Have you had the above reaction to your coaching services yet? If you have, do not take it personally - it is perfectly understandable. There are just so many coaches out there at the moment. For example...

Did you know that there are well over 6,000 trained coaches (admittedly to varying standards) in the UK at the moment? Oh, and this does not include the other pseudo-coaches who have decided to hang out their shingle and join the coaching bandwagon.

So what does this mean to you?

Well, you need to find a way to differentiate what you are offering contrasted to the other coaches promoting their coaching services at the moment. You need to give people a reason to choose you over the rest. Are you?

I'm a big fan of niching and have seen the difference it can make to how effectively you attract clients into your coaching practice. So - think niche.

This is all well and good but some coaches can find it a challenge to identify their niche in the first place - particularly if they have little experience working with real clients. Even some more experienced coaches can find it hard to decide on their niche too.

So what can you do?

Well, recently I've found what I believe is a neat approach to identifying a niche market. What's more, it's not provided by me either. It's just too good an idea not to let you know about it - I feel that I owe that to you. What is it?

Recently, I've discovered a number of coaches who focus on working with clients only in the niche of career coaching.

Here are a number of advantages I see to their approach:

1. Popular Niche -- The niche of career coaching is a popular one with demand too. In fact career coaching one of the most requested types of coaching as career is such a fundamental part of life. So you know there's demand there right?

Now as it's a popular niche there is also plenty of competition there too - so the right approach is essential.

2. Wide Niche -- The niche of career coaching is sufficiently wide to allow scope for narrowing down further, if you choose to do so. Some coaches resist a niche because they don't want to narrow down their options too soon.

This approach allows you to use a wide niche to attract clients and learn what type of clients you get the best results with. You can then use this learning to refine your niche and further differentiate your practice later if you choose to do so.

3. Common Language -- The niche of career coaching allows you to focus on talking with potential clients in everyday language of careers rather than the less common parlance of coaching.

I do hope that you found this article useful and that it has got you thinking about the benefits of niching your practice in the area of career coaching.

Shaun O'Reilly
http://www.authenticpractice.com/