Today’s episode of the podcast is an interview with Melitta Campbell who is a business coach with over 25 years of marketing and entrepreneurial experience. Melitta helps women confidently build and grow a profitable business that gives fulfillment and flexibility. We talk all about niching – why it is important to have one, how soon you should niche and how you can get clear on what you offer to your target customers/clients.

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCAST

 

• Niching is getting more specific about who you help and the impact you can have.
• Take a step back – look at your vision, values and what is important to you in order to build this into your business. Do this for your clients too – this is where you can start to build your marketing and messages.
• Selling to your target audience should just feel like the natural next step. You understand them – you are on the mission with them.
• You need to know who your target customer is so you can really speak to them in your marketing.
• What are your target audience trying to achieve? What is standing in their way? What challenges are they facing?
• You can market to their challenges – shows you have insight and understanding.
• What are your clients going to get after working with you?
• Imagine your client on a Friday night after a tipple or two – what are they fed up of or venting about? Start there!
• Ask your clients “If I could wave a magic wand what would we do” – this will help you to understand where they want to be.
• Understand the conversation going on in your clients mind and join that conversation.
• You need to communicate clearly how you are going to help them and make their vision possible.
• If you start your business by working with everyone, you will be working way too hard for way too little results and not get anywhere so you should start with some sort of niche.
• Where you start is never where you will end up – it will evolve over time.
• Start broad then get narrower - Start, learn, grow, evolve.
• People want connection, they want to be understood.

 

THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO REMEMBER ABOVE ALL ELSE…

 

A niche doesn’t necessarily mean you only serve a very small amount of people, it can be about being your authentic/relatable self and attracting your own tribe.

 

HIGHLIGHTS YOU SIMPLY CAN’T MISS

 

• An introduction to Melitta 07:08
• Being a woman in business 10:43
• What is a niche and why do you need one? 18:43
• Finding your niche 23:04
• How to start understanding your target audience 30:10
• When should you niche? 38:04

 

CHECK MELITTA OUT:

 

Website

Dream clients blueprint

Instagram

Facebook

 

RESOURCES MENTIONED

 

Drop me a dm and let me know if you would be interested in the half day planning session

 

Transcript:

Hello and welcome to today's episode of the podcast. How are you doing? So I just looked at when this is airing. Cause as you know, I batch and I did a couple of weeks back quite a few weeks back and by the time this comes out, I did a whole week focusing on batching and what was good and what was bad.

And I talked about one of the things that is quite difficult is, well, first of you really have to know what's happening in your business and planning ahead and second off, sometimes you can feel a little bit disjointed from what's come out live at the time, because obviously I'm recording this. I'm actually recording this on the 18th of October.

And according to my plan, this is coming out on the 15th of November. So. Like, yeah, there's really. There's good and bads of batching, and that's one of the things I can feel a little bit disjointed from my content. Anyway. So as you're listening to this it's November, which feels a little bit scary because that's 2021 nearly over which in some ways we will be very pleased about.

And in another way, it's just, wow another year's gone by, which makes me feel terribly old, but that is a thing, I guess now I am early forties. So there, those are words that I would be saying, and maybe I do say old things now, so it's a thing. Anyway. I would like to ask you a favor. I am thinking about doing a kind of half day online.

I don't know about you but I am tired to the online thing, but there are lots of advantages. One, you are listening to this from wherever in the world, and it can be open to you. Two, it's like a lot less logistical stuff. And three it's a lot cheaper. I'm running an online, I'm running an in-person event at the beginning of December, which I'm very excited about and it's super luxury.

Super high-end. It's really nice. In fact, that reminds me, I was listening to podcasts the other day. And in fact, she's coming on this podcast and she talked about the fact that she was Chanel, not Target. Now, obviously if you're American, you will know those references. Well, if you're UK British now, and you might probably know Target, and I just thought, you know what, that's me like when I think about my values and my brand values and what I offer to my audience.

I offered them the nicest stuff and the best stuff and the highest quality stuff. And that's my aim that me and my brands, I shall now not target. Anyway, that was a side. So the favor I have to ask of you is I'm thinking about doing this half day online, I wouldn't say in person again, then session around planning your 2022.

I know lots of people jump on this thing and it's a thing. And you know, there are lots of options out there to do planning sessions. However, this is something I do all the time and this is something I do in the academy, in my membership. And I was just wondering if I was to put something on externally, would you fancy that?

Would you come along? Is it something you're interested in? So if you can drop me a DM or an email or carry a pigeon fax. Those might not arrive in time, but if you can drop me some kind of communication and let me know whether you fancy this idea, then we could always do like a half day planning session, which, like I said, we do SOAR and it's a lot around that and they love it.

