In 2016, I sat in a workshop called “How To Book More Business” breaking into a cold sweat.
It was a National Speaker Association event led by Lois Creamer from Book More Business.
Lois was NOT trying to scare me but her words were making my stomach churn.
“The most important thing you have to do to book more business as a speaker is narrow your niche.”
NARROW YOUR NICHE!!!!
Ugh, I understood what she was saying, but those three words stung my soul! Lois was not the first or even the last person to say them to me.
Those words are a trigger for the whirling dervish in my head. It starts chattering, “Niche?!, Niche?!, What niche?! Which niche?! I’ve got so many niches, my niches have niches!”
I’ve resisted picking any kind of niche for years. Don’t be like me.
DO YOU DO TOO MANY THINGS TOO?
Over the years, I’ve spoken at conferences, on panels, in workshops, etc.
I’ve produced and starred in my shows and other people’s shows.
I have spoken on a sea of topics:
- How Do You Want To Be Powerful?: Know why you’re speaking to impact your audience
- Cha-Ching Your Conference!: Hone your networking skills
- Are You Being You?: Be yourself to build your brand
- Elevate Your Elevator Speech: The art of making a good first impression
- What’s Your Story: Sharpen your storytelling skills
- Make A Nice Sandwich: Give feedback that gets listened to
- Tell Me More: Increase your “curious-ability” to find more prospects
- Want To Be Funnier? Ten tenets to being a more entertaining presenter
- Write “Betta”!: Improve your writing skills to craft more effective speeches and presentations.
- Sell It First!: How to raise money for food projects by crowdfunding
- Ask Away: Techniques for getting people to help you.
- Grow Your Marketing Seedlings By Growing Your Mailing List
- Other People’s Money: How To Be A Successful Event Producer On Someone Else’s Dime
- Mind The Gap!: Take your business from where you are to where you want to be
- Know Your Circle Of Value: Create, convey, deliver, and capture value for your prospects and you.
- Let Me Connect You: A low-risk, high-reward workshop for people who hate networking or love it
I’ve starred and produced Theater & “Eatertainment” projects including:
- Pie Party Potluck Live: make a pie, bring a pie, eat all the pies
- The Fried Chicken Theory According to Jackie Gordon: an evening of sultry soul food and sweet soul music
- Say Cheese: a tongue-titillating tasting of artisan cheeses, wines, and the songs they inspire”
- Black Pearls & Strange Fruit: the history of black American women singers and their struggle for racial dignity
- Chocabaret: a tasting of NY artisan chocolates matched to songs with Singing Chef Jackie Gordon
- Seasons Of Beef: an interactive workshop to learn how to up the umami in your beef dishes
- A Grape, A Bean And A Curd Walk Into A Boardroom: A chocolate, cheese & wine pairing event
And more…
As a result, I had no idea which one of these topics to choose!!!
Should I even choose any of them?
Did I need a completely different topic?
ARE YOU CLEAR ABOUT WHAT YOUR NICHE IS?
After the workshop, Lois said to me, “I can’t help you book any business unless you pick a topic and narrow your niche.” UGH!
It was an eye-opening workshop. I even bought her upsell product. But I left with my head swirling and stayed stuck.
I’ve done a lot of things — THAT IS NOT A BRAG! It’s not a curse either. It’s me. I like doing things. In the past, when I lived in Australia, I even named my business Jackie Does It! Talk
It’s fun to be able to do a lot of different things. Emilie Wapick, who has the platform Puttylike, calls people like me “Multipotentialites.” This is an accurate way to describe us. Wikipedia for Multipotentiality.
It’s a good word. I usually call myself “CRA-MAZING” a lot of the time. LOL! (Believe me, I thought about owning the “CRA-MAZING” niche.)
Don’t get me wrong, I get a lot of benefits from being me. BUT, it can be overwhelming, distracting, ineffective, and a challenge to get paid. Especially, when you keep darting from one thing to another.
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Also, there’s answering THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS QUESTION aka WHAT DO YOU DO? And watching people’s eyes glaze over because I’m T.M.I.’ing (Too Much Information) them into a stupor.
Doing “all the things” made it hard for other people to help me. Avoid that by being very clear about your niche.
Even if you have less than a handful of niches you make it hard for people in your network. They have to understand what you do so they can recommend or connect you for speaking gigs.
The hilarity begins when my friends or colleagues attempt to answer THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS QUESTION on my behalf. When they’d introduce me, I’d never know what they were going to say. Whatever they say is 100% my fault because I was not clear.
I realized that while I can’t change who I am, I can do be clearer about what I do for money and so can you.
I NARROWED MY NICHE to one thing, working with speakers who want to get paid for their expertise.
I want to encourage you to do the same. Many people resist focusing on a specific niche and that will cost you time, money, and success.
PRO TIP: When choosing a niche, be sure to pick one where other people are already making money.
tim stoddard / copyblogger.com
NARROW YOUR NICHE!
You have to narrow your niche. If you are clear about what your niche is, GREAT! But if you’re not, here’s an exercise that may help.
Human beings pretty much suck at seeing ourselves the way other people see us. We are our own worst enemies. An insightful way to figure out what your superpowers are, your strengths, what you can teach, etc., is to ask.
Reach out to friends, family, colleagues, strangers, etc., and ask them. The following questions all ask the same thing in a different way. Try them out to see if the answers get back will help you find your niche.
FIVE QUESTIONS TO HELP NARROW YOUR NICHE
- What is the thing that people ask me to do over and over that I excel at?
- What would you pay me to do for you?
- If we spent one day together what would you want me to teach you?
- What is the thing you admire most about me?
- What do you think my superpower is?
- If I want to focus on making the most money I can with a skill I already have what do you think that would be?
HOW MANY PEOPLE SHOULD I ASK?
You have to ask enough people for you to get a clear idea of what your narrow niche should be. It may only take one or two to inspire you, but asking a lot of people will give you a bigger data pool to work with.
HOW DO I ASK THEM?
There are countless ways to ask these days. Text them. Email them. Call them. You can post the question(s) on social media. You can send up smoke signals. Just do it!
- Make a list of their answers. You don’t have to agree with their answers but look for the common threads amongst them.
- Weed out their answers and get rid of the ones that don’t resonate with you.
- Use the answers to choose a narrow niche where your passion, profit, and power come together.
In conclusion, being crystal clear about what your narrow niche is will help you get paid to speak.
Once you decide what your niche is, tell EVERYONE! Base all your marketing, sales, and fulfillment strategies on your niche.
Check out Lois Creamer’s Book More Business website.
Jackie Gordon
I've been creating outside-the-box ways to get paid for speaking and performing since 1998 and even won awards! I've been coaching speakers to speak more effectively for years. Now I want to help them get paid for it.
Learn key strategies for grabbing attention, keeping viewers hooked, and driving more sales!
Get this course!