You Don't Have to Pick a Niche to Get More Clients

Kris: [00:00:00] Welcome to From Click to Client. Today is, really gonna be a fun episode. I would love to introduce you to my right-hand woman, Jaime Smoody. Jaime is brilliant, and she helps me with all the back end and the front end, and all the things in my business. We are ju- we are a really good team, and it's just a delight to get to, to bring her to the forefront today, and let you guys in, get to meet her and enjoy her. And we get a lot of questions from people, whether I'm on a call with a potential client or via email, we hear a lot of the same questions over, and over, and over again, which is why we decided to do this episode. So we're gonna change things up, and do a Q&A episode today. So Jaime is gonna ask some of the questions that we get a lot, and I'm gonna answer them, and we're just gonna go with the flow.

Jaime: [00:00:59] Absolutely. I am excited. We are turning the tables on Kris Jones today, and we're gonna ask her all the, questions that we hear over and over again. Okay. Are you ready, Kris?

Kris: [00:01:09] I am totally ready, yep.

Jaime: [00:01:10] All right, here is our first question: I am great at what I do, Kris, so why am I still struggling to find the right clients?

Kris: [00:01:20] You know, as an expert, whether you're a coach or consultant or a service provider, anybody who is really good at what they do, and they help their clients in really meaningful ways, and they just wanna help more clients, you got into this work because you love helping people, and you love the work that you do. And so what we don't realize when we become self-employed is that getting to work with our clients is only part of the job. The other part of the job is having to market yourself and feed the, the marketing hamster wheel to keep people coming in, and, , basically to build demand. You have to do activities to build demand and awareness about what you do. I just wrote a chapter about this in my book, How to Story Brand Your Coaching Business, and the book... the chapter is all about how to create demand. And the reality is- So often, and I, I have done this myself, where I get heads down delivering client work, working with clients, and loving every minute of it, and I forget to actually pull my head up and be proactive- Yes ... about putting myself in front of people to bring awareness to me, what I do, and my business, and to kind of capture that, the attention of new audiences. So-

Jaime: [00:02:50] Mm-hmm ...

Kris: [00:02:50] there are a lot of ways to do this, but you have to decide on what you're gonna do, and it doesn't have to feel like drudgery. The idea is really, you know, I talk a lot about the, the web- your website is the sun in your marketing universe. Mm-hmm. And the planets that circle around the sun, those planets, like, let's just say there are eight of them. technically there are more, but, like, let's just for today say there are eight planets. Each planet is a marketing activity. Okay. And most people that come to me think that they have to be on all the planets, meaning doing all the things. So one planet might be in-person networking events. Another planet might be podcasting. Another planet might be email marketing. You name it. Mm-hmm. Like, you... It... Pick any which marketing activity you wanna do, but the idea is you don't have to be on all the planets. Pick two planets that you wanna be on that are- Mm ... fun for you, that are- Mm ... genuinely fun, 'cause if they're not fun, you're not gonna keep doing it. It's g- Heck no ... it's gonna peter out, right? So hang out on that planet. For me, I am, I hang out on the podcast guesting planet. I, I love this podcast, and it definitely helps build my business. and I- I'm passionate about it, but when I really want to enhance my own visibility, what I do is I guest on other people's podcasts. Mm-hmm. And then I get to borrow their audience and meet new people. And, , if, if it's a right fit podcast interview, then a lot of people will book a call- with me after hearing me. So the other planet that I hang out on is email marketing, and Jaime and I, Jaime helps me a lot with this too, where we consistently email our list one to two times a week like clockwork, and we never miss a week. It... There's- Mm-hmm ... you know, and not all of them have to be long, blog-length k- kind of emails. They can be short. They can just- Yeah ... be helpful and informative. So those are the two that I hang out on because I've found them to be very effective. But you, your planets might be different than mine. So- Mm-hmm Jaime, I'm curious for you, what, what are your planets for your business?

Jaime: [00:05:03] Well, I thought my planet was gonna be social media, and it was for, like, three or four months, but I found myself even just yesterday realizing I hadn't posted, like, this whole month, and it just doesn't feel energetically aligned right now. So I'm actually reevaluating my planets currently.

Kris: [00:05:22] Yeah.

Jaime: [00:05:22] so I'm not sure which one is my, my planet right now. I, I haven't really had a big email network before, so, I didn't really feel like that was an option for me, so think I'm gonna need some new ideas.

