How to Find Your Niche When You Want to Do All the Things

Hey, what's up?

It's Marie Forleo and you are watching MarieTV.

The place to be to create a business and life
you love.

This is the MarieTV Call-In Show where we
take live calls and try and help some people

out.

This is Gregory Patterson.

Well, howdy doody?

Always the one who's making me look fabulous
with the hair and I just love him.

We just have a good time together.

So, let's do this.

Hello?

Roxanne?

Yes?

It's Marie Forleo and you are on the MarieTV
Call-In Show.

Oh my gosh.

Really?

Yes.

You're on.

There's Team Forleo here.

Gregory is here.

Hello.

We are so excited to connect with you.

Tell us your question and we will do our very
best to help you out.

Oh my goodness.

My goodness gracious.

Thank you so much for calling me and I just
love you.

Absolutely love you.

I discovered you not too long ago.

I am wanting to understand how to present
myself.

I want to understand how to present myself
with vulnerability.

Show my vulnerability and still show that
I'm capable of helping people guiding and

coaching.

Great.

Tell me more.

I'm coming from a past with trauma.

I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder.

I use art forms as my primary form of recovery
practice.

I would love to share with other people how
to recover their creative self whether they

think of themselves as artists or not because
I think that creativity is very healing.

So I've always been a very private person
and I was never sure how much to divulge and

how to present myself.

I'm kind of on the line of I feel like if
I don't share, then I just really won't connect

with people.

I agree.

First of all, I'm so happy that you're sharing
this question.

I know that we have tens of thousands and
in the world there are millions of people

who also have PTSD or battle against anxiety
or depression or any range and number of issues

that in the past has had some stigma with
it.

As you said, those days are over.

So many of us need to share honestly and bravely
about the things that we struggle with and

personally, Roxanne, I think that people who
share about what they've been through, and

frankly what they're still going through and
what they're battling against, those are the

people that we trust the most.

In this world of coaching and personally development
and experts, I think the old model was all

about some sage on the stage that's always
how I like to characterize it where someone

was standing up there and pretending like
they have all the answers and they never make

any mistakes.

They're gonna bestow upon you this wisdom
and guide you to the promised land.

First of all, I think all of that is bullshit.

I think it's so in authentic.

It is not true.

Every single one of us is a work in progress.

We are all learning.

We're all trying our best.

We will all face challenges.

Not only the ones that we had in our past,
but there's ones coming up in the future.

I always like to describe myself never as
a sage on the stage and always as a guide

on the side.

What does that mean?

That means I'm someone who is really enthusiastic
first of all about learning, second of all

about using ideas for myself to see what works
and what doesn't.

Then third, with sharing those ideas, the
things I think are valuable with folks who

might also be interested and might also want
to try these things.

I think for you, making that internal shift
like, you know what?

Roxanne, you're a guide on the side and you
have every right to share things.

Not like you're better than or less.

I know that's not the total crux of your question.

We'll get to the sharing and the vulnerability
in minute.

But I like that framework because it allows
me to then pour myself into a positioning

where I'm not better, I'm not less, and I
can look at what to share that is relevant

for my audience.

I think this word relevance will be really
important for you as you move ahead.

Know that sharing about your PTSD and the
details that surround it, how much you share

is completely up to you.

You can start off dipping your toe in the
water telling one or two stories.

Have your comfort level expand.

Then as you continue to engage with your audience,
you'll know and you'll feel where you may

want to keep some details private just because
that feels authentic to you and other places

where you're like, you know what?

I really do need to share this because all
of these other folks in my audience have battled

something similar and it'll help them know
they're not alone.

Yes.

And I really love the fact that you talk about
sharing stories as opposed to sharing diagnoses

for example.

Saying, oh PTSD.

I think it's more authentic to talk about
what it is and what the experience of it is

as opposed to just the name of it.

That's right.

One way that you can frame it is you can say,
hey all of us have had challenging things

that we've battled in our past.

All of us have had things that we've experienced
before that may be holding us back now and

we're not quite sure how to move through them.

For me, I can tell you a story about this
or I can tell you a story about this time

when I was 15 or when I was 11.

How that manifests for me now is x, y, and
z.

I want to take you on this journey moving
forward so we can both learn, so we can all

support each other.

So I can share with you some of the tools
and the understandings and the strategies

that not only have helped me, but that have
continued and do continue to help me.

We can learn as we move forward together.

Can you see how with that type of framing,
you're allowing yourself to be vulnerable

but you're also still communicating that you're
capable?