And we do things like we reviewed the year before we do some mindset stuff. We make a plan, we do some like strategy stuff. So it's cool. It's really cool. Anyway, let me know if you like it or like the idea of it.

Anyway on today's podcast today, I am interviewing Melitta Campbell. And Melitta is a business coach who uses her 25+ years of marketing and entrepreneurial, that's such a hard word to say, entrepreneurial experience to help women confidently build and grow profitable business that gives fulfillment and flexibility. She's the host of the Driven Female Entrepreneur Podcast. And a best-selling author and international speaker, she's originally from the UK and now lives in Switzerland and works with women from around the world.

The reason Melitta came onto the podcast is because I wanted her to talk about niching. Now when I booked her on and sent her, her thing to say, I'd like to talk about this because I don't know if you know the process of the podcast people applied to come on the podcast, the application form says what can you offer my audience?

What can you talk to them about? And one of the things on her list was niching. And I was like, do you know what we haven't had people talk about niching very much, in fact, at all, really. And therefore it would be good to have that focus on today's episode. Anyway. So I said to her I went niching and I was really interested in it because I've always said, or for a long time, I said, I don't have a niche.

Now I realize I do have a niche it's to do with me, my personality and what people can expect from me and the type of people I attract. Anyway, I discovered this a little while back, but so while I wasn't sure what Melitta was going to talk about and what I was really pleased about was she talked about the fact of the niche isn't necessarily about, oh, I only worked with farmers age 26 and above that lower than 34. Like she didn't talk about that as a niche or I only work with social media managers, or I only work with coaches who deal with this particular thing. She talked about the niche being around your values.

And I really liked it. She gave me lots of great takeaways and I think you're really going to enjoy today's episode, especially if you're trying to get clear on what you offer to your particular customers. Okay. I will leave you to the episode with Melitta. Here you go.

Teresa: So it is my pleasure today to welcome to the podcast Melitta Campbell. Melitta welcome to the podcast. How you doing?

Melitta: Yeah, I'm great. Thanks.

Teresa: Yeah, it's good. I've just realized your surname is Campbell and what some people may or may not know is that's actually my surname. When I started my business. Well, I was still married to my ex-husband and this Heath-Wareing was my surname.

Teresa: And now I'm married to my new husband who is lovely. Our surname is Campbell, but of course I had to stick with my existing name because you typed it into Google and you find me anywhere. So yeah, he finds it very frustrating that no one uses my actual surnames so yeah we share the same name.

Melitta: Yeah so we could be cousins. And some former.

Teresa: At be we are related, you know, what is it 12 degrees of separation or something. That'd be something in it. Anyway, we didn't get you to talk about it. We always start the same way by you introducing yourself to my audience. Please let them know who you are and how you got to do what you're doing today.

Melitta: Thanks uh, Teresa. So I'm, Melitta Campbell as you introduced, and I'm a business coach. I'm originally from the UK, as you can tell from my accent that today I live in Switzerland with my, my husband and daughters and life is quite different. So I never really saw myself as being a business owner. I worked in corporate in, in marketing communications, but then I moved to Switzerland and I did have a job when I moved here first.

Melitta: But when I had children, I suddenly realized, oh, you know, there's, there's no part time working. There was, I had no support network. I didn't have any family nearby. So it was either be a full-time mom or try and do something for myself as well. And so I still that as being a nice way to keep my hand in.

Melitta: Cause if I'm honest, when I very first started, I fully expected that one day I would be going back into the business into a corporate role full time, but it's, so it just started as a little part-time thing just to keep my brain from going, not going to mummy and mushy in the process, but actually I loved it.

Melitta: And I had such a great time as started as communication consultant for large businesses. That was something that was quite easy for me to do. And they had a network in that area. So it was, it was kind of the most logical first step where there with a five month old baby and I was kind of quite swamped.

Melitta: So I didn't want to do anything too pushing outside too far out of my comfort zone. What I really wanted to be doing however was continuing the work I'd been doing in my corporate career when I reached senior management and they wanted to use that as an opportunity to inspire more women, to create their own career path.

Melitta: So I started a women's network there working in Switzerland in private banking was a little bit like. Well, I saw my father's office being like in London, in the seventies. So there was a lot of scopes or a lot more diversity and I loved that work. So that was always in the back of my mind. And so I built the communication consultancy.

Melitta: It was going great, but it was, it was just lacking something, you know, it was bringing in income, but it wasn't fulfilling me personally. And so I started to do networking and I was trying to find other business owners. And when I found them, particularly the other women, they were really struggling to communicate their value and build a business that was a business and not an expensive hobby and bit by bit when I explained my background and what I'd been doing, then women started to ask me, 'Well, could you help me build my business?'

