Why You Don't Have To Niche Down To Succeed
In this solo episode I reflect on advice we often here in business, "Niche Down". I'll share why this is not the right advice for people like us who want to serve our purpose for decades to come. If you plan on doing the work you love for the long game, I hope you enjoy!
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Music Credit: Nova by River Roots - https://www.youtube.com/riverroots
Podcast Transcript
Hello there, friend. Welcome to another episode of the Art in Business of Meditation podcast. This is going to be a good one. I am your host, still Lou Redmond, and why I do this. And this podcast is really my own reflection on why I do this and also how you can think about what you do in a way that is unique to you. Now, this is a podcast around business and art, growing our work, growing our craft in the world as a teacher, as a coach, as a spiritual creator or guide, and also learning the tools, learning the strategies, learning the mindsets that are going to help us succeed in a financial way. Because if we don't succeed financially, we're not going to be able to keep doing the things that we love and that we feel called to do. And if I ask myself, what am I? What am I? What's my intention with doing this? Am I a business coach? Definitely not. Am I a business teacher? No. So why am I doing a podcast named the Art and Business of Meditation? Really, when it comes down to it, I want this podcast to inspire you, to show you what is possible, to give you people, resources, things that you can then look into that helps you on your journey that is beyond anything what I'm trying to do. Because this is the podcast I wish I had when I am starting out. So I come to this with that core intention to inspire your path forward. And I hope this episode is going to be an inspiring one and give you some permission to fully be you and to not have to fit into some small box which so many people in the business world try to get us to fit. And so we're going to talk today a little bit about not niching why more than ever, I'm realizing that it's not about the specific niche you pick, but it's about who you are and what you stand for. And I've been grappling, like I said, with my identity around work and specifically this podcast. And just this shift in the last year that I've had towards helping other meditation teachers and coaches. And I've been asking myself, really at the core, am I more of an artist or an entrepreneur? I started the Art and Business of Meditation podcast in May of 2023. It was shifted from the previous version of the Purpose podcast. I don't even remember what the name was. Something with Purpose. And by all accounts, this podcast that you're listening to is doing really well, getting good feedback. It's steadily growing and awesome people are coming on and people are finding other people to work with too, which is so Exciting. Lately though, I've been feeling like things are just too business focused, like that's all my world is. And so I've been asking myself, where is the art now? I think me speaking right now, this is an artistic expression for sure. But I've been asking myself, well, where's the time to work on my next book? Why am I not hosting classes and meditations and talking about more things than just building a business? And I've also been asking, what happens? Am I veering too far off? What got me here? And I notice also myself in my emails, which if you're not subscribed, please subscribe. I love sending emails. They used to be such a clear artistic expression and so much giving and so many responses. And I feel like I've been selling more and I think if you've experienced selling things, that can feel uncomfortable. But in truth, my email is both. I need to be, I want it to be sharing myself, my art, my soul through it, and to make a living. Email is where we promote our work. So there's a selling in that space too. And I'm not sure if I'm getting it right because I was reminded by someone in my men's group who gets my emails and he told me, lou, I have no idea what you do based on the emails you sent. Your branding is all over the place. One day you're talking about this, another day you're talking about this. And I get it. It's a bit of a struggle. However, I don't want to limit myself to speaking about one thing to one type of person. But as an entrepreneur, I know that this is a proven path to success. But I know the people that I follow that are just, they're doing one thing, talking to one person. It just feels dry, it feels boring. If I'm not really needing that thing, I don't really care to open their email. And that's not what I'm going for. I want, and I want to encourage you to think about this, of if you're going to be doing this for 10, 20, 30, 40 years, that how can you take people on a journey with you and that your true fans. There's an episode on this podcast about a thousand true fans, which is a famous article by Kevin Kelly about what it takes to really run a creative business in some ways a solo business is to get a thousand true fans. If you're true fans, they are going to be with you for the journey. And I think that's what we need. We need more connection. One of My teachers, Steve March says, we don't need more content, we need more contact. We need to feel the essence of another being. We're not that we