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Why Not Choosing a Niche Is Costing You — And How to Fix It
Episode 320 • 9th March 2026 • The Time Is Now • Amel Derragui
00:00:00 00:20:06

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Amel Derragui:

The time is now episode three hundred twenty

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You probably already know that you need a clearer niche in your business.

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So lemme ask you something.

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Honestly, if you've known this for months or maybe even years,

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why haven't you chosen yours yet?

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Is it because you don't know which one to choose or where to start?

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Is it because it keeps evolving all the time?

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Or is it because choosing feels like closing doors no matter

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what situation you're in?

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No.

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That not choosing a niche is actually costing you more than you think.

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So let's see what you can do about it now.

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Welcome to the Time is now the podcast for mission-driven solopreneurs ready to take

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action and go from invisible to in demand.

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I am your host Amel Derragui.

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My mission is to help you cut through the noise, get crystal clear on

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your strategy, and position yourself as the go-to expert in your field.

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But this podcast isn't just about marketing.

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It's also about building your resilience and staying ahead of the

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shift in our world so you can be the leader and change maker you truly are.

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This is your time to create more growth, alignment, and impact

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in your business.

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You might already know that choosing a clear niche in your

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business is essential to attracting your ideal clients and making

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consistent revenue in your business.

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But although most solo entrepreneurs know it, the reality is that very few actually

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do it when it comes to choosing a niche.

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I see four types of people.

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The first one is what I call the unclear one.

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You generally don't know where to start.

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You have experienced skills, ideas, but no clear direction.

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The second one is the hesitant one.

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You have two or three solid options, but you might be overthinking

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which one is the best to pick.

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The third is the fear for one.

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You know you need to choose, but you're afraid of limiting yourself, of

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shrinking and even losing opportunities.

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And the fourth is the disenchanted one.

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You might have chosen a niche before you committed.

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You tried, but it didn't work the way you expected.

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Maybe the market didn't respond.

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Maybe you didn't feel aligned, maybe you lost momentum, and now you're thinking,

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what if nicheing just doesn't work for me?

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So I'm curious to know which one of these four situations you might be in.

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Know that wherever you are right now, you're not alone.

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This is one of the main challenges of most solo entrepreneurs

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and small business owners.

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The good thing is that awareness is the first step to clarity, and

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today I'll share some guidance to help you gain that clarity.

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Here is what I see happening when people don't pick a niche in their business,

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it's actually often not like a dramatic failure.

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It's more of a subtile.

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Stagnation keeps going on and on for years.

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And there is how this often shows up in your business.

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Your messaging keeps shifting.

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You struggle to explain what you do in one clear sentence.

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You lack confidence when approaching clients.

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You do not charge the right price, and very often you might try

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one strategy than another, than another, but nothing really works.

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Here is one of the most important thing to know.

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In marketing, you need one strategy per target audience.

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If you have multiple target audiences or different segments in your business,

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you need as many marketing strategies.

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When you don't choose a niche, you are either running the same marketing

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strategies for all, all your different target audiences, which doesn't work, or

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you're trying to run multiple strategies at once with no real consistency.

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This is what very often happens, and this is exhausting.

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So you're not stuck because you're incapable.

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You are stuck because your energy is scattered without a niche.

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Your messaging has no anchor.

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Without an anchor, your strategy keeps shifting.

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And when strategy shifts, results don't show.

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When results don't show confidence drops.

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And when confidence drops, marketing feels heavy and often leads to earn out.

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It's a real vicious circle.

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So the solution isn't to work harder, the solution is to focus your energy

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in one direction, long enough for momentum to start building up.

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Lemme share with you my own example.

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When I launched my business over a decade ago, I of course needed

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a niche, but I didn't just pick the niche of expat spouses.

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I narrowed it even further to expat spouses eradicating

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every two to three years.

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Why did I choose this niche?

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Because I was an exp expert spouse myself.

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I understood the emotional reality, the instability that comes with this

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lifestyle, the identity shifts that it creates, and I felt really strongly

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about what I call the injustice.

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Women giving up their careers to move abroad for their partner's jobs and

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to support their families on the move.

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And in the process, they often lose their own source of professional

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fulfillment and financial independence.

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It made them vulnerable, especially in cases of marital challenges,

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which are really cared about.

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But thanks to technology and the internet, making your business portable

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was finally accessible to anyone.