Melitta: And for a long time I said 'No. I couldn't do that.' And then they'd be like, please. Well, over one woman was like, 'But you're the only one that can help me.' And was I, 'Okay, well, let me look into this.' And I saw that what was missing was women often had some kind of plan that they maybe worked on with their husband, but it wasn't a plan and a goal and a vision that they really believed in.

Melitta: And so they weren't taking those consistent steps with enough intention to make a difference. They were really struggling to communicate their value. And part of the reason of that was because they just saw themselves as being able to help everyone. And of course that makes it really, really difficult to stand out and communicate what you do.

Melitta: And the third part was that they didn't have the right mindset. They weren't really putting processes in place. They weren't expecting their time. And so those were three key things. I thought that's exactly what I can help them with. So I created my dream clients blueprint to really help them in those three areas.

Melitta: And that was, I launched that four years ago now. And it's been amazing ever since. So that's how I got to where I am today.

Teresa: Yeah, that's so awesome. Was it always a case of you wanted to work just as women or was it that you resonated all, you find it more enjoyable? or those more of a need there. What was the kind of driver behind it?

Melitta: Great question. So I do work with a handful of men, but what I saw from the women's network that I ran for the bank was that when women learn so well from other women. And when you can create a positive network and a positive kind of group of women together who just really work together to support each other, then anything becomes possible.

Melitta: And so I really wanted to recreate that. So my dream clients blueprint is a small group business program and that I restrict to about maximum 12 women at a time so that we really have that nice community in there and everyone inspires and encourages each other. And they learn so much from each other alongside the program and my coaching as well.

Melitta: It's really a wonderful experience. But on a one-to-one basis, I do work with men as well because they have exactly the same problems. There isn't really anything different. And yeah, even now often that the men are the ones that are working flexibly around the kids as well. So there's not even the family pressure necessarily.

Melitta: Uh, but I, I felt for the group keeping that as female only was important. And also in this area, I said, there is no part-time working. And so a lot of women are struggling to find work, particularly I live abroad and there's a big ex-part network here. And so a lot of the women, they don't know the language, they don't have a local network.

Melitta: They don't know how to even begin finding a job where they can use their talents in a way that they want to. So starting a businesses is a perfect opportunity for them to, to continue. And that's very much echoes my own experience. So it's that, that was really my motivation behind setting the group up just for women.

Teresa: You know, it's interesting. When I first started my, on my own business, I had to come from corporate. I come from very male orientated roles. So, you know, the car industry where I was literally the only female. I was in banking a very long time ago. And again, very heavy male. When I remember there was like a couple of women only networking.

Teresa: And I remember being almost quite anti women only networking. And I miss them a little bit like. Well, if you can't work with men, then you've literally harmed you, you know, 50% of your tent type thing.

Melitta: But the team. Because I worked in IT, I worked in a property. I worked in real estate, same thing, isn't it. I worked in shipping and Marine engineering really male dominated, and I was just the same. I really avoided women's networks for a long time because I was like 'I, I don't feel held back by being a woman.' And they never had been. I had amazing mentors who were men and really, really supportive. So, but it was only when I came here where I saw that women had been told one time too many, 'You can't do that, you're a girl.' And they'd started to believe it. And there was a real problem here. And there so the first time I thought. I, kind of felt immune to it because that wasn't my experience. That wasn't my belief system. So I could, I felt that it was something that I could gift that the other women in the network, across the company, by having this network and bringing them together.

Melitta: And it was just the most incredible experience. So now I'm a big fan of women's networks, the right ones.

Teresa: Exactly. And you know now I am. And I think you're right, there is something about having all women in a in a group that they are very supportive. They do cheer each other on. They are, if it's the right group of people, obviously that's not always the case, but, but I do think there's something about it.

Teresa: And also one thing I find, cause in my, in my membership predominantly it's women, there are men in there and it's not just for women, but I attract majority women. And in my next level of membership there are all but one that women. And I think, you know, creating a space where they can talk about things that are honest and things that only, and this is going to sound so I've got, you know, I'm so careful on it.

Teresa: I don't want these things, cause it sounds so sexist. It's like only women can deal with, but the role of being a parent is traditionally different if you're a woman. You know, one of my members in particular, if that's a couple of my members, they have their own businesses, their partners have full-time jobs, there businesses, and yet they're still responsible for the children and the cooking and the, you know, and that just blows my mind.

Teresa: And I'm very well, I don't even want to say the word lucky because it's not, it shouldn't be lucky. There should be the case that my husband does as much as I do. In fact, he probably does more than I do because we have helped with cooking now. But it shouldn't be that even if you've got your own business, that still sits on your