This morning my son, Noah, had a total meltdown. He’s in Kindergarten and it was his turn to do “sharing” today. He chose to share his longboard, which is a kind of skateboard. As it turned out, he was afraid he wouldn’t have anything interesting to share about his longboard. I sat him down on my lap and told him that most of the kids in the class had never even heard of a longboard, let alone ridden one. He has been skateboarding since he was 4 and knows a lot about skateboarding, but most kids his age don’t have a clue. With this shift in his thinking, he stopped crying and rode his skateboard to school all excited about showing off his keen insights about the art of skateboarding.
What does this have to do with finding your niche and building your business? Everything.
When I help my clients choose their niche, we start with their passions, skills, experiences and expertise. We find a solution that they’re passionate about and have some experience in. Something they’ll be so excited about, that they’ll devour information about it and continuously enhance their expertise.
The problem is that after we do this, we make a wrong assumption. We assume that everyone knows what we already know. We forget what we didn’t know about this topic a year ago or even a month ago. It becomes so ingrained in us that we lose sight of the value we have to offer.
Think about your own niche and your own area of expertise. You’ve likely invested hundreds of hours learning and living your topic. It’s second nature to you. Just don’t make the mistake of assuming everyone else knows what you know. If you do, you’ll forget to share important information and shortchange your followers.
What do you know that other people want to know and are willing to pay for? That’s the key to finding your niche. Please leave your comments below. We want to learn from you!
Nicely said Cindy; too often we downplay our own strengths and gifts because they hide in plain sight, seen by all except us.
So true Andrea. That’s one great reason to work with a coach. We can reflect things back in a whole new perspective that can literally change your life and business!
Great story and great insight only a master coach would catch. Scientists teach us that nature wastes nothing. Coaches like you teach that we all waste nothing – even the so-called “throw-away” moments of our lives.
Hi Al – you are the master storyteller – oh great branding coach! Thank you so much. I’m learning from you as much as you learn from me. warm wishes, Cindy
Cindy – I love Noah’s story and it’s amazing how he quickly saw the value of what he can offer the other children and embraced it immediately. You empowered him and he ran with it!! I’ve realized that a lot of coaches have forgotten about this integral part of coaching. Thank you for sharing and I’ll constantly make it my prior to remember not to “shortchange my followers”.
Thanks Jennifer! Those little minds are pretty sharp, aren’t they? I love how children learn and adjust so easily. And the great sense of pride they feel when they achieve something. We have a lot to learn from our children.
warm wishes,
Cindy
Cindy,
Great story, it really makes me think. We seem to believe everyone knows what we know.
Cindy,
Very cool post! We feel a lot of people are like your son, Noah. They don’t feel they have anything of value to share… and even if they do, they forget what was valuable to them when they first took an interest in their area of expertise.
We can sure tell that you’re coming from a place of passion when you talk about helping people choose their niche.
It was so cool to meet you… and we too look forward to keeping in touch!
Take care,
~ Pat and Lorna
Thanks Pat and Lorna – it was great to meet you both as well. I really look forward to learning more about what you do (it looks really interesting:) and staying in touch. warm wishes, Cindy