Niching Case Study: Gwen Riedl

5/10: Maybe put the deep listening on the same side of the sentence as the coaching, training, and team building.

5/10: I would get more specific about what you do. The words coaching, communication skills training & teambuilding don’t tell me what’s unique about you. There’s more about what you do in here than who your niche is. What kind of individuals and teams?

4.5/10: Gwen, I liked the deep listening but the rest was pretty generic. I looked at your blog for some clues of suggestions and “doing the right thing” and “tension/evaporate” stood out boldly for me. You also seem to work for leaders per your website as opposed to individuals so I’d suggest you re-target which would make you sound more impressive. Here’s my suggestion: “I help leaders and teams in technical professions align objectives by being open and honest to achieve extraordinary performance.” From your blog I can see that you’ve got some real gifts in working in these environments but it can be hard to use our same gifts on ourselves – you might want to get someone to give you feedback on marketing yourself to take your business to the next level. All the best!

4/10: Maybe it should be more “Through exploring the magic of deep listening”. I can understand how listening would work in a therapy context, but it will be a harder sell for companies and business… I can just hear an old MD in my saying “You mean we’re just paying her to listen!” I once was involved in a IT department which were going Agile (a software methodology), where one of the Development managers said to me “Great, we don’t have to write long, boring documents”… to which I replied “Yes, but that will only work if you Developers up your communication game, if you are going to ditch the long documents then you need to listen and communicate better, you just can’t sit at your desks coding all the time” … so maybe the hint of what communication and improved performance delivers to a company / business. Most companies like the sound of improved communication in theory, but few understand what it means… especially in concrete terms… like a low hanging fruit which you can reach out a pluck from the tree (sorry, got all poetic there). Just read Tad’s post… yep, why don’t you try re-writing as the negative list which you will help them solve… wasted time, money, effort… team friction, inter-departmental warfare… lack of coordination and focus… missed business and commercial opportunities… oh, the list is endless! And then, if that feels too negative, rewrite as positives… do a mirror reflection thing… i.e. good communication allows a company to take swift and effective advantage of opportunities when they do come alone. And don’t forget low team morale, lack and loss of enthusiasm… and also… inability of people within business to talk to their colleagues as human beings, and so inspire and motivate them… (don’t get me started on that one!)

3/10: Since you’re talking about your niche, I am less interested in your methods (deep listening) than in who they are. Knowing anything more about their field or experiences would provide a tighter niche.

5/10: I agree with other comments. I read what and how you do but i don’t know WHO benefits.

4.5/10: Sounds really generic to me. Every coach does this, but what makes you stand out. There isn’t anything here that makes you shine.

5/10: Needs to be stronger and more focused. This doesn’t help you stand out amongst other coaches. Posted with love

5/10: I’m interested to know what their problem is – what exactly will be improved in their performance, and what will that do for them?

5/10: I agree with the others. The who is vague. I saw your revision and it narrowed it down a bit. I also agree with Tad. Maybe narrow down specifically what you can help eliminate.

N/A: I liked the tie-in between the tree logo and the name Grow. Deep listening caught my attention. Just curious, is this corporate ? Maybe more information on defining the benefits or improvements.