007. Why Entrepreneurs, Creators, and Experts Struggle with Niching Down (Despite Knowing it Works)

Despite the evidence that niching down and specializing in your service-based business is so beneficial, why do so many freelancers, entrepreneurs, and agency owners struggle to specialize?

The answer lies in the order of operations I teach to Intuitive Marketers, which is that:

• Intractable Problems at the MARKETING level are resolved via fixes to Messaging
• Intractable Problems at the MESSAGING level — which includes offers and positioning – are solved at the MINDSET level
• And finally, there are no intractable problems at the MINDSET level because your core Self is love, abundance, freedom, universality, peace, and oneness. Everything else is a layer we can remove, reframe, and adjust so that YOU can shine and make the best decisions which bring you closer to your goals.

So when I see Experts struggle with a MESSAGING-level problem such as positioning their offer, then I can reasonably presume that the block to doing what they know they should do resides in the MINDSET level.

But First - Why Specialize?

When you SPECIALIZE as a coach or consultant, you end up getting more recognition, exposure, and sales than if you went more general.  Here are 9 benefits specialization brings to your Expert business.

Reason One: Faster Path to Getting Good

Reason 1: It's easy to lead in a space when you specialize.

Think about it: when your focus of what you sell is narrow, the amount of material you have to learn is far smaller. You can learn the ins and outs, needs, pain points, and language of a singular industry + niche in a relatively short period of time compared to a positioning of, "I do everything for everyone and make it up each time."

Reason Two: Easier Marketing

Reason 2: Because it's easy to learn, own, and stay familiar with a narrower space, it's going to be easier to MARKET to this narrower space.

Your social posts become more focused. Your blog and video content becomes more impactful and helpful. And your content will start delivering real value, which is what generates an audience. And once you have an audience, you'll begin to have buyers.

Reason Three: Improved Coinfidence

Reason 3: When you own a narrower niche, you'll not only know everything there is to know about a niche, and continue to learn everything there is know. And with so much repeated practice you'll also GET REALLY GOOD at solving specific, painful problems for the market you serve.

Eventually, your work is more efficient and effective than your competitors.

This leads to a) lots of proof, b) lots of confidence, and c) increased rates.

Reason Four: Get Known Faster

Reason 4: Over time, you'll get KNOWN for the thing you do. Which makes it easy for people to refer others to you, even if they weren't a past client.

Think about it: if you have someone in your social media circle who's known for being the "expert at doing X for Y person," and you have a trusted friend who is Y person who needs X, who do you think you'll refer to your friend? Some random generalist, or the expert whose content you've been following?

My guess is that you'll choose the expert every time.

My goal, for example, is for people to say, "You're a consultant who wants to work on their mindset, offer, and positioning to get more sales? You want Lynn to fix your mindset first."

Reason Five: Easier Sales

Reason 5: When you specialize, your marketing materials become proof compounding on proof.

ALL of your sales materials, case studies, and testimonials will match what your prospects want to see and hear, so there's never a point where you don't have a past project, past client, or a published blog post about a client's concern.

So your sales get easier and come faster than they ever did before.

Reason Six: Opportunities for Free Traffic

Reason 6: As you become known as an expert, you also get interviewed.

You're invited to speak on podcasts. People want to know your thoughts. People respect what you have to say and the advice you give. And when you're interviewed by a third party, your perception as an expert only increases.

Reason Seven: Attract Qualified Clients With Painful Problems You Solve

Reason 7: Not only that, but positioning in this way attracts better qualified clients.

People who sort of have problems want a generalist who can alleviate all their woes. Good clients who know what they're doing want that specialist who can get the job done.

Reason Eight: Expand Your Marketing via automation More Easily

Reason 8: It's far easier to "set it and forget it" when it comes to your marketing, aka “Stop Reinventing the Wheel”

When you specialize and follow the Messaging strategies I teach, all of your social posts will be on point and always relevant, so you can keep re-purposing because it's built on proven pain points, problems, and concerns that will be the same in a few years as they are right now.

Reason Nine: Focus on What You Do Best

Reason 9: Finally, specialization gives you the ability to focus on that thing you do best as a coach, consultant, or agency.

If you need surgery, do you want to go to the surgeon who's maybe done your surgery once or twice? Or do you want to go to the guy who is passionate and could talk ALL DAY about the ins and outs of that surgery you need? I know who I'd pick!

I don't know about you, but I believe that kind of passionate energy is contagious! Focus makes work more fun when you're doing what you do best and making a difference in the lives of others.

