Do I really need to niche? How much marketing is enough? And how do I know which tasks actually grow my business? In this episode, Jo tackles three of the biggest questions she hears from coaches, the very challenges that keep so many of them stuck. She breaks them down with clear, practical answers so you can focus your limited time and energy with clarity and confidence.

Key Timestamps:

[00:01:00] The Importance of Niching

[00:05:00] Effective Marketing Strategies

[00:11:00] Identifying High-Value Tasks

[00:17:00] Balancing Marketing vs Delivery

“Even if it’s a tiny step forward each day, it’s far more effective than going hard for a week and then stopping.”

If you’re a coach who feels overwhelmed by all the things you could be doing and want to know exactly what moves the needle, this episode will give you the blueprint to focus on what truly matters for growth.

Clarity comes from action. Choose one high-value task today and commit to it like watering the seed.

Useful Links

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Grow Your Business Without the Tech Overwhelm - One Stop Coach Shop

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If you’re kind enough to leave a review, please do let Jo know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: joanna@joannalottcoaching.com

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One of the questions I hear all the

time is, do I really need to niche?

2

Another one is, how much marketing

do I actually need to be doing?

3

And then here's the big one.

4

How do I know which tasks are really worth

my time when everything feels important?

5

If any of these questions sound

familiar, you are gonna love today's

6

episode because I will answer them all.

7

This episode is inspired by a q and

a call I did recently for Firework

8

Coaching, which was super, super

fun, and the feedback I had was

9

that the value per minute was gold.

10

So really excited to share a little

bit of those answers with you today.

11

So question one, i've served different

types of clients successfully.

12

Do I really need to niche?

13

My answer to this one was, it

depends on your circumstances.

14

The reason we niche is to

increase our lead flow.

15

If you have masses of clients coming your

way from lots of different backgrounds,

16

and you are not struggling to sell your

services for the price that you want, then

17

know, I don't think you do need to niche.

18

If on the other hand, you don't really

have enough clients, you don't really

19

have anyone coming to you, then the reason

we niche is to enable people to step

20

forward and inquire about your services.

21

So that is the deciding factor.

22

Have I got enough lead flow

and am I charging the amount I

23

want to charge for my services?

24

Niching will help you to get more

clients through the door because

25

people can really see that you help

them so we'll message you to inquire.

26

And also the other reason is because when

you can create a package specifically

27

for a certain type of client.

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Then they will pay more money.

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Thinking back to how we've all

been raised, generally to see

30

the specialist as the top dog.

31

If you are needing brain surgery, how

happy would you be that you have the top

32

specialist in the country serving you, and

how much would you pay for their service?

33

If you had a general surgeon who helps

people with ear, nose, and throat and

34

all sorts of other things as well as

the brain, how much would you pay them

35

or how confident and happy would you

be for them to do your brain surgery?

36

If you are realizing in that moment that

you would obviously want a top specialist

37

to do the work, this is how niching

gets more people in your door, gets a

38

waiting list built for your service,

and helps you charge higher prices.

39

An example though I gave on the

call because I know people really

40

struggle with this, is that

my coach is an ICF MCC coach.

41

I've been with him for years.

42

He's been coaching for years

and He hasn't really niched.

43

I mean, he kind of says career, but I

know he deals with a lot more than that.

44

He also generally sells by the hour,

although he does usually do a minimum

45

of three sessions and obviously tries

to aim for a bit more than that.

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And that has worked okay, for his needs,

as in, he's been going for a really

47

long time now, probably 15 plus years,

so he has referrals in his business,

48

so he doesn't really need to market.

49

I think the problem when you

aren't niched is that it's really

50

difficult to market your business.

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If you've been going for years and you've

built that pipeline up already before

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the market got really busy, then this

may not be totally relevant for you.

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But his prices are incredibly reasonable.

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I could say low, I will say reasonable.

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And therefore for his time, he could be

maximizing that more if he were selling a

56

result versus selling a coaching session.

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But it totally works for him.

58

His stage of life.

59

The hours he wants to work.

60

The money he maybe needs to bring

in, 'cause his mortgage is paid off

61

which mine certainly isn't right now.

62

So it all depends on your lead

flow and your income requirements.

63

Okay.

64

Question two, how much marketing

do I actually need to be doing?

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The short answer is more than you

think and more than generally feels

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comfortable, especially in the early days.

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One LinkedIn post a month is not going

to help you to market your business.

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People need to see you

repeatedly before they act.

69

New research shows that people

generally need to spend around seven

70

hours with you to feel like they

know you enough to work with you.