Kris: [00:05:35] I think for you, one thing that, one planet that could be fun is, is summits.

Jaime: [00:05:40] Mm.

Kris: [00:05:41] Participating in summits. You're such an educator at heart, and- Yeah ... getting up there and teaching, that be a really great way d- just simply to build your email list. Mm-hmm. And then to be nurturing- Yes ... those, those people. I think that might feel fun. I just had such a great conversation with Kate Kordsmeier on my podcast earlier this week, and she shared with me, she's built her whole business without social media, which is- Mm incredible. Multiple six figures. Definitely check out that episode. I think it's episode 88?

Jaime: [00:06:14] 88.

Kris: [00:06:15] I think it's- Yes ... 88. Okay. Check out episode 88. Such a good conversation. But the thing that popped out at me, or the, the thing that she shared that I was not aware of, is that, you know, Meta, who runs Instagram and runs Facebook, they are interested, of course, in building Meta's bottom line. That is their top goal. And the way that they build their bottom line is they get people to advertise on their platform. Yes. And, nothing's wrong with that. Like, one of your planets might be paid ads. That's all- Yeah ... good, right? There's nothing wrong with that. But, W- because that's their priority, they are not interested in building Jaime Smoody's bottom line- Mm-hmm for free, for free. Right, right. And so when you... They just did some studies, and it's changed over the years, right? We, i- initially when we joined, or I'll just speak for myself. When I joined Instagram, I did it 'cause I wanted to stay connected to the people that I know and love. Mm-hmm. And over the years, the platform has evolved so much, so when you post something on Instagram, the people that actually follow you, it will only reach about 4% of those people.

Jaime: [00:07:31] Yeah.

Kris: [00:07:32] And those are people that have signed up to follow you.

Jaime: [00:07:34] Right.

Kris: [00:07:35] On Facebook, correct me if I'm wrong, but it's way worse. I think it's like- Yeah ... one, 1 to 2%.

Jaime: [00:07:41] One to 3%, yeah.

Kris: [00:07:41] 1 to 3%. So all that to say, I am not, More power to you if social media is working for you. Mm-hmm. Great. And if you're doing paid ads, it's way more likely to work for you, but, there are other ways to grow your business-

Jaime: [00:07:57] Mm-hmm

Kris: [00:07:58] than being on social. And I love what you shared about it just is not feeling energetically aligned for you. I think that's such a, a wonderful reminder for everybody here, is that before you do any kind of marketing activity, it's really important to check in with yourself and to feel into if it is energetically aligned for you and your- Yeah business right now. I think it's so easy to go online or look around in the, in our culture, you know, the emails that we get in our emails, and just be like, "Oh, what are they doing? What are they doing? I should be doing that, too."

Jaime: [00:08:35] Yes.

Kris: [00:08:35] And we look externally-

Jaime: [00:08:36] And then just push. Just push yourself- Just- ... to just keep doing more, more, more, more.

Kris: [00:08:40] Yeah. No matter what ... muscle your way through it.

Jaime: [00:08:43] Yes.

Kris: [00:08:43] And just that, that, that's, like, part of the gig, and it just does not have to be. Marketing doesn't have to feel like efforting. It can feel more like being and allowing, and that's what stepping off the social media hamster wheel- Mm-hmm ... can feel like.

Jaime: [00:09:01] Yeah. I think, I think when I started focusing more on how I was energetically feeling towards tasks, I would say I really- really dove into that probably like a year and a half to two years ago, things really got a lot easier. And even this morning, Claude was, Claude gave me my list today of things to do. Yeah. And I was like, "Okay, one done, two done." And then it gave me a third one, and I was like, "Mm." I'm like, "Claude, no. This isn't in alignment today. We're not doing this. Skip it." And so we just- Yeah ... skipped it and went to the next one. Doesn't mean I'm m- never gonna go back to it, but I think it's important to stay in like your, your high vibration. Like, you're gonna be able to continue to make decisions if you're feeling good about what you're doing.

Kris: [00:09:43] Totally. Yeah. And you know, y- a g- a really good example of this, we're going deep into this question, one of a, a big learning that I had n- just in the last couple months was, on my podcast I was interviewing Debbie Heiser.

Jaime: [00:09:59] Mm-hmm.

