Sometimes our market takes us down an unexpected path, and as long as we enjoy the work, it can feel very much “in flow” to follow that path.
A few months ago, I was toying with the idea of focusing my coaching practice on women only. It felt like a natural transition for me, but I didn’t make any sudden moves toward this change; I pondered it. I didn’t want to force it; I figured I’d get some sort of sign or nudge in the direction if it was the right move.
Well, boy, did I get a sign!
After a week of brewing on it, I looked at my calendar for the upcoming month, and nearly every Focus 40 session or Intro Chat I had booked was for a dude! What?
My calendar had filled up with male prospects, many of whom turned into amazing private coaching clients.
My market wasn’t whispering to me; it was shouting, “Don’t do that!!!” So, I had to listen.
Is there a message that your market has been giving you that you haven’t yet listened to?
Perhaps you get booked multiple times for a particular industry, for example, banks. After the 3rd or 4th banking audience, you might ask yourself, should I focus on this more? I’m not suggesting you cut off the funnel to other markets; just focus your outbound efforts on this one audience.
Because when we find something that works, we double down! When your market speaks, you listen.
I have had clients who have gone deep into one vertical before, like Greg Schinkel, who went heavy into manufacturing. But that doesn’t mean that Greg doesn’t work with other industries. He just positions all of his marketing energies and budget in one direction. And we know that massive focus can give you much better results than throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.
When you can adjust your marketing to accommodate a particular audience, it allows you to speak directly to that audience. Let’s go back to the banking idea. Perhaps part of your focus means setting up a page on your website just for banks. www.youspeak.com/banks is the idea. Then, your goal is to place logos of the banks you have worked with and fill this page with bank-specific presentation outcomes and testimonials.
The next step would be to blitz the market with this link. To plant seeds at 50+ state banking associations, at national events and with corporate buyers. You could connect with banking groups and individuals on LinkedIn and be seen as an expert in this field.
Bottom line, if your market is speaking to you, via bookings in one industry, or with one particular audience, then you listen and double down.
I’ll see you soon Wealthy Speakers!
P.S. Want to know where to find the business in speaking? Check out our latest webinar at: https://wealthyspeakerschool.com/events
