Why Choosing A Niche Isn’t Pigeonholing Yourself

This is a widespread fear that personal trainers have.

I've helped a lot of clients realise that by choosing a niche, they aren't limiting themselves and that they are strategically setting themselves up for success.

I struggled with this idea of niching down in my own business.

I spent years talking about "sustainable training" (what does that even mean?) or trying to market my online personal training business with general holistic health and fitness advice.

During this time, client attraction was slow.

It wasn't until I narrowed down and focused on a specific niche that my business started to grow, and I began to impact my client's results. I also started to make more money which increased my confidence and gave me more freedom in my life.

After choosing a niche, my marketing became so much easier. I knew exactly who I was talking to and how to create a marketing message that attracted my niche clients.

The quality of my clients also improved. The clients I was attracting were searching for me, and they were motivated and interested in how I could help them solve their specific health and fitness problems.

Looking back, I wish I had chosen a niche sooner. Who knows where I'd be if I hadn't spent so much time being resistant to choosing a niche?

If you're currently feeling resistant to the idea of choosing a niche because you don't want to be pigeonholed, this blog is for you.

The riches are in the niches.

The more specific you are about your market's problem, the more likely you will make money. This is true in personal training as it is in all business.

A lot of personal trainers have the same generic skills on paper. However, those who have particular expertise are far more likely to grab the attention of clients.

People want to hire experts.

If you've got back pain, are you going to hire a personal trainer who "helps you live the best life possible", or will you hire a personal trainer who "helps clients recover from back pain."

If you're unclear about what you offer, you can't portray its value. If you can't show the value of what you offer, then it's unlikely people will pay you.

Clarity consistently outperforms complexity.

The clearer and more specific you get (aka niching down), the more likely you are to reach your market and create revenue.

It wasn't until I got crystal clear and narrowed down significantly that I was able to build The Protect The Asset Career Coaching Program for online personal trainers. There is no way I could have made the program if I didn't know who it was for and what problems it needed to solve.

Choosing a niche has paid off time and again.

In a recent PodCast I did with Jack Turner, he summed up niching pretty well:

“If I wasn't really clear on what I did when people come to me and they've got all these different goals, all these different things, I'm not. actually focused on helping them achieve a single thing. Focusing on too many different areas and not being specific. So I think niching like for me has been very powerful because now when people come to me, it's really clear, like what they want to learn.

I think niching has been like super powerful and it makes it a lot easier for you to actually like, put your message out there, to know what to post about, to know what to talk about, to know like how to actually market yourself. If you don't have a niche and just be like saying random shit or different messages and it wouldn't actually make any sense to your audience.”

You're not pigeonholing yourself by choosing a niche.

Personal trainers who are in the process of choosing a niche often complain that they are afraid of pigeonholing themselves.

This typical scarcity mentality runs rampant in the health and fitness industry, and it's 100% false.

Personal training is a HUGE industry with endless opportunities. You can choose to get swept up in the rat race and feel overwhelmed by all the things you DON'T KNOW. Or, you can choose to become a specialist personal trainer who focuses on a niche audience.

You'll still need to learn about anatomy, movement, strength training, nutrition, sleep, recovery and more. But, you'll keep what is helpful for your niche client and ignore what is not.

Having a niche has very little to do with how you train your clients. Having a niche has everything to do with marketing your personal training business.

You can also change your niche as you move through your career. Yes, when you decide that you want to do something different you can.

I’ve changed my niche multiple times throughout my career and it’s been fine. It take a little while to transition and let clients know what you do and who you serve. But its possible.

As you move through your career, your values and beliefs are going to change. What you believe now about health and fitness will most likely be turned on its head in the next 5-10years. So, you’ll need to reposition yourself to align you career with your values and beliefs.

What to do if you are feeling resistant?

The first thing is to identify what you are so afraid of.

Most personal trainers are afraid of missing out on parts of the market.

They feel like they will make less money. But market research shows us that the opposite is true. Businesses that choose to niche down are far more successful than those that don't.

The most powerful exercise I have clients do is find examples of successful personal trainers and figure out their niche.

• Ben Partick (@kneesovertoesguy) has a niche.

• OPEX Fitness (@opexfitness) has a niche.

• Marcus Filly (@marcusfilly) has a niche.

• Emmet Louis (@emmetlouis) has a niche.

The list goes on and on...  Who are the successful personal trainers you look up to? What is their niche? I bet they have one. 

Since there are so many examples of this, it's not difficult to find. This alone usually proves that choosing a niche leads to a lot more success.

After all, sometimes all people need is proof that you can help them with a specific problem.

Your Turn

Have you felt any resistance toward niching down?

Or, on the other side of the coin, have you found success by choosing a niche and narrowing down your focus?

Shoot me DM @protecttheasset and let me know your niche experience.