Kris: [00:09:59] And I had been- , doing a variety of different episodes at that time. some of them solo episodes, some of them guest interviews- Mm-hmm and kind of, kind of doing a mix of that. But I found that any time I had a solo episode on my calendar, I would move it from Monday to Tuesday, and then Tuesday to Wednesday. Yep. And Jaime would witness this happen.

Jaime: [00:10:22] I can attest. That's true.

Kris: [00:10:23] She would-

Jaime: [00:10:23] That's true.

Kris: [00:10:24] Then it would go Wednesday to Thursday, and then Jaime would change the label of the appointment in my calendar to say, "Final day, must happen." Yeah,

Jaime: [00:10:32] must do.

Kris: [00:10:33] Must do. And I'd be like, "Okay, no more m- no more pushing that around." So anyway, I felt like, "Okay, I need to change my mindset around these solo episodes. What is my hangup? Is it, do I have a hangup around visibility? Like, why, why do these feel so much like drudgery to me, like hard?" Mm-hmm. They're just hard, and they- Mm-hmm ... require a lot of, a lot of executive function, right? Mm-hmm. A lot of planning, a lot of thinking, and then a lot of time on camera. And, you know, in the end, they were great. They, they- Mm-hmm ... like, getting them done, they were very helpful. But I, I got to a point where I really noticed this behavior that I was having around them. Yeah. And so Debbie and I were talking about visibility, and I was like, "I... Can you help me overcome this block, the mental barrier that I have in my mind around this?" And she's like, "Yeah, we'll get to that, but, first I wanna, I wanna ask you, like, what if you didn't do solo episodes?" Never had occurred to me. Never. I'm like, "I'm the boss." But never occurred to me that, like, I could not do that. Mm-hmm. And what if, O- o- once I quit trying to push my way through that, it allowed for an openness, and it allowed me to th- get creative and think about, "Okay, how... What's the end product of a solo episode, and why is that different than a conversational episode?" And I think it comes down to there's more teaching involved. There's a little bit more- Mm-hmm ... there's more teaching. Like, the focus is on the, the guest and not on me, and that's... I love that. but what opened up for me in that is, like, "Okay, what are other ways I can deliver that kind of teaching and deliver kind of a more intimate episode without, without it being a solo episode?" Mm-hmm. And that's how this right here between Jaime and I- Yes ... thank you for participating. But I was like, "What if Jaime..." Like, Jaime and I chat all the time, and I'm like, "What if this is just a fun thing that I get to look forward to? How can I deliver this in a way that's actually truly fun for me- Yeah and truly energizing rather than draining?" Yeah. And, and so here we are. But that to me, it was such a... Debbie would probably not even remember that moment, but for me it was such an important reminder of, like, oh, number one, I'm the boss. I don't have to do things. Mm-hmm. It's good to ask yourself, like, "Why are you avoiding this?" Yeah. but ultimately, that question opened up so much for me and was able, I was able to bring more fun into my business. Yeah. And that's what it's all about.

Jaime: [00:13:17] I think from my point of view, too, like, just, you know, helping behind the scenes and everything, your solo episodes were so good, and they were, like, straight up teaching. Like, telling the audience exactly what they wanted to hear, like the answers to these five questions that we have listed for today. Yeah. And so I remember every time I would process one of your solo episodes, I'd be like, "Oh, my gosh, this was so good." And we were able to create short form videos that were just so, like, just pinpoint the topics people wanna hear. But I like that we can do this, where we're still kind of doing a solo episode. We still get to pick your brain and hear directly from you, and so I think it's a great compromise. I love it. I

Kris: [00:13:55] I do, too. I think it's, like, it's such an up-level for me. Yeah, yeah. Mm, it's really fun.

Jaime: [00:14:01] Okay. Yeah Are we ready for question two?

Kris: [00:14:03] Yeah, I think we're ready for question two, and then I think two... Two, Jaime just threw question one sticky note behind her shoulder, if you're- Yes ... just listening. Yeah,

Jaime: [00:14:14] if you're watching ...

Kris: [00:14:14] and I think question two will be our final question, and then- Yeah ... we'll come back and do it again.

Jaime: [00:14:19] I know. Okay, question number two. Do I really need to pick a niche? Like, I really just don't wanna box myself in.

Kris: [00:14:29] The answer is no. Oh. You do not have to pick, pick a niche.

Jaime: [00:14:35] Oh.

