If you’ve been thinking about being a Virtual Assistant for more than 5 minutes, chances are, you’ve already heard someone say, “what’s your niche?”. Say whaaaat? How do I pick a niche if I’m not even sure what services I’m going to be offering? Don’t worry! This blog will break down what a niche is, how to choose one, and what to do if you don’t have one. Let’s get right to it!
What is a niche?
The definition of a niche is: “products, services, or interests that appeal to a small, specialized section of the population.” When you hear people ask “What is your niche?” or an expert recommending that you “niche down” your services, they are referring to the specialized skills that you offer or the specific industry that you are serving.
If you don’t have a clear picture of who you want to serve, starting with your skills can be a great place to start.
Start with your skills.
Begin by writing down everything you’ve ever done. Include current and past paid employment, volunteer positions, school, college degrees and certifications, and personal experiences.
It’s a good idea to think of this through the lens of the timeline of your life. What life events have shaped the person you are today? What are some of the experiences that you’ve had in your personal or professional life that you think back on and say – “I really loved doing that” or “I really miss that part of my job” – try to put your finger on what that thing was or is.
Now it’s time to take that list of skills and experiences and find what will translate into services for your VA business. For example, if you helped manage a social media account for a non-profit, consider adding Social Media Manager to your service list.
What is one skill that you possess that is the least general? You can turn anything into your niche – but I don’t recommend choosing general services such as Email Management or Calendar Management, because these are general tasks and it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to command a higher price for these services.
Why is it important to Niche down?
Have you ever heard the expression “jack of all trades, master of none”? Choosing a niche allows you to not only get laser-focused on sharpening your skills in one area but also allows you to build trust and authority online by becoming known for that one “thing”. When someone needs a specific service, who will people recommend? A jack of all trades? Or the VA who has strategically positioned themselves as an expert in that ONE service?
Here’s another huge benefit to specializing in one area: You will get much faster at providing this service. If you are offering package pricing (here’s why you should!), you’ll find yourself making more money per hour by getting faster and more efficient at your job. For example, maybe when you took on a client you charged $500 for X service, it took you 10 hours a month – but now on month 3 you’ve become a wizard at X service and it now only takes you 8 hours a month. You’ve now just increased your hourly rate without raising prices on your client.
What if you’re not an expert yet?
Guess what? Nobody starts as an expert. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable – it’s the only way to improve. Lean into the holes in your services and develop a strategic plan for improving, learning, and leveling up.
Here are some great online resources for learning, improving, and exploring new or existing skillsets:
What if I still don’t know what my niche should be?
You can still start your Virtual Assistant business if you don’t have a niche. In fact, you can still have a successful VA business without niching down – but you should choose only one or two services to showcase in your marketing. Pick your most specialized skill or service and heavily market that one.
Here’s another idea: If you don’t know what you like doing, or are multi-passionate, take VA jobs that push you out of your comfort zone and help you learn new things until you are a little clearer on what your specialty or niche should be.
Maybe you don’t know what skill you want to offer, but you can identify an industry you’d like to work with. Start by offering your generalized skills to that niche industry and let them organically dictate what specialized services they need.
After a while you’ll find out what feels natural to you and what you feel like you could do in your sleep.
On finding confidence when you are just starting:
Pull from your future expertise! You might not be the best at what you offer (yet!), but no one needs to know that. All that is required of you is to show up and be willing to work hard to figure out what you don’t know. Back that confidence up with service that goes above and beyond. Be a problem solver for your clients. If you want to be the best in the biz, then anticipate the tough days and frustrating clients – and have a plan to work through the rough patches.
Need more help with all your foundational business basics? The next round of The Foundation Group Program starts in January 2021! Want to learn more about how this program can jump start your business? CLICK HERE!
