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15 | Identifying Your Target Market and Niche
The more clear you are about who you're aiming to serve, the easier things will be in your clinical work.
Feeling confused about your target market and niche?
Not even sure what the difference is between the two?
Don't think you really need either of these?
Listen to this episode to find out why it's so helpful to narrow these things down for yourself and to learn why it's okay - really! - if you're not quite there yet.
Special Prize 🎁If you've stumbled across this, congratulations! You can access my "finding your practice focus" webinar entirely for free right here. No email address/sign in needed. This isn't available elsewhere for purchase or for free. Enjoy. Hope you find it helful.
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Transcript
(00:02)
Well, hey there, welcome to In the Clinic with Camille. My name is Camille Freeman. I'm a licensed nutritionist and clinical herbalist.
(00:08)
Today I want to talk to you about how to narrow your practice, focus, finding a niche, finding a target market and going from there.
(00:19)
Now, most of you are probably a little bit confused about this. Most of you probably feel like you haven't really fully defined this for yourself yet.
(00:28)
I want to tell you that that's really normal, especially if you are in the first few years of your practice. And yes, I said years. I did not say weeks, and I did not even say months. I said years.
(00:39)
It is going to take you a long time, most, most of you a long time to find a niche that feels like the right fit.
(00:48)
This is not something that you're going to do in just a day or an hour.
(00:54)
All right, so don't worry if you feel like you really don't have full clarity here yet, that is OK. Now, before I keep talking, I want to define a few terms that you may have heard thrown around. So one of them is target market and one of them is niche, or sometimes people will pronounce it niche. I like niche, but either way is technically OK.
(01:15)
So there are different definitions of these floating around out there.
(01:19)
But for the purposes of our discussion here today, we're going to say that your target market is essentially people who you would like to know about your services.
(01:29)
Now, of course, we could say everyone.
(01:31)
I think everyone should know about my services, and I would love to help everyone in the whole world. Well, we both know that you can't physically do that. One person is very unlikely to be able to help every single individual in the whole world.
(01:46)
So by definition, we need to narrow a little bit, OK, we're not going to help every single person.
(01:52)
So given that you have a specific amount of time and money available to you to reach people. You need to start thinking, OK, well, who would I most like to know about my services?
(02:04)
So to give you an example from my former life, if my goal was to work with specifically people who are struggling with fertility, then my target market would be anyone who is trying to get pregnant.
(02:17)
That would be one. Now, that's a really broad one.
(02:19)
So I'm not saying stop there, but especially in the beginning, I'm like, OK, that's that's the big group, the big tent of who I think that I can help.
(02:28)
I'm putting it out there that I am available to help people who are trying to get pregnant. Now, from there, you can get a little bit more specific.
(02:37)
So you may want to say, OK, well, I want to help people who are trying to get pregnant and who have decided to go down the route of IVF or IOI.
(02:47)
So you could say, well, I'm really going to specialize in this area.
(02:50)
Or you could say, you know what, I want to work with people who are trying to get pregnant, who have been diagnosed with PCOS or endometriosis, something along those lines. Or you could say, I want to help people who are trying to get pregnant and who are using this specific fertility clinic because I have a partnership with the practitioners there.
(03:06)
So there's lots of different ways that you can sort of narrow these target markets down, but you want to be as clear as you can about who you are trying to reach.
(03:16)
When you're sharing information and when you're sharing news about your practice and the smaller you can get it, the easier it is for you to find those people and connect with them and let them know that you exist and how you can help them.
(03:31)
So it's really, really important that you narrow and narrow and narrow. And we'll talk more about this in a little bit. All right.
(03:39)
So that's your target market is just a big group of people who you are declaring you would be able to help.
(03:46)
Now, your niche is a little bit different. The niche is what you are going to do to help those people and how you're going to do it.
(03:55)
All right. So I'm a herbalist and a nutritionist. And if I say, well, my target market is people who are trying to get pregnant.