71

So if we are thinking about social

media posts and given most people's

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attention span for a single post is 0.5

73

of a second, maybe one second.

74

If all you are doing, for example, is

social media, I hope you are now seeing

75

that that's a lot of social media

posts needing to be done for people to

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really start understanding who you are

and really feeling that connection,

77

which is why I often talk about shallow

marketing, which is social media and

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things that are just like quick, look

at this advertising maybe, and deep

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marketing, which is something like

this podcast, a webinar, a blog, an

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email list, some way of people stepping

deeper into your world to essentially

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fast track that seven hour period.

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So for example, nearly all of my

clients have listened to my podcast

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, sometimes over months, sometimes over

years, until they really feel like.

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Yes, this is the person

who gets where I'm at.

85

This is the person that

I want to work with.

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So when it comes to how much marketing

do you actually need to be doing,

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really think about how are you

going to get people to know you well

88

enough to get to that seven hours

quicker with each individual That is.

89

Each individual spending

seven hours with you.

90

Obviously, some people will

buy looking at your first post.

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Some people will buy two years

after seeing your first post, but

92

as an average indicator, just so

you have a rough idea as to what may

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be required, and so you don't feel

disappointed that it's not working.

94

Because I know lots of my clients

feel really despondent when they

95

say I put out posts about this and

I've just got zero interest, and I'm

96

like, how many posts did you put out?

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And often it's one, sometimes

it's, I put out two or three.

98

So I hope that is a really good

indicator as to what may be required

99

and the person asking the question

used to work in marketing and said,

100

oh goodness, the reason I left my

job is so I could actually just do

101

coaching, and I really do get it.

102

So please don't feel too depressed.

103

I really do get it.

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And the thing that has really helped me

to be able to market my business on a

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really limited hours a week, because I

only work a few hours a day, is really

106

seeing my marketing as part of my business

and part of my mission and my service.

107

If you listen to the podcast episode I

shared with June Hogan a few weeks ago,

108

you will also notice that she mentioned

that I really love serving my community.

109

I hold monthly lunch and

learns for HR providers.

110

I create content and I really love

supporting people and sharing in this way.

111

So I do think there is a mindset

shift when I think about successful

112

people I'm working with that have

established businesses already, is that

113

they really don't mind the marketing.

114

They have fallen in love with

showing up and serving their ideal

115

client, whether that's currently

a paying client or whether that's

116

not currently a paying client.

117

You also eventually start to realize that

it's all part of your ecosystem and that

118

it does pay off in the end if you have

all of the foundational pieces in place.

119

That is saying that you've got a

clear niche, you've got a clear offer.

120

You know the problems you're solving,

the results that your coaching delivers.

121

You have a great marketing system

built out, and you've put the time in

122

to make it all start working together.

123

I also shared on this question

that stop start is really hard,

124

and I know most people do that.

125

They kind of go hell for leather

for months and then they few

126

months off, and then they come back

again for another few weeks and

127

then they have another month off.

128

A bit like my daily yoga practice,

which is a habit I established about.

129

Seven years ago now.

130

I practice yoga every day.

131

I mean, we are talking even

if that is two minutes a day.

132

Yes, two minutes.

133

I will try and never let two days

go by without me doing it, because

134

just like building my business,

I know that if I miss a day.

135

Or two days, I'm really unlikely

to want to start exercising again.

136

It's just really hard from that

standing start all of the time to

137

build the momentum that you need.

138

So even if it's a tiny, tiny step

forward in your business each day,

139

then I honestly believe that that's

so much easier and more effective

140

than going mad for a week and then

falling off for another month and then

141

suddenly coming back and then stopping.

142

It doesn't need to be all consuming.

143

It can just be, what's a tiny thing

I can do today to build my business?

144

Okay.

145

The final question I will answer today

is, how do I know what the high value

146

tasks are when everything feels important?

147

High value tasks are usually the

tasks that you don't want to do.

148

So I like to think of them as

active interaction with real humans.

149

So not doing your website, not creating

your nurture sequence behind the scenes,

150

but sharing your lead magnet consistently

once you have created your nurture

151

sequence and email behind the scenes.

152

Consistently sharing your

website once you have built it.

153

So yes, there is a time where we

need to do the build and lots of my

154

clients are in that place where we

are building out all of these things.

155

And therefore, it is really hard at

that time because you are learning so

156

much and you are learning all the tech

and you are putting it all in place.

157

But the really hard part is

actively sharing it consistently.

158

So I shared a coaching business scorecard

on the call and it was essentially a

159

list of things that you can do in your

business to move you forward each day.