need, we're yearning for it. We're yearning for connection in a world that is more connected than ever. We are more lonely than ever. So for you to be someone offering that sense of connection as a reminder to people's innate wholeness, to feel the truth of yourself, express it in a way so someone else can feel the truth of themselves. Helping people contact a piece of themselves is the work of an artist. And I believe we are all artists. And so what about niching? Well, this is a newer person that I've been following. Her name is Laura dawn and I hope, I pray it'll be a long shot for me, I think, to have her on the podcast. But I'm going to try because I am obsessed with what she's putting out and how she's putting things out. You can check her out on Instagram. I believe it's Live Free with Laura D or something like that. Anyway, she. I watched this video recently where she's talking about this topic of not needing to niche and some of the things really just stuck out and made sense. So I want to just relay them, give credit where credit's due, and speak to them and maybe riff on them in a second. That if, if you are niched, use an example of a fitness coach because it's easier. You help tired, busy professionals lose ten pounds. Great. So maybe that person finds you, right? It's really clear who you're talking to. That person finds you, they lose their 10 pounds, they say, thank you, job well done, and I'm off with my life and I don't need you anymore. Now this is not. We don't want people to be needing us forever. This is not what I'm saying. But check this out. Notice how transactional that experience and that relationship is. I come in, I get what I need, and I'm gone. And that's great, and I can build a incredibly successful business on that. But what I'm interested in is developing relationships over the long term. Not that they have to keep buying from me, but that they're in and invested in the journey that I'm going on and that they might take an offer from me where I'm doing this thing this year and next year I might be doing something completely different. But they are still so connected to who I am versus what I'm selling. And they're along for the journey. It's so Rewarding. I have people I've been engaging with via emails who've been following my work for years and I've been people I've been coaching with for years. And I just, I really love being on the journey with people and this being a deepening of relationships. And I've had people that we were working together for years and we stopped working together and then we're now working together again. And it's a continuation of this. And so this is something that Laura dawn said, spoke to in this presentation. She said, you're a thousand true fans, love you for who you are, not for what you sell. They love you for who you are, not for what you sell. And she notes that these are the people that are going to stick with you over the long haul. And so it's more important rather than niching and getting so specific on who you help and how you help them and X, Y and Z, da da da, but of really showing yourself in whatever ways that you present, whether that's your insight timer meditations, whether that's your emails, your social media, whatever you're, however you're engaging or communicating, whether it's your website copy, being able to really take a stand for certain things that people in more than ever. And she goes on to say this. In this presentation where people are just using AI to copy and paste things and just regurgitate information and to get new information, more than ever we are yearning for real human connection with people that resonate that people that, that stand for something that we also stand for, that we can get behind, that we can support and so focus on that. That is your art. It's not about exactly what you sell. Focus more on showing up in your full self. And I know that that's way easier, as Laura even said this, it's easier said than done. That's a practice and that's more of doing our own personal work to really understand and connect with that natural flow of creativity so that we can show up that we get over our insecurities about putting ourselves out there and the things that we believe in and trust. Some people aren't. It's not going to be for everyone, but the people that it's really for that they are going to resonate. They are going to resonate with you because you're going to be saying something, you might be saying the same thing, but your energy is different or you have a different take on it, or you believe something that they resonate with. I've used this analogy before, but if I hear lyrics In a country song. I'm gonna listen to those lyrics a bit less because I'm not a huge fan of country music. I have been warming up to some Zach Bryan recently, so I'll say I haven't. My wife listens to that, so I kind of. I'm enjoying some of those stories anyway. Not a huge fan of country music, but if someone speaks, maybe the same lyrics in kind of a smooth, lyrical hip hop beat that just has this flow. I'm way more engaged, I'm way more curious about that because I love words, I love poetry. I kind of just. I love that. I love that kind of more hip hop energy. Or maybe they do it in an it doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. The song I can talk about. It's not about hey Lou, what's all the music