(04:03)
Well, the people who make basal body temperature thermometers, their target market is also people who are trying to get pregnant and people who make special fertility lubes also have a target market of people who are trying to get pregnant.
(04:15)
So we need to get a little bit more specific in the niche. That's where the niche comes in. So the niche is a combination of what you offer.
(04:22)
So that would be, you know, herbal medicine or nutrition advice or meditation, mindfulness practices, lifestyle change, whatever it is that you offer and then how you do it.
(04:34)
So what is special about the way that you do what you do?
(04:38)
So if you've taken a workshop with me before, I've probably had you start to think about adjectives that describe the way you practice. All right.
(04:46)
We've talked about how we could even have two nutritionists who work on fertility that have very different practices. Not that one is better than the other, but they just do it a little bit differently so we can have one person who's very formal and perhaps they wear a tie to work or perhaps they, you know, prefer to be called Dr. So-and-so. And perhaps they have a very formal way of speaking and thinking.
(05:11)
Maybe their work is entirely grounded in the literature. If it's not 100 percent backed by the evidence base, they are not going to recommend it there something along those lines.
(05:20)
And then we have another person who's working in the same field who has a little bit more of a empirical practice.
(05:28)
And we have a little bit more of somebody who likes to do a lot of spiritual work in addition to the nutrition that they're offering.
(05:34)
And we might have somebody who's going to be really more a little bit more connected, a little bit more hands on with people. And different people are going to resonate with each of these people.
(05:46)
Not that one is better than the other. But when I say those two things, you probably know which one you might be more drawn to. And this is where you need to get your own clarity in what you're offering and how you're offering. I'm not talking about which package you offer and how much it costs and blah, blah, blah, that can sometimes play into it.
(06:05)
If you're like, well, you know what? This is really a high-end service. And I am offering this to people who have tried everything else and they're ready to spend the money to solve this problem, etc., that's fine, that could be part of it. But what I'm really talking about here in your niche is this specific thing that you offer and the way that you offer it, like what is special?
(06:27)
What is different about the way that you do what you do?
(06:31)
That's when you start to get in with your niche. So we're coming at this from two directions.
(06:37)
One, we're thinking about the people that we want to serve. And then two, we're thinking about what we can count on ourselves to offer and bring to the table.
(06:45)
And when you start narrowing both of those things down, you're going to come to a center in event.
(06:51)
And that is really where your niche is.
(06:53)
That is where you want to be spending your time connecting with new people in the more clear you are on who your clients are and what their problems are and how they're thinking and what how they need you.
(07:05)
And and the more clear you are on why you're doing what you're doing, the way that you do it, what's special, what's different and unique about the way you're doing it, then the easier it is for you to know if a client is a good fit and for the client to know if you are a good fit. And that's going to come through in the way that you present yourself, in the way that you have your website in the marketing materials and so forth, going to make it easier for everybody to find a good fit.
(07:32)
So if you have been having problems with this, if you're like, oh, I just don't know what my niche is, come to my free webinar. It's on Saturday, February 13th at 5:00 p.m. Eastern.
(07:45)
It'll be about an hour. Totally free. Love to see who they're going to talk through.
(07:50)
Some of this can go over some of the problems that people have with niching.
(07:54)
Spoiler alert. It takes years.
(07:56)
I've already said, you know, this is something that does not take months, doesn't take days, weeks.
(08:01)
It takes years. So you're starting, you're on the start of a journey. A process will kind of go through more about this process and how you can.
(08:12)
Get narrower and narrower and closer and closer to the heart of what you're doing so that you can describe what you're doing really well to other people and really encourage you to do this, even if it doesn't sound great and even if you think everyone else needs a niche but not you, because that's just not really relevant for the work you do.
(08:28)
I promise you your practice is going to get. Easier and more full, if you can get clear on this, so come to the workshop. I would love to see you there. There's a recording.