Kris: [00:14:36] It, it, it is, it's an... Really, I'm glad that you asked this question because I think it's the one thing I talk about on nearly every call that I get on, is-

Jaime: [00:14:46] Mm-hmm

Kris: [00:14:46] many people, understand the importance of picking a niche, and it is helpful. It will make your business easier to market if you do. But the reality is almost, I would say 95% of the clients that I work with don't work with just one type of person. Yeah. They work with two types of people, sometimes three. And so rather than, forcing yourself to, what I call, like, paint yourself into a corner with a niche, we can really lean into, Well, I'm gonna, I'm gonna talk about two things here. Number one, very often if you're serving two different types of audiences, let's just say you're working with parents of kids with ADHD, but you're also working with educators of- kids with ADHD, right? They're two quite different audiences, and some of their, their struggles are different. But I have found that when we really look under the hood of your story and we l- really uncover the story and, and the work that you do, we find an overlapping, kind of an overlapping Venn diagram- where the teachers and their needs and their wants and their struggles overlap with the parents. And so we lean into those kind of over- overlapping Venn diagram- Yes ... items. And then that way the homepage of your website can really resonate with both audiences. And that way you don't have to have a secondary page necessarily for each audience. Like, they can all be welcome, welcomed on that homepage and feel seen and heard and resonate with you, and be able to identify if they're the right fit for you. So that is number one. I think the other thing, that's really helpful when it comes to- Feeling like you're having to force yourself into picking a niche is, well, number one, that you don't have to. what can be really helpful though is if you're really clear on the offer- Mm ... that you have, the way you deliver your solution, and the end results that you provide. So if you're clear on your offer, if you're clear on your process, and if you're clear on the end result that you provide, you can have... You can serve a wide- Mm-hmm ... variety of people. So we need to bring clarity to your message, but it doesn't necessarily have to be your niche. It could very much more be around the result that you provide and the way you provide it.

Jaime: [00:17:21] Yeah. And I, , and, like, with your business, you work with all different types of business owners, so you don't specialize in just one type of business owner, like therapists, right? Like, you can help across the board, but it's your offer that is super clear and exactly what you're gonna give them, so the difference, yeah.

Kris: [00:17:40] Yes. Exactly. Like, the people that I tend to work with are... They work with clients and they want more clients. Yeah. So that's kind of the commonality between them, but it could be, it could be a coach, a consultant, a service provider, an expert. I just got finished working with a woman who runs a, a natural supplement company in the UK. Hmm. Right? Mm-hmm. So outside of my niche, but for this type of client, my offer was exactly what she needed, so I got to delve into my process, the offer, the end result, and it was exactly what she needed. So she w- she wasn't in that traditional niche that I have, and it still totally worked.

Jaime: [00:18:21] Yeah.

Kris: [00:18:22] Yeah.

Jaime: [00:18:23] That's great.

Kris: [00:18:23] Yeah. Thank you. So freedom. Oh. Yeah. I, I think, I think, yeah, i- it's just, it's a wonderful reminder that you're the boss, and this is your business, and to not necessarily buy into all the common marketing advice that is out there, because every business is different, and it's... It can be really helpful to kind of have a thought partner. As business owners, we are literally stuck inside the bottle trying to read the label that can only be read from outside. So when you have a thought partner that can really look at, at your bottle, read your label, and help you identify the way you wanna show up online and the messaging that you want and the visuals and the overall brand can be, really a huge time saver and a way to build a more robust, profitable business

Jaime: [00:19:18] Awesome.

Kris: [00:19:18] Yeah.

Jaime: [00:19:19] Wow. Well, thanks, Kris Jones. Thank you

Kris: [00:19:23] so much- I- ... for being here. What a delight Yes. What

Jaime: [00:19:25] a- How fun. I have one just, like, random fun question for you.

Kris: [00:19:29] Okay, I'm ready.

Jaime: [00:19:30] What was your favorite candy growing up?

Kris: [00:19:34] Ooh, gosh.

Jaime: [00:19:35] Even if it's still your favorite candy, that's okay.

Kris: [00:19:39] Oh, it's evolved. It's matured with me- Okay very slightly. , As a kid, I was into Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Ooh, yes. Those were just my favorite, and I would, I would, you know, go trick-or-treating and then I would organize all my candy, and then I- Yes ... would just love those individual cups. Mm-hmm. and now, a- now as an adult, many, many years later, it has evolved to Reese's Sticks. Have you heard of- What? ... Reese's Sticks?

