An IAWP Client Connection Template
Know Your Niche Formula
In order to connect with your clients, you must know your niche! That is, you have to know what it is you do, who it
is you support, what it is they are looking for and exactly what you have to offer them. The more specific you can be,
the easier it will be to connect with more clients because you’ll be clear on what you do and they’ll be clear on what
you offer. The following steps in the Know Your Niche Formula will help you to fine-tune your personal niche and
determine your client niche.
Your Personal Nic he
Before you define your client niche, you want to make sure you define your own personal niche, which is the
intersection of your passion and your skills. This is a good way to check in with yourself to make sure your passion
and skills align. The more in alignment these two are, the closer you will be to not only doing work you love, but
being successful at it.
1. What are you passionate about?
Determining what you love to do is essential. What specifically lights you up and gets you excited?
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2. What are you good at?
Knowing your skill set is essential for how you will reach your ideal client.
In number 2 you answered what you love, but now you want to define what you are good at. Once you
determine your best skill set, then you can further fine tune what you do. For example, you might love
everything to do with wellness; you live and breathe it, and you really good at leading others or coaching or
listening or directing projects or writing or….. Even if you are good at many things, describe your best skill set,
where you feel you really shine. Describe your skill set below.
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-1© I nte r n a t i o n a l A s sociation of Wellness Professionals, 2010
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3. Are you doing what you love and what you are good at?
Add numbers 1 and 2 together and check in with what you are currently doing vs. what might be ideal. Some
examples:
*You love health + you love supporting people = Health Coach.
*You love cooking + you love speaking in front of groups = Celebrity Chef
*You love running + you love directing projects = Marathon Event Planner
These are just examples, you can dream as big or as small as you like here.
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Your Client Nic he
Now that you have fine tuned your personal niche, let’s move on to fine-tuning your client niche where you get to
take your Personal Niche and share it with others. Let the fun begin!
1. Are you your ideal client?
It can be helpful if you are part of your client niche because it makes you “relateable” to your potential
clients. Though it’s not essential, consider the wellness professional who supports moms who is not a mom
herself. She may run into challenges where the moms she helps don’t think that she really understands their
challenges. Being a part of your niche helps to build your expertise as you share your story. For example, if
you help people who struggle with fatigue, what is your story/experience/expertise as it relates to overcoming
fatigue. In other words, why are you drawn to this specific work? Describe your personal story as it relates to
what you do and what you help others solve.
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-2© I nte r n a t i o n a l A s sociation of Wellness Professionals, 2010
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2. What is your ideal client’s biggest challenge or problem?
What is the biggest challenge your ideal client is facing? Think back to when you had this “problem” or helped
someone with this problem. You can even picture one of your favorite clients while you consider, What was it
that you/the client really wanted to be solved. For example, many wellness clients want to lose weight. But
underneath that desire is something even bigger: the desire to be accepted, to feel great again, to be a role
model for their kids, etc. Define your client’s biggest problem in terms of their underlying frustration. The
more you can describe their frustration in language they would use, the more these
challenges will hit home for your ideal clients.
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3. Will your ideal client invest money to solve this problem and why?
Now that you have defined your ideal client’s biggest challenge or problem, the question you must address
is: Is this problem significant enough to drive them to solve it by purchasing your program/service/product.
You will want to get very clear on what you are solving and describe the benefits that your client with see
using tangible results like numbers, feelings, experience, etc. Describe why they will spend money on solving
this problem. Hint: The solutions you provide must help them to radically change what happens to them on
a daily basis. Think about the impact on career, family, relationships, finances, self-confidence, etc. that their
challenge has on their life and how your solution will impact these areas. If you discover that you don’t believe
your ideal client will pay to have this problem solved, then you will want to consider a different problem or a
different client type.
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-3© I nte r n a t i o n a l A s sociation of Wellness Professionals, 2010
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4. Describe Your Niche in one sentence.
Your niche is the intersection of answers 1 through 3. Your niche is the clients who have a challenge that you
can solve because you have been there before and have the experience that will give them the results they
desire…and they are willing to pay for this experience and resulting benefits. Write below one sentence that
describes your ideal client. This is your niche! Congratulations!
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5. Connect with Your Niche.
Now that you know your niche, your next step is connecting with
your niche. You’ll want to have at least 10 different ways clients can learn about you. For example, public
speaking, workshops, fliers, postcards, social media, partnerships, websites, newsletters, advertising, and many
other lead generation and marketing activities. Use the IAWP’s Holistic Business Plan Workbook to help you
discover where to find your ideal clients in your niche and how to connect with them.
-4© I nte r n a t i o n a l A s sociation of Wellness Professionals, 2010
w w w. i a w p - co n n e c t . co m