Niching Case Study: Christopher Shirley

I help people to let go of stress and tension to revitalize, rejuvenate & heal their body & feel whole with reflexology.

pacificreflexology.com

#sytycn2014

Tad’s Rating:

6/10

Contest Rating:

9/10

Average Rating:

7.5/10

Tad’s Comments:

Right now, I’m going to give this a 6 because I think almost everyone on the planet it stressed. I get what you do (reflexology). That’s very clear. I get the general issue you help people with — stress and tension. If I were stressed — there are a lot of different approaches to it I could take. I could get a relaxing massage, get a life coach to help me make changes in my lifestyle, work with a nutritionist, therapist, hypnotist, etc. So the fact that you’ve named the modality helps to hone things in — you’d be a fit for me if I was stressed and loved reflexology. So, in that way, it’s clear.

Some reflexologists list a huge list of symptoms that include every malady known to man. You’ve narrowed in on stress and so that’s good.

But I think there’s room to clarify. Here are a few places you could look:

1) What kind of stress and tension are we talking about? And how are they experiencing it? What symptoms are showing up? Would they call it stress or would they relate more to migraines, losing their temper, anxiety attacks, etc. I’m wondering what the top three most common symptoms are that bring people in.

2) When are you the best fit? What’s the moment when it’s too soon to work with you? When is it too late? I find myself wondering if you do your best work on chronic, long term stress or just on day to day stress.

3) Who? Is there a particular group of people you might specialize in? eg Moms, Entrepreneurs, yogi’s, etc.

I imagine that the people you work with aren’t just stressed but also can’t seem to let it go on their own. Is that true?

I also imagine they feel a certain way about having all this stress and tension. Like, “I help people who’s stress in killing their productivity but they don’t have space to slow down and they feel helpless and trapped” sort of thing.

What you’ve written is clear enough in a way. If I lived in a town and you were one of the only holistic practitioners in town and I was stressed, you’d probably get a visit from me. But, I find myself wondering how you’re different than all of the other reflexologists who could say the exact same thing.

Niching Contest Participant Comments:

8.5/10: I would specify “people” more and remove one of the results. There’s 4 and I’d keep 3 results — revitalize, rejuvenate and heal their body.

9/10: Though you could bribe a 10 out of me with a session! My only problem is the broad term “people.” I think everyone I know could use your services, but it’s much easier to target a specific market — middle-aged female gardeners (me!), older male executives, stressed-out caregivers of elderly parents, etc.

7/10: Your line needs some punch. The first part of it can be said about many therapies.

8/10: I am rating this higher than Tad because of the quickness that I got what you do.

7/10: I think you need to be more clear on “people”. Just about everybody is stressed and tense so can you refine your client description further? Women? Men? Young? Old?

5/10: So you heal everything with reflexology? Doesn’t grab me because it feels like a list of words with no connection to me even though it sounds good. just seems like another add.

8/10: It is nice but is it for me? Am I your client? I have no way to know. I need a direct connection.

10/10: Very clear.

7/10: Which people? Which ones come in with the most stress and tension, most often? Who could use reflexology the most bc of their career or lifestyle? would love to hear your comments.

10/10: So clear!

9/10: I think it’s great! Clear! I’d just change the punctuation so it reads with more ease and say “bodies” plural:“I help people let go of stress & tension, to revitalize & rejuvenate, to heal their bodies & feel whole with reflexology.”

10/10: Love the imagery the clear concise message.

10/10: Elegant, clear message.

9/10: I think many people can relate to this.

5/10: I understand what you are doing, but basically you are targeting everybody here, so that is not really a niche.

I thought the “feel whole” was a big idea to be tagged onto the list of benefits, so perhaps that might be the one you drop?

Christopher Shirley’s Reflections:

n/a

The Revised Niche:

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