Focusing on a niche is not a new concept to the field of marketing. However, it is to many therapists. Usually when therapists come to FreudTV for their first consultation, most believe that they need to claim as many areas of expertise as possible. Their reasoning is that this will open them up to a broader array of clientele.

However, this generally loses a lot of business and in a lot of cases, can be considered unethical.

After all, how many cardiologists would claim that they also are obstetricians?

In the world of marketing- a niche market is a group of people that share a similar interest or need. In the world of therapy, or coaching, it is often called a “specialty” or “area of expertise/focus.” It is all about reaching out to a specific group of people, understanding their needs and offering solutions.

Many fall into the trap of thinking that all niches are small. Niches can range from very small to huge. It can be sub-divided as they grow. Much of the resistance of therapist’s not wanting to specialize comes from the thoughts, “I want to offer my services to as many people as possible,” or “I want to market to as many clients as possible.” It is much harder to do this and be successful. Ignoring niche marketing might be your ticket to joining the ranks of what we call “vanilla therapists,” or therapists with no real zing, zest, or appeal.

The field of therapy/coaching is massive. It's made up of millions of people searching millions of web pages. Most therapists coming out of the gate make the mistake of thinking that all they have to do is create a product, service, and a website and people will come- the Field of Dreams Mentality. The reality is that if you are too general or try to be everything to everyone you will end up being nothing to no one.

So where might a therapist begin to find their niche? During our first meeting with a client, we start by helping them make a list of their passions:

• What do you do easily and well ?
• Who do you like to work with ?
• What people can afford to pay for your niche ?

Some might say “I've already tried to pick my niche, and I can't find one. I've done so many things that there really isn't one Niche. Besides I might get bored. Or won't I be limiting myself if I work with a small group of clients? If I market to a small number of people, doesn't that mean I sell less?”
When you specialize, you begin focusing on a smaller concentrated group of people who have the same challenges and are looking for solutions. However with a small concentrated group like this, more of the people in this group are likely to buy your products and services. With a large general group of potential clientele, there are many people who are not looking for the challenges you solve.

So in a nut shell you're marketing to many people who are not buying , which is costly in terms of time, effort and money. How many therapists do you know with an endless marketing budget?

So what happens if you pick the wrong niche, or specialty? What do you do then?

The most important and valuable thing you can do is focus on your top area of expertise/niche for now. Do your research on the potential clientele, pick a niche that is big enough to support you and make the money you want to make. Most importantly, as a therapist- you must make sure that you are practicing within your area of competence. For instance, you don’t want to just pick the field of Autism because your research points to a large and higher paying demographic.

Once you find your niche, you need to ask them what they want, what challenges they have and solutions they're looking for. You can often do this through surveys. Design your products or services to fit their challenges. When we created FreudTV, our niche was the field of therapists and coaches. We started out by helping many get into television and market their practices that way. However, we quickly began to learn that many therapists did not necessarily want to be on TV, but many did want to learn how to grow their practice. We refocused our efforts and watched as our business nearly tripled in size.
If you’ve done your research- start marketing. If you find your are not making sales, find out why. It could be your approach to products or services or pitch is not working and NOT THE NICHE.

Is this a profitable niche? Once you have discovered your niche, research to see if there is a high demand or a significant amount of money being spent in your niche. Research your niche- Go to Amazon or Google to name a few. Use keyword tools. Is there a demand for you niche? This can often feel a bit off to therapists. After all, therapists went into this field to help others, not to make money, right? Wrong. If you can’t support yourself and your practice, you won’t be able to help anyone in the end.

The goal is to achieve market penetration. This is how you become an expert in your field or niche (that and accumulating knowledge and research experience in your chosen specialty). In many cases, it can take 2 to 5 years to penetrate your niche. But that often depends on the particular niche.
Stay in it to win it. You have to keep plugging along within your niche, even when you feel like it is not currently successful, in order to target a niche market. If you are doing well I would recommend that you continue to focus on this niche area for the long haul. That also depends on what you are targeting because it could be difficult, or quite possible for you to become the main practitioner in this area.

For instance, if your chosen niche is positive psychology- you will come up againsts huge players in the field such as Martin Seligman and Tal Ben Shahar, who already have machine-like PR campaigns and Ivy League strongholds, which can be difficult to compete with. You want to be known for your niche. You want to become the expert and the authority on your product or service.

When there is a question on a particular topic- you want your name to be the next word on the tongue. Whether you have a product, service, or publication- you want the public to call you or have someone always referring them to you. If you have a niche, people in your target market will want to link to your content online and read what you write. Both colleagues and potential clientele will talk about you and recommend you. Also, because of your authority status, other practice opportunities may come your way.

IMPORTANT: Once you choose your niche, learn everything you can about the specialty and target market. Learn and track what other people say and write about it through various social media outlets including your target audience. Provide value for your target market. Write about your niche to increase your exposure and alliance with the particular specialty.

Have a website for your niche. Get yours up and running with lots of information and continue adding to that content. Make sure your website is high content and high value of information. Make sure you use the search engines. Speak about your niche. Build your authority-your website can be a growing showcase of your recognition within your niche. Continue adding links, updated information and by doing that it helps with search engines as well as with credibility. Link to other sites where you have been mentioned and or interviewed.

Work with other sites that have related products. Build your authority. In fact, you're not looking to become a millionaire right away. You just need to bring some much needed cash flow into your practice to begin growing.
I encourage you to learn more about Finding Your Niche with FreudTV so that you can explode your business online.

Colleen Long, Psy.D is the Creative Director at FreudTV and works with thousands of therapists and coaches who struggle with their marketing and want to get clients on a consistent basis.
FreudTV, LLC