Yes.

Yes.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

This helpful?

Tremendously helpful.

It's very affirming.

I think I was there in my mind and I think
there was a fear of just dipping that toe

in the water and moving forward.

Once I make the decision, I'm ready to go.

Yes, Roxanne.

That's what we like to hear.

Just know this is a process for all of us.

I think we're living in such a new time that
can be filled with some conflicts about how

much do we share about ourselves.

This online space and the span of human history.

Having these tools available to us where we
can share everything and people can comment

and people can get upset.

A lot of people are very brave with their
anonymity behind a keyboard.

They say things they would never say to you
in person.

I think it's natural to feel some of that
trepidation.

It's natural to have some of those inner conflicts
with how much do I share.

But when you're committed to not only a message
but to transforming other people's lives and

having them feel safe around you and letting
them know that they're not alone, it becomes

a lot easier.

We take that light and rather than shining
it on ourselves and our fear, we turn it outward

to being of service.

For me, that has made all the difference.

Oh my goodness.

Awesome.

Yes.

Me too.

For me too.

Awesome.

Roxanne, you keep us posted.

We're gonna be cheering you on and I can't
wait to hear your updates as they come along.

Thank you so much.

I'm so excited to start this challenge for
women.

I really adore you Marie.

Thank you so much for your help.

Have a great rest of the day.

You too.

We adore you too darling.

Good luck with your challenge.

Bye.

Thank you.

Hello?

Hi.

Is this Esther?

Yes, this is Esther.

Hey, it's Marie Forleo and you are on the
MarieTV Call-In Show.

How's it going?

Oh my god.

This is awesome.

Yes, it is awesome.

You're here with Team Forleo and Gregory and
we are so excited.

Tell us your question and we will do our very
best to help you out.

Sure.

My husband and I, we recently started a blog-based
business called Wayfinders Now.

We are in the process of trying to figure
out exactly what our niche should be.

Some examples of ones that we have are we
live on a 35-foot sailboat.

I'm learning about sailing.

We're both artists.

We've cultivated more flexible work lives.

We're caregivers for a loved one with dementia.

We're also wanting to incorporate zero waste
sustainability practices.

I'm also a woman of color.

We've got a lot of areas of interest.

I guess my main question is, should we narrow
down or not necessarily?

How can I be more intentional about how we
can serve our audience.

Absolutely.

First of all, Esther I just think it's so
incredible.

Clearly you are a multi-passionate entrepreneur.

Clearly you and your husband, you guys are
very creative beings and there are so many

of us in the world.

I think there's a lot of folks listening right
now like, oh my gosh, how did they figure

that out?

I would like to be on a sailboat.

That's amazing.

I'm gonna ask you a few questions and we'll
see if we can help you find some clarity.

First, are you guys making money with this
business right now?

No.

We are not.

Then it sounds like you have created your
life...

And we don't need to get into this.

I don't want you divulging anything that you
don't feel comfortable with.

You've created your life in such a way where
you don't necessarily need an income from

this new business at this point.

Is that correct?

That is correct.

We're able to be flexible where one of us
can hold down the fort, so to speak.

About a month and a half ago I've had the
liberty to focus solely on this now.

Beautiful.

For the first time.

That's great.

That is awesome.

Congratulations.

We love that.

We are cheering that on.

What I would encourage you to do is really
get clear on what your goals are for this

business.

Some people start a business and they're like,
you know what?

It would be amazing if in the next one year
or two years, three years, I could reach this

hundred thousand dollar in revenue mark.

That is a number I'm pulling out of my butt.

Some people are higher, some people are lower.

When we're talking about a for profit business,
putting some type of financial goal in place

is really helpful, especially at the stage
you're at right now.

I'll tell you why.

When it is a for profit business, it has to
make profit.

For you to know how much you would like to
make starts to give you something to measure

all of your ideas against.

You can look at all of these ideas and go,
hmmm.

Being a caregiver for a loved one with dementia,
what are the possibilities to earn revenue

in that space?

What are the services?

What are the products I could offer?

What are the price points?

How much would I have to work?

How much would I have to make all of this
work together in order to possibly reach the

financial goal that I've set as important
to me?

Then you measure that against sailing.

This is just one framework, just one lens
that we're looking through initially because

this is not just a simple black and white
answer.

Esther, you getting clear on your financial
reasons for wanting to start this business

is one thing I'm gonna encourage you to really
look at.

Then we're gonna look at the topic areas.

