Niching Case Study: Sue Burness

Trailblazers and nurturers often need help bridging the gap between self-sacrifice and self-care. I can help!

www.radicalselfcare.ca

#sytycn2014

Tad’s Rating:

6/10

Contest Rating:

7/10

Average Rating:

6.5/10

Tad’s Comments:

Right now this is a 6 for me. The “bridging the gap between self-sacrifice and self-care?” Boom. Love it. That’s such a core human struggle and particularly for certain people. It’s phrased simply. Great. The terms “trail blazers and nurturers” feels confusing to me. First because they seem like different types of people to me. When I think trailblazers I think of: thought leaders, entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs etc . . . When I think of nurturers, I think of parents, those caring for their elderly parents, nurses, social workers, counselors, healers etc . . . If you could give three more specific examples of what you mean by those terms it would help a lot. I find that often an umbrella term like “nurturers” can go from fuzzy to clear with just a few specific examples people would understand. I think there’s also room here to name the burning problem faced by these people. Perhaps it’s burn out, overwhelm, over work, juggling a million things, trouble with saying “no.” I also find myself curious: once they bridge that gap — what happens? What’s the impact on them? What do they want to bridge that gap for in the first place? What will it give them? What are they really craving? And I’m curious, what are the top three road blocks to bridging that gap? Is there a big one that seems to get in the way most of the time? Regardless, this is a beautiful thing to offer the world. I love the idea of a world full of caring, innovative people who care for themselves as much as the work they do. Beautiful.

Niching Contest Participant Comments:

It seems clear to me that you’re reaching out to caregivers and healers — whether in business or not — who may need a lesson or refresher on putting their own mask on first. “Radical” is the hook, and then you guide them to the understanding that it’s actually basic and foundational.

9/10: I would just switch the wording around a little “I help trailblazers and nurturers bridge the gap between self-sacrifice and self-care.” Other than that it’s great!

9/10: I like it!!! Gets right to my heart: trailblazers and nurturers.

10/10: Love, love, love this one. “Bridging the gap between self-sacrifice and self-care” really speaks to me.

7/10: I love the name radical self care too. I am struggling with seeing trailerblazers and nurturers in the same tribe, and do we want to bridge the gap between self-sacrifice and self-care, or do we want to move from self-sacrifice to giving from a place of self-care? That said, good job. This is not easy.

8/10: I hear this, or what I think this is. It did take me a couple of read-throughs to get my head around the concept though. And that makes me wonder: could it be more direct/clear? But then I don’t have an awesome suggestion or solution! Hmmm. You’ve got some great feedback going here though : )

8.5/10: I too think that “nurturers” draws female images in my mind only, but then maybe women should be your niche, maybe men are a hard sell or generally on your scale from (website) aren’t in fact your cream clients anyway!

9/10: Love the name of the website which gives a clear message as to what this website is about. I give this a 9 only because my first instinct was to think of women and am unsure exactly what target audience it is, whether it is men and women, just women, etc . . .

6/10: What do you mean by trailblazers? What kind of trail are they blazing? And how do you help? I’m thinking, “I help worn out and burnt out caregiving types learn how to put themselves first so they can better serve others.” Does that make sense?

7/10: I like the trail blazers and nurtures concepts, not sure if you coach?

7/10: I like the second half (“bridging the gap . . . ”) more than the first half. Can you convert that to the active verb? Once you do help them bridge that gap, what is the outcome?

A statement starting “I help trailblazers and nurturers bridge the gap between self-sacrifice and self-care” would be better. On a longer piece of text, identifying the problem “you need this help” and then saying how you can help “I can help” is a good approach but “I can help!” at the end here feels a little clunky, repetitive/circular and like it doesn’t add any important information. You could do “helping trailblazers and nurturers bridge the gap between self-sacrifice and self-care.” You’d have 17 more characters to play with (if I got my maths right) as well.

5/10: Help how? not sure what you will do for me. Plus trailblazers and nurturers are such different sounding words so if feels odd somehow even though I could see myself in your niche. not sure how to rate it.

5/10: Trail blazers and nurturers seem like opposites to me. Maybe choosing one to focus on would be beneficial, or finding one word that really accurately describes the type of client you are looking for.

6/10: I have very very different images in mind of a trailblazer and a nurturer. Caregivers or Care Professionals who need self-care? Does that resonate at all? And then maybe bring in the concept of them being a trailblazer later on in the program. I love the url.

I don’t know if I’m your avatar or not, if you are speaking to me. I have no clue if I’m a trailblazer and nurturer . . . then again, shouldn’t I know if I was? It leaves me feeling oddly left out.

9/10: “Radical self-care” speaks volumes. I like that you use the expression of bridging a gap — there are different ways you could say this, I like that you convey that both are happening, but need connecting somehow.

Sue Burness’ Reflections:

Thanks so much for all the comments! I think trailblazers and nurturers ARE two different tribes, and in the future will use either one term or the other, depending on where I’m marketing. This has been tremendously helpful!

The Revised Niche:

n/a