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#21 Define your niche and get clarity on WHO you serve (and who you don’t)

Following the success of LM Starter – How to Build and Launch your Offering in 4 weeks, I teamed up with ASLM to create a follow up paid 10 week series.

It’s for anyone who is serious (and ready) to turn their passion into a living.

Week 1 is done.

But, it’s not too late to start. (All sessions are recorded)

Click here for the details. 

CONTACT ME BELOW with a headline KEEN” if you want to join us.

 

Without further ado, this week’s article. 



Business = Helping people solve problems and achieve desired outcomes in exchange for money

It all starts with the person who has the problems, the desired outcomes and of course, the money.

I’ve already talked about the power of having a niche. Read here.

Now, let’s define YOUR niche.
 

Get to the end of the whiteboard.


Elias Lebbos is the CEO of Traveller’s Aid, a not-for-profit that makes society accessible and inclusive to everyone in the community.

When he and his team moved into their office, instead of having a small whiteboard for brainstorming ideas, he made the whole wall a whiteboard.

Why?

“If the answer is at the corner of the wall and the whiteboard is too small, we may not get there.”

Take the same approach when you define your niche (or perform any brainstorming activity).

Allow yourself to get to the end of the whiteboard.

Yes, this means you will have to entertain ‘bad’ ideas.

That’s a great thing. 

When you allow space for the ‘bad’ ideas, the good (and sometimes great) ideas will shine through.

You only need a single great idea, right?

If the price you have to pay is 100 bad ideas, so be it.
 

Let’s define your niche


The power of niching is that you get super clear on WHO you serve.

Perhaps more importantly, you get clear on who you DON’T serve.

You need a process to filter your target market, IN or OUT. 

Here’s mine. 
 

Eight Filters To Define Your Niche

For each filter, dive at least 2-3 layers deeper to get even more specific with your niche.


1️⃣ Health Condition or Problem

As LM nerds, I’ll assume you want to treat, reverse, or prevent a health condition.

Or you want to help people increase their health span (something I am working on in my own life). 

Let’s say you want to help people with ‘chronic disease’.

Dive 2-3 layers deeper.

–> Chronic disease → Type 2 diabetes → Newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes → Newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes (who want to reverse it without meds).

–> Chronic disease –> Cardiovascular disease –> Coronary artery disease –> Non occlusive Coronary artery disease (before requiring stents)

–> Chronic disease –> Autoimmune disease –> People with autoimmune diseases that want to learn about anti-inflammatory diets
 

2️⃣ Age and Life Stage


Age
Depending on someone’s age, their problems and desired outcomes will change.

A 15 year old boy will have very different problems to a 45 year old lady.

Dive 2-3 layers deeper.
–> Women who are 40 years or older –> Women in their 40s –> Working mums in their 40s.

Life stage

Common life stages:

  • Infant (0-2 years)
  • Early childhood (2-6 years)
  • Middle childhood (6-12 years)
  • Adolescents (12-18 years)
  • Young adulthood (18-30 years)
  • Early career (20s and 30s)
  • Relationship status: Single, married, divorced, re-married
  • First time parents
  • Working parents with kids in school
  • Empty nesters (50s and 60s)
  • Pre-retirement (50s and 60s)
  • Early retirement (70s)
  • Older age (80s and 90s)

Each stage brings with it a unique set of problems and desired outcomes.

Parent –> First time parent –> First time parent on maternity leave

Ageing adults –> Retirees –> Retirees living in retirement villages
 

3️⃣ Profession (Closely Linked to Income)


This is one of the easiest ways for someone to filter themselves in or out of your niche.

Professional women → Professional female doctors → Professional female GPs → Professional female sub-specialised GPs with an interest in mental health
 

4️⃣ Goals or Aspirations


“What are your professional goals, my friend?” I asked my patient. 

“Make $300k a year working in an executive role at a big 4 company within the next 5-10 years,” he responded.