you love? But maybe that's me being myself here. Like maybe if you know that I was a I loved emo music when I was in high school and I frickin love like mosh pitting and I still listen to emo music now and I know it made it like a resurgence. So if you're in your 30s, then maybe that resonates with you. But I was in a band love that had always a big hip hop phase when I was younger. I can't believe I listened to eminem at like 10 years old. I re listened to one of those Slim Shady LPs recently. I'm like, oh my God, how was an 11 year old listening to this. This insane. And it goes to show that hey, maybe kids can listen to some pretty wild stuff and still end up okay. I'm sidetracking. What? Just one last music. Huge EDM in my twenties. If you've read my book, you would hear that. And there was definitely got into some weird situations in the rave scene. So anyway, that's a little bit about me. I don't think that's necessarily me showing you my essence, but showing you a little bit of my interests and background at least. And so the reason for this podcast is to give you permission let go of needing to feel like you have to niche down to one thing. Something Laura also says is honestly, you're probably if you do niche really hard. And she was someone, she ran a podcast called the Psychedelic Leadership Podcast. It got really big and then she realized that she actually felt super small and limited by that podcast and by that brand, by being the psychedelic leadership person and she wanted to expand out of just the psychedelic world. And so she made that shift and she realized that it was more about her essence rather than what she was actually doing. And so really permission to not feel like you need to niche and to focus fully on showing up in your essence and trusting the right people are going to be attracted to that. Thank you for listening. How do we share art and share business at the same time? That's what I'm trying to do here too. And so shifting and explicitly saying that this is a pitch for Meraki Mastermind coming up. The previous wasn't a pitch, but coming up right now, if any of this essence resonates for you, if you're looking for a group that is going to help you, keep you inspired, show you what is possible, show you opportunities to expand your business, your work, your creativity, just to be in this energy of new possibilities of other people that are sharing their work. Maybe you have dreams of you sharing your message on a stage. Maybe you want to just continue to help others transform. You just need support in a new way. And a Mastermind. What had the biggest impact in my life, if you find the podcast episode I wrote, I did about it was my catalyst to seeing and being in a new way, seeing what else is possible. And it's just, I think, so valuable because we're doing this work alone. It's often in a silo. And what's great about a Mastermind is it's not a course, it's not a program you don't have to make every single time because it's about just tuning in. It's a community and you're supported by the community throughout. And there's just some osmosis that happens when we surround ourselves with new people, we get new ideas, we feel more confident, we feel more accountable to the work that we're doing. We see that it's possible, we believe in ourselves more. And when we do that, we make things happen and we start growing the work and expanding it. And so if any of this resonates for you, that the Mastermind is ongoing, we are in a space where there's a new cohort and a continuation of a cohort starting on September 4th. So it'd be next week from this podcast's launch date. So if you're feeling called to jump in to a new container, that's not going to ask a ton of homework. That's again, it's not a program, but it's going to inspire. It's going to really be a place that you, you draw from. It's like a well, it's like having this new bucket of water that you can come in and just slurp from and be like, I'm refreshed. Let me go back and do all the things that I'm doing with a new refreshment. And so if you're feeling like you could use that, send me an email, send me a message and say you're interested. We start this next cohort, a continuation of this next cohort, September 4th. But if you're listening to this, even if it's October or November, please shoot me a message, Say you're interested. I'll put you on the wait list for when doors reopen, and I will get you more information and make sure that you're a right fit. The part of a Mastermind is making sure it's curated to be a right fit. There's currently nine members, and there obviously is going to be a couple more hopefully trickling in to this cohort. But it is people that have been going on this journey. These are relationships we're building. So, again, it's not one and done. There's people that continue to stay in the mastermind, and so you get to join them and you get to be supported by their wisdom. So pitch over. Can art and business live in the same place? I want to make it a world where it can, because I believe that we should be supported for the work that we're doing and that we're giving opportunities and that we can give and receive with love and with spirit. And thank you so much for listening. It's endless gratitude for this opportunity, for your time and your attention, and I look forward to seeing you again very soon.