(08:40)
If you can't be there, you'll get the recording later that evening and see what you can do, because this does work, I swear. I promise. Even though it's really hard and there's a lot of resistance to overcome.
(08:56)
All right. Thanks for hanging out with me today. Please send me your questions. If you have anything you'd like me to address on another episode, I'd love to hear about it. And otherwise, I hope you have a beautiful week. All right. Take care.
Well, hey there, welcome to In the Clinic with Camille. My name is Camille Freeman. I'm a licensed nutritionist and clinical herbalist.
(00:08)
Today I want to talk to you about how to narrow your practice, focus, finding a niche, finding a target market and going from there.
(00:19)
Now, most of you are probably a little bit confused about this. Most of you probably feel like you haven't really fully defined this for yourself yet.
(00:28)
I want to tell you that that's really normal, especially if you are in the first few years of your practice. And yes, I said years. I did not say weeks, and I did not even say months. I said years.
(00:39)
It is going to take you a long time, most, most of you a long time to find a niche that feels like the right fit.
(00:48)
This is not something that you're going to do in just a day or an hour.
(00:54)
All right, so don't worry if you feel like you really don't have full clarity here yet, that is OK. Now, before I keep talking, I want to define a few terms that you may have heard thrown around. So one of them is target market and one of them is niche, or sometimes people will pronounce it niche. I like niche, but either way is technically OK.
(01:15)
So there are different definitions of these floating around out there.
(01:19)
But for the purposes of our discussion here today, we're going to say that your target market is essentially people who you would like to know about your services.
(01:29)
Now, of course, we could say everyone.
(01:31)
I think everyone should know about my services, and I would love to help everyone in the whole world. Well, we both know that you can't physically do that. One person is very unlikely to be able to help every single individual in the whole world.
(01:46)
So by definition, we need to narrow a little bit, OK, we're not going to help every single person.
(01:52)
So given that you have a specific amount of time and money available to you to reach people. You need to start thinking, OK, well, who would I most like to know about my services?
(02:04)
So to give you an example from my former life, if my goal was to work with specifically people who are struggling with fertility, then my target market would be anyone who is trying to get pregnant.
(02:17)
That would be one. Now, that's a really broad one.
(02:19)
So I'm not saying stop there, but especially in the beginning, I'm like, OK, that's that's the big group, the big tent of who I think that I can help.
(02:28)
I'm putting it out there that I am available to help people who are trying to get pregnant. Now, from there, you can get a little bit more specific.
(02:37)
So you may want to say, OK, well, I want to help people who are trying to get pregnant and who have decided to go down the route of IVF or IOI.
(02:47)
So you could say, well, I'm really going to specialize in this area.
(02:50)
Or you could say, you know what, I want to work with people who are trying to get pregnant, who have been diagnosed with PCOS or endometriosis, something along those lines. Or you could say, I want to help people who are trying to get pregnant and who are using this specific fertility clinic because I have a partnership with the practitioners there.
(03:06)
So there's lots of different ways that you can sort of narrow these target markets down, but you want to be as clear as you can about who you are trying to reach.
(03:16)
When you're sharing information and when you're sharing news about your practice and the smaller you can get it, the easier it is for you to find those people and connect with them and let them know that you exist and how you can help them.
(03:31)
So it's really, really important that you narrow and narrow and narrow. And we'll talk more about this in a little bit. All right.
(03:39)
So that's your target market is just a big group of people who you are declaring you would be able to help.
(03:46)
Now, your niche is a little bit different. The niche is what you are going to do to help those people and how you're going to do it.
(03:55)
All right. So I'm a herbalist and a nutritionist. And if I say, well, my target market is people who are trying to get pregnant.
(04:03)
Well, the people who make basal body temperature thermometers, their target market is also people who are trying to get pregnant and people who make special fertility lubes also have a target market of people who are trying to get pregnant.
(04:15)
So we need to get a little bit more specific in the niche. That's where the niche comes in. So the niche is a combination of what you offer.
