers, to help them streamline their energy to one goal and come out with resounding success.
Debbie, your article is a much needed awareness and reminder.
Thank you Peace 🙂
Choosing a profitable niche is a problem for many people who want to start online business. I appreciate the detailed information you provided in this article. I struggled a lot when I began the online journey. So I think giving thought to the seven questions you discussed will no doubt help a person to identify what niche to select. As if that were not enough, you generously gave some examples of health coach niches. Surely these will be beneficial to those interested in health coaching as a niche. Well done!
Thanks Seth
Hi Debbie, this is a detailed explanation of how to find the right niche. I have been thinking about health coaching for some time now but was held back when I considered how wide the market is and wondered how could I get my group together. From your advice I am going to choose an area they has meaning for me. I am over sixty and I found there have been a lot of changes I had to make, but I had to do a lot of digging and research and trial and error. So maybe…just maybe I could choose something about health for women over sixty. Thank you for your information. It is very helpful.
Glad you found it helpful JJ! 🙂
Great info! I still am struggling with what my niche is. I am a very natural minded pharmacist, with a certification in nutrition and herbs. I really think our healthcare system is broken and I want to help fix it by supporting patients use food and herbs to improve health and increase their chances of becoming healthy. Is that a niche? Is it specific enough?
Hi Soni, thanks for the kind words. 🙂 While food and herbs are a good starting point, it’s still too general of a niche. Take some time to think about an audience (demographic) whom you can target specifically (e.g., women over 40, pregnant women, etc.) This way, you’ll have an easier way of positioning yourself as the “go-to” person for that niche. Hope that helps!
I am having trouble finding my niche. Is this a good one: I help middle-aged women who are struggling with losing weight, want to build muscle, or just want to live a healthier lifestyle so they can feel confident and healthy through the aging process.
That’s a good start Felicia, but perhaps still a bit too broad. Something more targeted would likely fare better such as: middle-aged mothers who want to lose weight or middle-aged women with diabetes who want to live a healthier lifestyle. Hope that helps!
Hi Debbie, I’m a Health Coach student in progress. Ill complete my education February 2022. I’m thinking of my niche and possibly ill choose to help women in menopause. I have struggled with my personal transition and find the way to feel again happy, healthy and competed. Is this a good one? Thank you!
Hi Mariana, yes, that sounds like a good demographic with a lot of reach! Good luck on completing your studies. 🙂