Choosing your ideal consulting client and niche

TL;DR: How narrowing your focus makes you easier to hire.

How do you choose your ideal client, and do you really have to niche down?

7 Questions About Choosing your ideal consulting client and niche

I'm a generalist. Do I really need to niche down?

Yes, and it's a smaller change than it sounds. Niching down means choosing who you say you're for, and your skills and services stay where they are.

How do I choose my ideal client?

Choose backward. Look at the clients who went well, name what they had in common, and turn that into markers you can recognize on a first call.

What type of clients will pay my rates?

The clients who pay your rates already treat the problem as worth solving, with money assigned to it and somebody accountable for fixing it.

What if narrowing my focus means missing out on work?

You stay free to say yes to anyone, at any time. Narrowing changes only who finds you, and it never fences off who you're allowed to work with.

Can I have more than one type of client?

Yes, and your marketing can only speak to one of them at a time. Serving several client types works, and one message for all of them does not.

Clients want industry experience I don't have. What do I say?

Answer the question underneath. A client asking about industry experience wants to know you'll understand their situation fast enough to be useful.

I say yes to everything and nobody thinks of me first

Being thought of first requires being filed under one thing, and saying yes to all of it keeps you unfiled. Change what you say you're known for.

Related Clusters

Pillar 04 / Cluster 4B

Talking about your consulting value so clients get it

How to describe your work so the right client immediately understands why it matters now.

Pillar 04 / Cluster 4C

Standing out from other consultants and competitors

How to differentiate on substance in a market that suddenly feels crowded.

Pillar 01 / Cluster 1A

Getting consulting clients when referrals slow down

What to do when the warm-network referrals that built your consulting business stop producing, and how to start getting clients on purpose instead.

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We used to book clients just in time to keep income flowing, and we now have a 6-month cushion!

Get more of the clients you want, and get paid more for your work

Leah writes to women running B2B consulting businesses every week, about getting clients on purpose and getting paid for the value of the work.

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