(04:22)
So that would be, you know, herbal medicine or nutrition advice or meditation, mindfulness practices, lifestyle change, whatever it is that you offer and then how you do it.
(04:34)
So what is special about the way that you do what you do?
(04:38)
So if you've taken a workshop with me before, I've probably had you start to think about adjectives that describe the way you practice. All right.
(04:46)
We've talked about how we could even have two nutritionists who work on fertility that have very different practices. Not that one is better than the other, but they just do it a little bit differently so we can have one person who's very formal and perhaps they wear a tie to work or perhaps they, you know, prefer to be called Dr. So-and-so. And perhaps they have a very formal way of speaking and thinking.
(05:11)
Maybe their work is entirely grounded in the literature. If it's not 100 percent backed by the evidence base, they are not going to recommend it there something along those lines.
(05:20)
And then we have another person who's working in the same field who has a little bit more of a empirical practice.
(05:28)
And we have a little bit more of somebody who likes to do a lot of spiritual work in addition to the nutrition that they're offering.
(05:34)
And we might have somebody who's going to be really more a little bit more connected, a little bit more hands on with people. And different people are going to resonate with each of these people.
(05:46)
Not that one is better than the other. But when I say those two things, you probably know which one you might be more drawn to. And this is where you need to get your own clarity in what you're offering and how you're offering. I'm not talking about which package you offer and how much it costs and blah, blah, blah, that can sometimes play into it.
(06:05)
If you're like, well, you know what? This is really a high-end service. And I am offering this to people who have tried everything else and they're ready to spend the money to solve this problem, etc., that's fine, that could be part of it. But what I'm really talking about here in your niche is this specific thing that you offer and the way that you offer it, like what is special?
(06:27)
What is different about the way that you do what you do?
(06:31)
That's when you start to get in with your niche. So we're coming at this from two directions.
(06:37)
One, we're thinking about the people that we want to serve. And then two, we're thinking about what we can count on ourselves to offer and bring to the table.
(06:45)
And when you start narrowing both of those things down, you're going to come to a center in event.
(06:51)
And that is really where your niche is.
(06:53)
That is where you want to be spending your time connecting with new people in the more clear you are on who your clients are and what their problems are and how they're thinking and what how they need you.
(07:05)
And and the more clear you are on why you're doing what you're doing, the way that you do it, what's special, what's different and unique about the way you're doing it, then the easier it is for you to know if a client is a good fit and for the client to know if you are a good fit. And that's going to come through in the way that you present yourself, in the way that you have your website in the marketing materials and so forth, going to make it easier for everybody to find a good fit.
(07:32)
So if you have been having problems with this, if you're like, oh, I just don't know what my niche is, come to my free webinar. It's on Saturday, February 13th at 5:00 p.m. Eastern.
(07:45)
It'll be about an hour. Totally free. Love to see who they're going to talk through.
(07:50)
Some of this can go over some of the problems that people have with niching.
(07:54)
Spoiler alert. It takes years.
(07:56)
I've already said, you know, this is something that does not take months, doesn't take days, weeks.
(08:01)
It takes years. So you're starting, you're on the start of a journey. A process will kind of go through more about this process and how you can.
(08:12)
Get narrower and narrower and closer and closer to the heart of what you're doing so that you can describe what you're doing really well to other people and really encourage you to do this, even if it doesn't sound great and even if you think everyone else needs a niche but not you, because that's just not really relevant for the work you do.
(08:28)
I promise you your practice is going to get. Easier and more full, if you can get clear on this, so come to the workshop. I would love to see you there. There's a recording.
(08:40)
If you can't be there, you'll get the recording later that evening and see what you can do, because this does work, I swear. I promise. Even though it's really hard and there's a lot of resistance to overcome.
(08:56)
All right. Thanks for hanging out with me today. Please send me your questions. If you have anything you'd like me to address on another episode, I'd love to hear about it. And otherwise, I hope you have a beautiful week. All right. Take care.
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