“What are your health goals?”

“I just want to be healthy and happy.”

Most people are good at setting work goals but suck at setting health and happiness goals. Help them!

Examples: 

Get healthier → Improve cardiovascular health → Run their first 5km –> Run your 5km or 30 minutes in just 9 weeks

We can learn a lot from the ‘Couch to 5k’ movement. The niche is so clear – People who want to learn how to run 5km or for 30 minutes in 9 weeks.


Get stronger → Lift heavy at the gym → Add 5 kilos of muscle in the next 6 months

Be happy –> Have regular ‘happy’ and ‘self care’ routines –> Have a rock solid routine for exercise, meditation, and gratitude in 12 weeks

 

5️⃣ Psychographics (Beliefs, Values, and Lifestyle Choices)


Lifestyle choice:

Working part-time → Working three days a week or less → Working only school hours (and don’t want to work during school holidays)
 

Beliefs and values:

People who care about the environment → People who want to limit their meat intake to to support the environment → People who want to go plant based to support the environment
 

6️⃣ Geography / Nationality / Heritage


Where you are from, completely shifts the types of problems and desired outcomes that are at play.

I was born in Sri Lanka. I left when I was 5 years old because of a nasty civil war (think suicide bombers and military check points).

This is very different to a kid who was born in Australia, grew up on a farm, and went to school with only 50 students.

Fun example:

Human → Sri Lankan → NCS (Non – cricketing Sri Lankan – yep, they exist but definitely not me!) 
 

7️⃣ Behaviours


Example:

Want to lose weight –> Want to reduce comfort eating → Want to reduce comfort eating at night

Dr Lucy and Dr Mary, founders of Real Life Medicine, have a great offering for this.

Another example: 
Sedentary lifestyle → Excessive sitting –> Excessive sitting (4 hours or more a day) at a desk job
 

8️⃣ The Person You Once Were


“You are most powerfully positioned to serve the person that you once were.” – Rory Vaden (New York Times Best Selling Author and Co-Founder of Brand Builders Group)

The aim is to help a certain person solve their problems and get what they want, right?

That certain person could be the person you once were.

Think back to the “Past You”.

  • What was “Past You” like 3,5,10 years ago?
  • What problems have you overcome since then?
  • What barriers have you overcome?
  • What mistakes have you made?
  • What have been your biggest challenges?
  • What have you achieved?
  • What are you most proud of?
  • What were the ‘aha’s you have had? 
     

Now, go through all the ‘filters’ again and apply them to who you were.

Example:

  • What was your problem? Was it a health problem or condition?
  • How old were you?
  • What were you doing for work?
  • What were your goals and aspirations?
  • What were your psychographics – your beliefs, values, and lifestyle choices?
  • Where did you live?
  • What were your behaviours? How have they changed?
     

Wondering who my niche is?


It’s YOU 😍

Health professional –> Lifestyle Medicine practitioner –> Lifestyle Medicine practitioners [occupation] who have a passion for Lifestyle Medicine [psychographics] but don’t know how to turn it into a living [problem]
 

How meta, right?  

Lifestyle Medicine is the future of healthcare.

Y’all are driving the movement.

I want to help you to turbocharge your journey, through the power of business. 🚀


❓Questions about your niche? CONTACT ME BELOW with a headline ‘NICHE’ and let me know.

❤️ Loved it? SHARE it with a fellow LM nerd you care about. 


Much love to you and of course, myself.

Dr G


Ready for business coaching?

Running LM Starter with ASLM was an eye opener for me. 
124 people registered!
Clearly people want to launch their LM Offerings. 

That’s why I created LM Starter – 10 weeks

If you are serious and ready NOW to launch your offering into the world, I made this for you (and for who I was!).

Everything you need to know is here

If you want to join us (it’s not too late) –> CONTACT ME BELOW with a headline ‘KEEN’ and leave the rest to me.


In case you have any doubts about joining…

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