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And as I often used to say, we live in the best times possible to launch

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a location independent business.

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So here the solution really matched the pain.

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That combination made my niche so powerful and resonated with many around the world.

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In fact, once I committed to my niche, everything became easier.

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My messaging became laser focused.

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My content was so obvious to my audience, my visibility and my audience kept

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growing faster than I could have imagined.

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And my audience and clients would often come to me telling me, oh my God, it

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feels like you're in my head right now.

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And that is what clarity on your niche does.

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It creates resonance, and resonance creates traction.

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Before we move on with this episode today, can I ask you for a small favor?

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If you're getting value from this podcast, if it's really helping you think

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differently or see your business clearly, please take a moment to subscribe to the

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show on the app you're using right now.

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Whether that's Spotify, apple Podcasts, YouTube, or any other platform,

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subscribing helps this podcast reach more mission-driven solopreneurs like you, and

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it allows me to continue creating these episodes and sharing the strategies,

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the tools, and the mindsets that help you go from invisible to in demand.

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All you need to do is press the button that says, subscribe or follow.

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That's it.

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In exchange, I commit to continuing to bring you thoughtful, practical,

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and high value episodes to support your growth, alignment, and impact.

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Thank you.

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I truly appreciate it.

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Today, I wanna invite you to reframe how you look at choosing a niche,

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because choosing doesn't limit you.

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When your niche is defined, you are not limited.

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You can still work with the people outside of your niche, but it's your

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marketing that is focused on that niche and that needs a clear lane to work.

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And the smaller the niche, the faster you gain visibility and

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become known in your industry.

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I've seen this again, again with my own example as well, with my clients.

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Lemme give you the example of one of my clients ruler.

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She went from being a broad leadership coach to becoming the expert in employee

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retention for fast growing startups.

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This positioning did not come from nowhere.

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It came from the work we did to identify what I call her unique zone of genius

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and her experience as the general manager of an energy company that faced

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the same issues as most companies.

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As general managers, she used the method.

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She now helps other leaders implement to double the business's revenue and

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increase team engagements by 50%.

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When she embraced that niche and tied it to her zone of genius, she

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immediately grew in credibility and started getting real attention.

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She was.

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Initially hesitant because her passion was really working with artists, but choosing

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fast growing startups as her niche didn't stop her from working with them.

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She just didn't market to artists, and she just let them come when they come.

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So let's hear from roulette herself.

Rula:

Me becoming an expert in employee retention.

Rula:

This has caught the attention of a lot of people because this

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is the issue with which a lot of people are dealing today and.

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Finding my right positioning, the one that really interests me and

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in which I'm an expert because this is what I do in the company.

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I'm general manager also in, has attracted me new clients and has

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also helped me really, really focus on this specific topic.

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It has been a total game changer for me.

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That is the power of nicheing.

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It creates clarity on where to focus your energy and leads to real momentum.

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Also, when you nail your niche and stick to it consistently,

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it often naturally expands.

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Look at Apple, for example.

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They didn't start with everyone.

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They started with graphic designers and creatives, and look at it today.

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Apple products are widely used across the entire population in the world.

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In my case, I started with expat spouses, and that niche naturally expanded over the

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years into globally minded solopreneurs, consultants, and coaches worldwide.

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When you focus on a niche, you're not locking yourself

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in, you are building momentum.

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The only way to know what is the right niche for you is to get started

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somewhere, and I'll give you some guidance on this very shortly.

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But know that you don't need the perfect niche.

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You need a committed starting point.

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Niching is not like a lifetime contract.

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It's what I call a strategy experiment.

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Postponing the decision is postponing results.

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But most importantly, it really sucks all the energy out of you.

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Sometimes the niche you choose ends up not being the right one, and that's okay.

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At least you tested it.

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Now you know.

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No more going back and forth.

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No more hesitating, no more being inconsistent.

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If you picked a niche that didn't work, know that I completely

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understand your frustration.

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But this is the part of trial and error that you need to embrace when

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building your marketing strategy.

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That's what entrepreneurship is about.

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Without trying things out and being willing to risk getting it wrong,

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you don't discover what actually works for you and your market.

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It's part of the game.

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So if it doesn't work the first time, please don't give up.

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Move on.