Which of the seven, ten, five, three, whatever
number that is...

When you honestly get real with yourself and
you think about devoting five, ten, 15 hours

a day to this particular topic area for the
next 12 months, 24, 36 months, which of them

makes you want to stick a fucking fork in
your eye and which of them makes your heart

light up?

Because I will tell you, like you as a multi-passionate
entrepreneur, there are many, many different

things that I could focus on.

There are many ways that we could earn money
with the business.

I focus on what brings me to life, what makes
me come alive, what makes me want to research

and talk about and learn about and test literally
until my eyeballs could fall out.

That's how passionate I am about the things
that we say yes to.

You put all of your ideas through that lovely
filter.

Then that'll help you narrow it down.

Then you want to think about the market itself,
meaning who are the people that you would

be serving.

For example, I know in my own business I'm
dealing with a lot of creatives.

I'm dealing with artists.

I'm dealing with multi-passionate entrepreneurs
mostly.

Not all, but mostly.

We have a lot of folks in our audience who
even if they do work within a corporate environment

or maybe they work for the government or are
teachers, there is this creative spirit within

them that still finds a way to come to life
in their work.

For example, I don't think that I would necessarily
work well if I only focused on let's say corporate

accountants, if that was the only niche that
I was going to because I don't necessarily

have a lot in common with just that narrow
type of human.

Does that make sense?

Yes.

By the way, for all you corporate accounts
that are listening.

I love you motherfuckers.

I'm saying, if it was all just you, I might
get a little bored, 'cause I need some more

variety.

Does that make sense?

You have to serve people where you feel this
deep, heart-centered love towards the audience.

You know why?

Because you are gonna wanna work your ass
off to deliver value to them.

You're gonna constantly, without feeling the
need like you should, you're gonna be reading

the right magazines.

You're gonna be going to the conferences.

You're gonna be naturally finding and unearthing
the newest, cutting-edge research, or whatever

is necessary to stay at the top of your field.

Those are some of the things that I think
you should consider.

Then once you've narrowed down, you're gonna
have to choose one based on your intuition

and hit it.

What I mean by that?

Clarity comes from engagement, not thought.

There's no magic business crystal ball that's
gonna be able to tell you.

Not me, not any other business strategist
or coach, and if somebody tells you that they

can, run, 'cause they're a fucking liar.

No one will be able to tell you what will
actually work until you get out in the field

and start doing it.

Start engaging.

Start working within that industry, even if
it's for free.

That's where you're gonna find that clarity,
Esther.

And any time your mind's like "But I need
to figure it all out in advance!"

Say "Nope," cut that conversation off, and
take a step.

Take action, and remember that clarity comes
from engagement, not thought.

So awesome.

It's all figureoutable, right?

It really is.

Esther, we love you.

I hope that this was helpful for you.

Definitely.

Really empowering.

Thank you so much for taking the time.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

We're wishing you luck, and please do keep
us posted on your progress.

Definitely.

Take care.

Have a great day.

Bye, darling.

Bye.

Hello?

Hi there.

Hi!

Is this Eli and Joseph?

Oh, we can see them.

Hey, guys.

Hi!

You're on with Team Forleo.

Gregory's here, and we are so excited to have
you on the MarieTV Call-In show.

We're so excited to be talking with you guys.

Yay!

So tell us your question, and we will do our
very best to help you guys out.

Okay.

So after more than two years of planning and
doing B-School and designing websites and

writing blogs and connecting to our tribe,
and sending the surveys and doing all of that

stuff.

Online and live classes.

So our question is, we're still limping along
a little bit.

Our question is, do we keep showing up, trying
new approaches and hoping that the world starts

to take notice?

Or at what point do we say "I think we're
done," and we start barking up another tree?

Yes.

Great question, you guys.

If I'm understanding correctly, some of your
retreats have sold out, yes?

Yes.

Okay, cool.

You're getting confetti thrown for you, because
that's awesome, and we always like when things

sell out.

So, a couple of things.

We're gonna step back for a moment first.

Most businesses, in my experience, take much
longer than two years.

And if heard you right, a piece of that two
years -- a large piece of it -- has been spent

learning, understanding, taking classes, really
absorbing how to do this.

So it's not like it's been two years of nose
to the grindstone, every single day, marketing

your butts off and putting out all these offers.

A big piece of that has been the learning
piece, yeah?

Oh yeah.

Yes.

Big piece.

And it continues to be, as we get more into
it, learning to do the online courses and

how to launch it, and doing the pre-launching,
and the email sequence.