Jaime: [00:20:08] Not yet.

Kris: [00:20:09] Oh, good Lord. I'm gonna send you a case. They are- They are very much like a Kit Kat, so, like, that wafer-y layer. Okay. Mm-hmm. That wafer-y layer type of vibe, but 10 times better because it's peanut butter in between each thing and chocolate- Oh, yum ... around the whole thing. It's so good. Yeah.

Jaime: [00:20:27] My, my mouth is watering.

Kris: [00:20:30] What, what, what was your f- favorite candy growing up? Oh. And what is it today? My,

Jaime: [00:20:34] my favorite candy growing up were, like, those orange slices that are, like, kind of, like, gummy, and they have the sugar on the outside, you know? And it's just, like, mm- Yeah ... like, firm.

Kris: [00:20:44] Yep.

Jaime: [00:20:45] So delicious. And I-

Kris: [00:20:46] They come in that clear plastic bag that is like- Yes ... $1.29 for the whole- For the pound of

Jaime: [00:20:53] them. Well, I think it's, like, a, a texture, and just, yeah, love. And I still love those. I would say I have also slightly evolved, and peanut butter cups are my favorite.

Kris: [00:21:02] Oh, wee.

Jaime: [00:21:03] So, That's fun and, , just a little pro tip for those of you out there, if you enjoy a good ice cream, like Dairy Queen or whatever, get peanut butter cups and Oreos together in the same, like, blizzard.

Kris: [00:21:16] Ooh.

Jaime: [00:21:17] Top notch. I

Kris: [00:21:17] Love it.

Jaime: [00:21:18] That is my ultimate.

Kris: [00:21:19] I wanted to share about the orange, whatever they're called. Mm. Orange slices, I guess. I, I

Jaime: [00:21:24] think they're called- Yeah ... orange slices, yeah.

Kris: [00:21:25] Yeah. So my mom, when she got pregnant with me, she had just an intense craving for those. She had never- Stop ... ever liked them before. That was not her thing at all. She got pregnant with me. She could not- resist these things. She would just, that was what she craved. And so she ate them a lot while she was pregnant, and then I was born, and she never had them again.

Jaime: [00:21:50] Wow. So- Well, I don't believe in coincidences, so I feel like we were brought together with this thread of orange slices then. I agree. Maybe your mom brought me into your world.

Kris: [00:21:58] I bet she did.

Jaime: [00:21:59] Did. I bet she did.

Kris: [00:21:59] Yeah.

Jaime: [00:22:01] Great.

Kris: [00:22:01] All right, Jaime. Well, thank you so much for being here. Let's do it again.

Jaime: [00:22:06] , yeah. 100%.

Kris: [00:22:09] And Jaime, tell us where we can find you if someone's curious about you.

Jaime: [00:22:14] Oh, you're so sweet. , you could go to social media, it's Jaime, J-A-I-M-E, underscore Smoody, S-M-O-O-D-Y, on Instagram or Facebook.

Kris: [00:22:23] I also want you to share the offer that you have for the funnel. The-

Jaime: [00:22:28] Ooh ...

Kris: [00:22:29] the freebie. No, you have a freebie and an offer. Let's hear about that.

Jaime: [00:22:32] Ooh, thanks, Kris. Sure. yes, if, if you guys would like a freebie, if you have your own podcast, I actually created an interactive quiz that you can go take, and it's like a podcast health check where it asks you questions about different parts of your podcast production and then gives you some tips and some actionable strategies to kind of implement. So if you would like to take the quiz, it's at feelinggoldenservices.com/podcastcheck.

Kris: [00:22:56] Okay. Incredible. So thanks, Kris. Jaime, thank you for being here.

Jaime: [00:23:00] Thank you. Yeah. Oh, and you guys, hit subscribe, and make sure you check back 'cause I'm guessing that we're, we're gonna be back in probably a couple weeks, 'cause that was way too fun. And if you have questions that you'd like us to answer, go ahead and comment on this episode if you're watching on YouTube, or comment if you're listening on Spotify or Apple, and we will definitely add those to our questions list.

Kris: [00:23:20] Incredible. Thank you.

Jaime: [00:23:21] Okay. Thanks, Kris. Bye.