As a woman in business, if you’re anything like me, you want to be the go-to person in your network for your ‘thing’. This week I’m exploring the concept of niching in business. I keep reading that this is the way forward. Does the concept scare you or have you taken the plunge and hyper niched? 

 

The idea of being the name on everyone’s lips when your area of expertise crops up is what we are all striving for isn’t it? To achieve this, people need to understand what you do, and why you are good at it. This is where your skill as a marketer comes in. Being able to communicate what you do succinctly, so that people ‘get it’ isn’t always as simple as it sounds though is it? Because you probably have loads of strings to your bow and many years of skills, knowledge, and experience that you bring to the party… 

When I first started in business, I remember struggling with how to describe my profession. I joined a networking group that had a one seat per profession policy, you had to tell them about your profession for your name badge. I chose ‘self-image consultant’ because my work was about boosting self-confidence through colour and clothes. But, if you try and find self -image consultant as a profession it doesn’t officially exist. Image consultant does. The thing is, the women I wanted to work with, would never in a million years Google ‘Image consultant’ which does exist as a profession, so does stylist and personal shopper. And yes, I do cover those things but they don’t *really* say what I do and how I do it. I changed it to Style Coach after a while because that felt more aligned with what I was doing. 

 

I remember one bit of advice when I first started to market my business. It was ‘get the nod’. By this, I mean that to attract your ideal client, you want them to be nodding when you describe ‘pain points’. This was a new concept to me. The first time I tried it though it worked! I got the nod from a room full of women as I asked if anyone had a wardrobe full of clothes but still felt like they had nothing to wear. Every time I’m speaking at an event, I ask that very same question and nearly every single woman will raise their hand. I get the same response if I ask if anyone’s ever stressed about getting dressed. Both of these questions resonate with women. Perhaps not so much with men. 

 

“If you try to resonate with everyone you will resonate with no one.” John Lee Dumas 

 

Okay, so, I’m resonating with women, and they are my target market? Nope, that’s too broad and generic. So I narrow it down a bit more and start talking about the women whose body shape has changed and she doesn’t know what suits her anymore, she’s lost her mojo and wants to feel more confident. I think this is my niche. However, this is still an ENORMOUS target market and despite the fact that these women could benefit tremendously from working with me, they don’t value themselves enough to invest the time or money and are always putting themselves at the back of the queue. It dawned on me that perhaps my business model was flawed? 

Eventually, I began to focus on attracting self-employed women in business. A large majority of them are in their 50’s and have often pivoted from a corporate role with a dress code to being their own boss and following a career path that is more aligned to their values. Pretty much like my own journey in many ways. They do say your vibe attracts your tribe don’t they. 

 

So when I veered off plan and bit the bullet last March to grow my community I wanted to surround myself with women who understood what being your own boss is like. I decided that the FAB Network was going to be about tribe and a sense of belonging. 

 

There’s a story that Brene Brown tells about a village where all the women washed clothes together in the river. When they all got washing machines there was an outbreak of depression. The absence of doing things together in the community led to a dip in their mental health. It’s important to feel like you belong. It’s good to come together with other like-minded women to support each other, share ideas, stories and struggles in a safe space which is exactly what the FAB Network provides for us women in business. I think that's missing for a lot of us today, in our busy lives. Especially as we get older e.g. I had a large support network of other mums when my son was young. 

I decided that the FAB NETWORK wouldn’t have a lock out policy and is for women in business who want: 

 

🦩to feel part of a non-competitive, safe, supportive space 

 

🦩to share their knowledge, skills and experience with peers 

 

🦩to experience personal growth and business development aligned to their core values 

 

🦩to attend network meetings that are fun and you look forward to 

 

Having got that side of things all working fine, come 2023 I then added the option to work with me on personal style and branding in the silver and gold membership packages of the Fab Network. 

 

It seems like a natural extension to be able to offer the full range of my expertise to my members because I know how, on those occasions when you get dressed in something that makes you feel a million dollars, you leave the house feeling great. Then you walk taller that day. You have an air of confidence about you. You feel in your power. Your attitude is different. Things that might have bothered you another day are insignificant. You give off a great vibe that is totally aligned with who YOU are at YOUR best. 

 

That VIBE is reflected across everything you communicate, visually and your tone of voice – both written and when you speak. I help you create mood boards and concepts for graphics, photos, and your website. It’s the whole shebang - about how you AND your business are presented. 

V = VALUES, VISION & VOICE 

 

I = IMAGE, INDIVIDUALITY & INTENTION 

 

B = BRILLIANCE, BRAND AESTHETIC & BELONGING 

 

E = ENERGY, ESSENCE & EXPERTISE 

 

It all adds up. It’s cohesive. You are authentically showing up as your best self because you ARE your business. You speak to that prospective client for the first time, and they feel like they already know you because of the content they’ve seen. They “get you”. The know, like, trust factor has been accelerated and they’re ready to invest faster. This is what happens when you have your personal brand sussed. 

 

Many of my clients are in the coaching sphere. So, does that mean that my niche is networking and personal branding for female coaches? Or can I get even more specific? I’m conscious that I’m work in progress with this. The jury is still out. What are your thoughts? How niche is too niche? Is hyper niching the future?