Really developing it.

It's overwhelming.

I know, I am with you, I've been down all
those paths.

So all good.

I would say, understanding that, especially
these kind of businesses, they're a long game.

When you hear stories like "Oh my god, I hit
six figures in six months!"

It's like, I wanna smack all those people,
'cause nine times out of 10, that's not true.

It takes time to learn all this stuff.

One of the questions you guys should ask yourself
is, do we love this business or an aspect

of this business, one of these offerings enough,
to really keep going?

For me, I had seven years of side gigs as
I was growing my business, understanding e-courses,

understanding how to do launches, understanding
how to create content consistently, until

I got to a place financially and creatively
to be able to do my business full-time.

And my story is not unique.

I was actually just writing a chapter in my
book about how, and again, this is different

context, but my friend Elizabeth Gilbert,
I think it was the first 10 years of her writing

career, she had side jobs.

And then she published some books and still
had side jobs before things really started

to cook and roll.

My friend Steven Pressfield, I feel like it
was 17 years before he published his first

novel.

And I understand a business is different than
a writing career, but the point is still the

same.

Things take much longer than we want them
to, always, especially in the business world.

And I think in the online space, it can become
easy to be seduced by the success stories

of people just hitting it, hitting it fast,
and then we make ourselves feel like shit

and think that we're either failures or we're
not fast enough, or this isn't working, when

really it's just about patience.

But, your question to yourselves, should we
bark up another tree, that's less about the

results right now and more about you guys
tapping in and going "Do we wanna keep pushing

it on this lever?

Do we love these retreats so much that we're
gonna keep barking up this tree, even if it

takes us another two to three years to really
hit the type of revenue and profit goals that

we know we can?"

The other thing I wanna say to you guys is
this.

When you're starting a business, it's a lot
of throwing spaghetti at the wall.

It's a lot of seeing what sticks.

And we don't know that until we actually do
it.

Sometimes people are like "You've gotta have
a membership site," and you go do a membership

site and you're like "I hate this shit!"

Or other people are like "Oh my God, you gotta
sell e-courses.

That's where it all's at."

And you're like "You know what?

I really don't like it."

But you guys, you're like, these retreats.

All of a sudden these retreats are the things
that are selling out.

If there's actually an alignment between you
guys enjoying this and understanding, wow,

our audience seems to respond to this, and
there's all these things we could improve.

My point is, you wanna do more of what works.

Rather than following a set formula or road
map or script about what your modern business

should look like, I want you guys to take
a step back and go "What in our business is

working?

Are these retreats working?

And do I love them enough, do we love them
enough, to make them the best in the marketplace?

How can we innovate?

How can we charge more?

What does it look like if we put the mass
amounts of our energy towards making this

work?"

Does that make sense?

Yeah.

Yes.

Definitely.

It's just a lot of what we read and everything's
like, "Choose the one thing, stay with that,

don't veer," and then we're both feeling called
to... like Joseph right now is feeling called

to doing a smoking cessation residential program.

Four years ago, I went through a cancer ordeal.

I learned a lot through all that, and I wanna
do kind of a cancer recovery thing.

So even though we might not be working specifically
together on that same goal, we're really being

called to go in that direction.

But we're a little bit scared, even though
it feels really exciting to us.

What's scary?

I'm curious.

What's scary about it?

Is it because it's something you really want,
or it's just something you haven't seen done

before?

No, we're fine that it hasn't been done before.

What's scary is that in order to put energy
towards that, 'cause the last two years we've

been doing all of that plus our interior design
business.

And we just decided two and a half weeks ago,
okay, we have to let go of our interior design

business in order to put 152% towards all
the else that we're doing.

It's been hard.

Our side gig was not just a side gig, it was
like a major business that takes a lot of

time and effort.

It's so hard to focus on healing when you're
designing five different remodeling projects

at once.

Yes.

The energy's so different.

So we decided, you know what?

If we're really committed to this, we need
to let go of the big projects, maybe just

do some smaller things, and really jump with
our two feet into this.

This is really what our passion is, is to
really support other people to their highest

potential.

Yeah.

I love this, and I think you guys have given
us all a clue too, and I know this to be true

in my own life.

When I'm spread too thin, and there's too
much happening, I am not at my best.

Simplify to amplify, right?

Simplify to amplify.

I've always reapplied that in my life, because
chaos theory.

Things have a way, especially when you're
creative, when you're multi-passionate, when

you wanna help a lot of people, there's all
these new projects that come onto your plate.