160

So that might be connecting with

people actively on LinkedIn or however

161

else you build your audience if

you're using a different platform.

162

That might be sending a pitch to speak

on a podcast that might be sending

163

a DM to someone or telling your old

contacts and work colleagues what you're

164

doing now Very, very specifically.

165

So usually they are some tasks

associated with rejection, which

166

is why most people don't do them,

because none of us like rejection.

167

So if you are thinking that creating

a social post is hard, then I would

168

say, even harder is sending a message

to an actual individual person that

169

perhaps you used to know and saying,

who do you know who I could help?

170

So depending on what you find

difficult, create yourself a task list.

171

Create yourself a non-negotiable,

constant marketing protocol, not a very

172

attractive title I appreciate with the

word constant and marketing and protocol

173

in one sentence, but honestly I think your

life will be so easy if you get to the

174

place where doing your constant marketing

protocol is just like brushing your teeth.

175

It's just something that you do.

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It's not draining, it

doesn't take your energy.

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If you practice it so much, it will

become a habit that is just something that

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will serve you and serve your business.

179

Just the same as all of

our other habits in life.

180

Like health, exercise, meditation, all

of these things that are so hard and most

181

people really struggle with, and I do too.

182

They are the things that can literally.

183

Transform your life.

184

These seemingly small actions

that most people won't do.

185

And that is the cue here.

186

So if you are thinking about what

your high value tasks are, ask

187

yourself, does this task bring me

closer to a client's conversation?

188

If not, it's probably not top priority.

189

And this is quite tricky because

obviously if you are tweaking a website

190

or tweaking a nurture sequence again,

we can still end up answering yes.

191

But how quickly can you do those things.

192

With my clients, for example, I held a

decision making workshop last week because

193

what I noticed was most of the time, it's

not really that we don't know what to

194

do, it's just that we really struggle to

make a concrete decision as to whether

195

this is the best course of action.

196

And I really do get it because

obviously with any decision you

197

could be going down the wrong path.

198

But also staying in

indecision is really hard.

199

Being stagnant is probably harder than

taking some effort in one direction.

200

Instead of taking a month to two

months, or sometimes even more to make

201

a decision on your niche or your offer,

or what marketing channel you want to

202

do, how about making a decision for

now with the information that you have

203

and knowing that you can change course

at any point, while you have momentum,

204

it's usually easier to keep moving.

205

So I was prompted to give

actual specifics here.

206

So I said spend 60 to 80% of your time

on marketing and client generating

207

activities, and generally more like

20 to 40% on your actual delivery.

208

This is always a real shock.

209

If you are already well down the line

and you've built up your marketing

210

and you have enough clients, then

this will be different for you.

211

But if you are starting out, then

generating clients is your absolute

212

priority, so it's actually gonna

be more like a hundred percent of

213

your time on marketing, visibility,

other client generating activities,

214

and even less on delivery.

215

Obviously the aim is to start spending

way more on delivery, but while you build

216

that momentum and build that pipeline,

often it's bit more reasonable to know

217

that more than half of your time is

often spent in marketing your business.

218

I know even now, probably 50% plus of

my time is spent marketing my business.

219

Obviously things like

this, creating my podcast.

220

Social media, emails, all of those

things, speaking on workshops,

221

different things that I do.

222

I would definitely say mine is probably

50 50 right now and maybe even more

223

like 60% marketing and 40% delivery.

224

So a simple way to check in with this

at the end of each week to ensure that

225

you are working on high value tasks are,

what did I do that created opportunities?

226

I hope it was helpful to listen to

some of those top questions that was

227

asked recently and my view on them.

228

I love hearing from you, so please do

drop me a DM on LinkedIn as Joanna Lott

229

or email at joanna@joannalottcoaching.com.

230

And I would love to hear what you took

away from today's episode and what you

231

are gonna do differently as a result.

232

I hope today was super helpful.

233

And like I say at the end of every

episode, trust yourself, believe in

234

yourself, and be the wise gardener

who keeps on watering the seed.

235

Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

Thank you so much for listening to this

236

episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

237

I have a mess of free resources on

my website joannalottcoaching.com.

238

That's Joanna with an A

and Lott with two T's.

239

joannalottcoaching.com.

240

And I'll also put links in the show notes.

241

Let me know if you found

this episode useful.

242

Share it with a friend and

leave me a review, and I will

243

personally thank you for that.

244

Remember to trust yourself, believe

in yourself and be the wise Gardner

245

who keeps on watering the seed.

246

Get into the arena dare, greatly and try.