One piece of marketing advice I hear a lot is that health & wellness coaches need to have an ideal client – aka a “niche.” But the truth is, some health coaches can build a successful coaching business without picking a niche.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a big fan of the “pick a niche” idea. It can be a game-changing decision when scaling a health coaching business. That said, there are some health coaches who don’t need to pick a niche. 

In fact, they shouldn’t.  

Let’s take a look at the 3 types of health coaches who shouldn’t pick a niche.  (If you fit into #3, you can practically write your own ticket.)

3 Types of Health Coaches Who Should NOT Pick a Niche

Number 1: Health coaching is a passion project

Most people get into health coaching because they genuinely want to help people with their health. They may even be passionate about it. But there’s a difference between being passionate about what you do and a “passion project.”

A passion project is one where you’re doing it solely for the joy it brings you. That doesn’t mean you should do it for free. But it does mean you don’t expect the income from it to pay the bills.

If that’s the case for you, then you don’t need to pick a niche.

It’s important to understand that the reason people are told they should pick a niche is that it’s the best and fastest way to scale a health coaching business.  A niche is scalable because you specialize in helping a specific type of person. 

That means your marketing will be laser-targeted. It will speak directly to your ideal client. And if it’s done well, it will position you as the best possible health coach.

But not everyone wants to build a scalable business. They may prefer working with just a few clients at a time. If you’re just starting out, or if you have the “entrepreneurial bug,” this may seem hard to believe. But there are many people who go into health coaching because they want something they can do “on the side” for fun. They don’t really need the income.

Number 2: You’re only interested in 1-on-1 coaching

If you’re only interested in working with people 1-on-1, you don’t need to pick a niche. 

Of course, you still need to get clients. Some coaches get all the clients they want through referrals. Or they go to networking events or hold workshops to find new clients. Those can work extremely well for some people. 

The 1-on-1 approach isn’t for everyone because there’s a limit to what you can earn. You’ll be capped at the number of clients based on the hours you can or want to devote to work. 

But if you don’t want your income to be limited, you should pick a niche so you can do group coaching and scale your health coaching business. This makes it much easier to move away from trading dollars for hours. You’ll spend less time working, make more money, and you’ll have more freedom in deciding when and where you work. 

Number 3: You have a Revolutionary Superpower

I talked about this in a recent article. A Revolutionary Superpower usually involves a unique (or little-known) approach the coach uses to get people results.  Let me give you an example.

I have an amazing chiropractor, Dr. Brian Yamtov. I’ve been going to him for years. He’s a Chiropractic Kinesiologist and also does acupuncture. 

Every year, Dr. Brian gives his patients a free acupuncture session for their birthday. When I got my invitation to a free session, I thought, why not? I’d never done acupuncture before and thought I’d give it a try.

When I arrived for my first session, Dr. Brian asked me a few questions about how I felt. I usually feel pretty good, so I couldn’t point to a specific problem. After my session, I noticed I felt lighter and a little more energetic. But that was about it.

But when I went for my birthday acupuncture the next year, Dr. Brian added something to the session.

He had me hold onto a metal “wand” while he touched another “wand” to my wrists and a couple of other points. He told me this would show him exactly where my energy was blocked or off balance. The contraption was called an AcuGraph.  

Dr. Brian said he loved the AcuGraph because it helped him to really pinpoint what was going on in a person’s body. Before, he’d have to rely on what his patients told him and doing some muscle testing. But a lot of people have symptoms that they don’t recognize as blocks. Or maybe they’re just not so aware of any symptoms.

In just a few moments, the AcuGraph mapped out the state of my energy flow. It showed where I was out of balance and where I was blocked.

When Dr. Brian saw my results, he asked how my digestion had been. I said I thought it was fine. But then the next day, I noticed something different.

I realized I didn’t get the same “full” feeling after I ate. I was also less burpy. 

It was never really bad, so I didn’t think there was a problem. But the AcuGraph spotted it and Dr. Brian fixed it with acupuncture! 

As a patient, I was blown away by the AcuGraph. And as a marketer, I knew why. It uses one of the most important tools of persuasion – demonstration proof.

Since I could see exactly where my energy was off … and I felt the difference after the treatment … I was sold. 

I think Dr. Brian is sitting on a potential goldmine. He could create program packages that combine acupuncture and chiropractic. He could start with a consultation where he uses the AcuGraph. He could show the results to his patients and then offer a treatment package.

I’ve worked with coaches who use other types of devices. One uses a device to find the underlying cause of “untreatable” conditions. And one doctor I helped has a powerful detoxing protocol called the Cellular Health Accelerator Program. It helps people with low energy, brain fog, digestive issues, weight gain, weight loss resistance, chronic pain, and many other symptoms. 

So if you have some kind of “unique mechanism” that gives you a superpower, you don’t need to pick a niche. Of course, you still need strong messaging. Because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how great your superpower is if your messaging doesn’t get you noticed.

Want some help finding your health coaching superpower and creating powerful messaging? Then add your name to the Positioning Breakthrough Course waitlist. You’ll be the first to know when it’s open for enrollment!