Create a Successful Niche To Bring In Your Ideal Clients
Developing your niche is one of the most important things you will do to build your successful practice.
Are you asking, “How the heck do I do this?” Your niche is your area of specialty. This may be addictions, OCD, trauma, children, couple’s work, or any other specific population of clients or issues. Typically, we’ve gotten training and have experience in the area of our niche; this is what allows us to say to those clients, “I can offer you specific skills, knowledge, and competence to help you.”
When you read business articles on niche creation, they tell you to do an analysis of the market to find gaps in service. Ideally, you’ll see where there’s a gap, then develop a niche to fill it. For example, if I google “child therapy” in my area, I may notice there’s a lack of therapists who treat kids. I decide to offer that in my practice, bingo I am now offering a service that not many other therapists in my area cover. Theoretically, this will bring me a lot of business from everyone seeking therapy for their young children. I’ve just created my niche.
For therapists, it’s not that simple. We don’t develop our areas of expertise based on market forces; we develop them based on what types of clients we love working with, the issues we feel passionate about, and some special skill we’ve developed (such as EMDR or DBT). This needs to be our guide. If this aligns with the market forces, that is perfection, but developing your niche is going to be much more of a professional development exercise rather than one in marketing. To find out more about developing your professional identity, make sure to check out the Master Course and the Mini Course, Establishing Your Professional Identity.
Questions To Ask Yourself
Your niche is going to be predicated on what interests you and what you’re passionate about. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
- Were there certain classes or subjects in graduate school I was drawn to?
- Who are the clients I am most excited to see?
- Which clients do I feel I am especially effective with?
- What specialty trainings have I done?
- When I get flyers for CEU courses, which ones seem the most interesting?
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See if you can narrow it down to a specific population or issue.
You don’t need to get overly narrow with this, but it should be specific. Some examples:
Young children
Adolescents
Couples
People in chronic pain
Gambling addiction
OCD
Anxiety
Eating disorders
Transition to retirement
You get it. The list is endless. Just choose something that you feel very drawn to; pick an area and work on developing that as your niche. What does this mean?
Develop It
Engage in ethical practice. Make sure you have the appropriate training for any treatment you are offering. If you want to have a niche offering EMDR, make sure you are trained.
Continue to pursue training in your specialty area. All of us are required to get ongoing CEU training throughout our career. Use this as an opportunity to get further training in your niche area.
Make others aware of your niche. This is powerful. If you treat addictions, make sure that’s on your website. Market to people looking for that. Reach out to other therapists and providers in your area to let them know you have a specialty in addictions. This will get you a lot of referrals.
Embrace your niche, but don’t allow it to limit you. See other types of clients. If you only work with one type of population or issue, it’s a recipe for burnout. Keep it fresh and mix it up!
Have fun with this. The beauty of private practice is that we get to do what we want and see the clients we want. Embrace your niche and go for it. For tons more crucial information on how to successfully set up your private practice check out my awesome Master Course, Everything You Need To Know About Private Practice But Didn’t Know To Ask! I’ve got you covered.
I love helping therapists build successful private practices! For more great information like this to help you build yours, make sure to check out the Master Course and the Mini Courses. I’m here to support you and I want to help you reach your dream!
If you need some individual help with all of this, I’m here for you! I offer mentoring services for those who want some personal attention to help them build their successful private practice. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me. You can find out more on the Mentoring page.
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