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Pick another niche, but one thing is don't go back to trying to target everybody,

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because as the saying goes, if you try to reach everyone, you'll reach Noah.

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Before we go further, let's define what a niche really is.

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A niche is the intersection of a specific group of people, a specific problem.

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They deeply care about solving.

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A specific way you help them solve it.

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This is where the three Ps framework that I created comes in to identify your niche.

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I invite you to reflect on these three Ps.

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The first P stands for powers.

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Identify your superpowers, your skills, expertise, experiences, track record.

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Assets and even your hobbies and lived experiences.

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These are all the ingredients that make your solution really unique.

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Then the second P stands for problem.

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Identify the real specific problem you feel called to solve, the

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one that matters deeply to you and creates tangible impacts.

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The third P stands for people.

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Clarify who you genuinely care about serving.

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Who do you understand really well and who can you realistically access your

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niche and your zone of genius is found where these three Ps come together.

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In fact, your niche is not something you just invent or choose randomly.

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It's something you uncover with deeper work if you want the business to be

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aligned with who you're, I take my clients through this steep work with

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a series of questions and exercises, but one of the most powerful question

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to ask is this one, what can you talk about and learn about endlessly?

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Because your energy flows where your attention naturally goes.

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So ask yourself, what can you talk about and learn about endless endlessly?

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And because I've worked through this process with hundreds of solopreneurs,

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I turned it into a special AI tool that now you can use for free.

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I want you to meet Nina, your niche navigator.

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Nina is a custom GBT that I created just for you based on my three P framework.

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Nina will guide you step by step through your powers, the people you wanna

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serve and the problem you wanna solve.

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To get Nina go to the time is slash 320.

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Once you receive your link, you can chat with her directly on your chat account.

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She'll guide you.

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Just let her lead the way.

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And if you want a deeper validation and strategy, you can book a 90

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minute strategy session with me.

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We'll clarify your niche validated strategically, and ensure that it

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aligned with who you are and where you wanna go, because the reality

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is that a human sounding board still makes all the difference.

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You'll find all these resources on the time is now dog biz

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slash three hunred twenty.

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So if there's one thing I want you to take away from this episode is this,

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you do not need the perfect niche.

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You need a committed starting point.

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And when you choose, everything shifts, your content becomes sharper,

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your confidence increases, your messaging becomes more effective.

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Your consistency improves, your authority and your visibility grows

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faster, and you spend less energy figuring out how to market and sell.

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Lemme share with you the example of my client, Katie.

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You actually will hear more about her story in the next

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episode, but just in few words.

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When we started working together, she had experience, but she lacked clarity

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and confidence in how to articulate her value and market herself consistently.

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She knew who she wanted to work with, but her niche was still

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quite broad and hard to explain.

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Once she narrowed her focus to women over 40, navigating body changes and

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overwhelmed, but conflicting health advice, everything started to shift.

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She stopped feeling like she had.

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Or explain things.

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She started confidently owning her role in helping women build

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sustainable health and healthy habits.

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Her content became easier to create.

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Her message became much stronger.

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She even launched her Habit Champions program with paying clients without

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even having a real audience yet.

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So that's the power of nicheing and a strong positioning.

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Which needs me to this.

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As I said before, picking your niche is essential, but it's also the first

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step of many to attract your ideal clients and generate your revenue.

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Your niche gives you a clear direction, but it's your whole

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positioning strategy that makes you stand out in a really noisy world.

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In the next episode, as I said, you'll hear Katie share her story of how

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refining her niche transformed her confidence and her results, and right

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after that, I'll come back to you with more guidance on how to build a

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strong positioning and messaging that truly attracts your ideal clients and

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makes you memorable in your market.

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Because your niche is the key foundation no matter what, but positioning and

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messaging is what makes you unforgettable.

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So until we meet again, I invite you to start reflecting on your niche right

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now with Nina, your niche navigator.

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Access Nina, by going to the time is now.

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If you are watching this episode on YouTube or Spotify, you will also

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find the link below this video.

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I cannot wait to hear how it goes for you, and I hope that this episode

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helps you gain clarity and the courage to finally choose your niche.

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Thank you so much for listening.

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I truly appreciate you spending this time with me.

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Please don't forget to subscribe.

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See you in the next episode for more inspiration to go

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from invisible to in demand.

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The time is now to create more growth, alignment, and impact with your business.

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