So with all these very logical, very reasonable benefits, it seems strange that so many agency owners, consultants, coaches, and entrepeneurs continue to pitch themselves as "I do everything" service providers instead of specialists.

So why do Business owners struggle with Niching Down?

Why do freelancers, consultants, coaches, professionals, and business owners struggle with specializing (aka niching down)?

In a word, it's mindset.

As I mentioned before, all intractable problems in the MESSAGING Level are resolved via the MINDSET Level. In practice, this struggle is the result of the same subconscious mental blocks which plague all of us... especially those with anxiety.

It can't be a lack of proof, because plenty of experts prove it works every day.

It can't be a lack of education, because there are plenty of courses and books on how to do it.

It can't be a lack of ROI, because the ROI is obvious once you start implementing a niche in your business and marketing.

It has to be something deeper, because this issue only effects some entrepreneurs... while others only have to hear the info once and can implement without issue.

But before I go into that, let's walk through an example strategy of someone who niches down... and then walks back that niching to go back to a generalist, "takes everyone with a pulse" sales positioning.

What happens is that the Expert feels a panic about their work, and so they decide to niche down in response to that panic:

"I heard that niching down is good! So instead of being a copywriter who does supplements, biz opp, and finance, and I'm going to be the copywriter for men's ED supplements and that's all I'll do!"

Unfortunately, what often happens is o matter how well-meaning this "niching down" decision is or was, often within a week... if that... the entrepreneur goes back to offering a wide range of services and not sticking to their decision.

Now, they could have just stuck with it. So many professionals stick to their decisions every day, and with passion and focus, make it work.

But then many just... don't... or can't... especially when the initial decision was made in a moment of panic instead of calm, collected, in-flow decision-making.

Even worse yet, this kind of individual will have all kinds of good "reasons" for their choice to go back to the "old way", such as seeing a job posting which looks interesting (that is outside their focus), not feeling comfortable with the choice of focus, or someone making a negative comment about their choice.

But the truth is, none of those things actually matter, becuase here's what the decision looks like on the inside:

So this freelancer niched down.

And then...

That freelancer/professional/biz owner . . .

As a result of a TRIGGER event, such as losing yet another client, losing a deal, having to say NO to a prospect  . . .

Or even just REMEMBERING a recent loss and the emotions of it. . .

FEELS emotions of anxiety such as fight/flight, panic, etc . . .

HEARS, SEES, or FEELS an image internally that gives the emotions meaning, such as the feeling of being overwhelmed, "in over my head," seeing an image of going homeless, feeling rejection, etc. . .

FILTERS that through a limiting decision with a source from childhood like, "I have to give a lot of myself in order to not feel unwanted"

(Ultimately, rejection is akin to death.)

And then this individual takes ACTION by immediately sabotaging the decision to niche down by saying YES to that oddball client, adding services, building a second business, expanding the target audience, etc. in order to avoid feeling the loss or rejection.

And this pattern repeats itself over and over again.

Now, there are at least a dozen different ways this pattern could play out in entrepreneurs and professionals. And not just for niching. It's the same process, albeit with unique limiting beliefs/decisions/fears, which effect:

• How much we charge for our services or the pay we ask for
• Which roles/jobs we go for
• How we position ourselves in the marketplace
• The boundaries we set for ourselves, which clients/employers we take on, and what treatment we allow
• Whether we put ourselves "out there" and launch that business
• How well we sell our services
• How flexible we are when failure happens
• How we solve business problems when we get stuck

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Ultimately, we stick with what we know and what kept us safe when we were like... aged 8.

And for some entrepreneurs, that was deciding, early on, that they needed to:

• Be accomodating rather than assertive, so they wouldn't get yelled at or rejected by parents/family
• Be of service and go above and beyond, even if they didn't want to or it created a lopsided relationship
• Make others feel good so they would 'like' them, and so try to give their way to being liked and welcomed
• Never say 'no' to anything, to avoid conflict (and thus rejection)... especially not to money, which was hard to come by

These decisions served you when you were a kid, but don't serve you as an adult.

And unfortunately, you can't just "coach" this kind of subconscious conditioning away. You can't shame someone out of it, either, or tell them to "Just do better." That's silly.

But you can re-learn these things. And that's what hypnosis and NLP is for.

In The Program, anxious entrepreneurs are able to shed these limiting beliefs, decisions, and patterns so they can feel free. And chances are, we'll end up releasing some trapped bodily discomfort which has been nagging you too.