I'm at an inflection point as to whether to niche down or broaden. It feels like I'm straddling the fence between the two and it is sending my head spinning.
My tagline is "I help people discover what's next and go after it". I feel good about this.
My two big tools are Life Design and Productivity. The former hits more of the "What's next" and the latter is a piece of "go after it." I see the limiting belief work of this Expert Coach training as a lower-level tool that I can bring out whenever it is going to help...but I don't see myself leading with that. Almost always used, but not part of who I am...not my brand identity.
Sometimes, I think I should pick one, either I'm a Life Transition Coach or a Productivity Coach...and, to be both confuses the marketplace. I push back on this and emotionally and pragmatically I want to keep both the tools as what I bring as far as deep expertise.
Where things get even more messy is "Who do I serve?" Although I am deeply committed to a "whole life" perspective, I have narrowed to "career-related transitions". In recent times, I've then said I serve three demographics:
- Young professionals that are having second thoughts about their career direction, or don't have a career direction. I enjoy working with this demographic; however, some have said 25-year-olds aren't going to be attracted to working with a coach the age of their grandparents. I have experience that suggests otherwise—the elder persona.
- Mid-career professionals that have typically checked all the boxes, but feel unfulfilled, or outright miserable around their career.
- Retirement-age professionals unsure about whether to continue working, start an encore career, live a life of leisure, or what.
More than one person has recommended that I go all-in on retirement age where I have the most credibility and relatability...and that I confuse the marketplace if I'm trying to do all three demographics. I should look to co-market with retirement financial planners, etc. Emotionally, this feels like putting me in a box, where I'm feeling constrained.
The other extreme, that I find very appealing, is to not narrow to career at all, and instead go all in on "life transitions," which could be marriage, divorce, first child, empty nest, etc. etc. Just typing this excites me. Brand as a "Life Transition and Productivity Coach". Call it what it is as far as my passion and market based totally on psychographics, not demographics.
Wow, that was a lot. Thanks for reading this far.
What do you see and think?