All these new things that you can do, and
it takes a conscious intentional effort to

say no, and to peel things off of your plate.

So then rather than having your focus spread
so thin and it's so not powerful, you get

laser focused, and the whole beam of your
energy and your soul fires into that one,

two, or maybe even three projects, and that's
when you take them up.

So I think, based on what y'all are saying,
you're in the right zone.

And here's the thing.

None of us have a crystal ball when it comes
to business, or when it comes to any project.

And I feel like when we get to the end of
our lives, when we look back, we are gonna

be so grateful that we took the risks on things
that we really believed in.

Even if they don't turn out as we had hoped,
there's always this incredible learning that

happens, and usually it informs where we're
supposed to go next.

You could have never come to this insight
or this new level, even if we fail and flop,

which I've done a million times, it always
brings me to something beautiful that's next.

That had I stayed safe, had I said "You know
what, I'm not gonna do it because I'm afraid,"

I would've missed out on so many pieces on
my life that I've most treasured.

I think you guys are right on the money.

I think simplify to amplify.

Take a look at what's working, do more of
that.

And I also wanna recommend this.

While I am a fan of lifelong learning, you
guys are B-Schoolers so please come back as

many times as you want to the community and
as many times to that material.

Curb yourself from signing up for any more
shit, because e-learning stuff can be addictive.

It's almost like gambling, you're like "Another
program, and another program, and another

program!"

And then you get spread so thin, but you don't
master anything.

You're both passionate, experienced enough.

You have enough tools inside.

Now is the time to apply it.

Awesome.

Great.

Hey, we do have one question, can we ask you?

Yes, of course, go for it.

We don't know if this, this is a place where
we get stuck a little bit.

Our interior design business was called SublimeDesigner.com,
so we were kind of known locally as the Sublime

Guys.

And then we took that and used that for our
coaching business called Sublime Guys.

But I, Joseph, have a little bit of energy
that maybe some people that don't know us

through interior design, which is the whole
rest of the world, they might have a reaction

like "Oh, who are these conceited guys showing
up like 'Hey, we're sublime!

Do what we're doing!

Yeah yeah yeah!'"

He has energy about that, and I feel like
it's a really great branding because for 16

years we've been known as the Sublime Guys.

And all of a sudden, there's nothing wrong
with knowing, but yeah, our life is sublime

and it can be for everyone and that's where
we're coming from.

Yeah.

Well I definitely have feedback on this.

Okay.

I consider naming, in this specific instance,
what you guys are talking about right now,

this is a creative cul-de-sac.

No one gives a shit but y'all.

And here's what I mean by that.

What your coaching clients care about is the
results that you can get them.

I really don't think the name "Sublime" is
turn-off-able enough.

That's not like "Oh, God, I can't even get
on this website, 'cause sublime, that word's

awful!"

I don't think that's the case that we're dealing
with.

Your clients, who will be attracted to you,
they don't even care about coaching.

They want the results that you can promise
them.

Don't spend any more of your precious energy
thinking about the name for that.

And I know it's tempting.

I know it's tempting.

I know it's one of those things that you're
gonna be like "But it really matters!"

Please trust me, it doesn't.

Not at this stage.

Keep going.

Focus on bringing that money in.

Focus on the projects that are working, and
getting this new business, both of your pieces

of it, up and running.

The naming stuff, if you're gonna change it,
that can happen later.

Awesome.

Really wise.

Yeah.

Thank you.

But you guys, we love you so much.

Thank you for a brilliant set of questions,
and please, keep us posted on the progress

and keep letting us know how it's going, and
I'll see you in the halls of B-School next

semester.

Awesome.

Sounds great.

Awesome.

Bye, you guys.

Love you.

Bye.

Bye.
Ciao.

Ciao.

Alright, party people.

That wraps it up for another episode of the
MarieTV Call-In Show.

Now, I would love to hear from you.

We had some great callers today, some great
Qs, some great As.

What resonated most with you, and why?

Leave a comment below and let us know.

Now, as always, the best damn conversations
happen over at the magical land of MarieForleo.com.

It's where Greg hangs out.

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Dot com.

I'm there all the time.

All the time.

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I'm so tired of all this lovey-dovey shit.

A lot.

A lot.

A lot.

Well, howdy, buongiorno.

Howdy.

Howdy.

What's your question, darling?

I want a sniff.

I'll just stick my face in your Rice Krispy
treats.

Are we recording?

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