On a consultation recently I found myself explaining something that I hadn’t quite articulated before. So I wanted to lay it out here in writing. Writing helps to get my thinking clear and integrates new concepts into my whole Point of View. I was speaking to a coach who is in a growing niche, with a good (yet limited) sphere of influence. They have a big decision to make, where do they choose to reach new people? Put another way, what ecosystem will they invest time and energy into to attract new clients? Before we get to that, let’s set the scene for why this question is so important. I have a key belief from experience and observing lots of coaches and consultants, and it’s controversial but hear me out. Sales come easiest from your sphere of influence. Now you’re probably thinking “Yeah, no kidding, we all knew that.” Yet in the world of coaches and consultants, we forget that all the time. I see experts make major decisions on program launches or where they invest their time and energy, based on the sales numbers that come from their sphere of influence. They expect those same sales numbers and percentages to hold true even as they sell more and more programs. It’s easy to forget that once we have sold to our sphere of influence, we have to start selling to new people. People who don’t yet know, like or trust us. So the sales don’t come as easy. (I did a whole episode about this concept, so if you want to dive deeper, check out this episode) But if you’re with me so far, we’re setting the scene with this basic principle: Sales come easiest from your sphere of influence, therefore once you’ve exhausted your sphere of influence, sales will start to get harder. Most coaches and consultants find this out the hard way. When the sales start to get harder, they look for solutions, which leads them to look for ways to grow and reach new people. This leads them to the question we started with. What ecosystem will they invest time and energy into to attract new clients? So we have the big 3 right now, social media, podcasting and traditional thought leadership. Social media is where most of the attention goes because it’s sexy. On the other hand, you can still go the traditional route, get a book publisher, do a TED talk, get booked on stages, get on the Today Show, hire a PR agency. Some of it works, most of it’s a complete crapshoot these days. Which brings us to the world of online content and more specifically podcasting. Podcasting is where most coaches and consultants who are drawn to the MicroFamous approach will fit in the best. It’s definitely where introverts will fit the best. Why? Because social media has become mostly a playground for extroverts. And traditional thought leadership relies heavily on public speaking, which is incredibly draining for true introverts because of all the obligations and travel that goes along with speaking. On top of that, traditional thought leadership has high barriers to entry. It’s expensive, high-risk and high-reward. You can drop $20k on a PR agency and get nothing, or they might get you on national TV three times a week. Total crapshoot. To me, podcasting is the sweet spot where coaches and consultants can thrive by dominating a very focused, fast-growing niche. A niche where there is buzz, maybe a counter-cultural trend, or there’s just a group of people who feel overlooked and underserved by the content that’s already out there. Either way, podcasting is a very unique ecosystem that has relatively low barriers to entry (unlike traditional thought leadership), which can also be massively successful with very little time required (unlike social media). So let’s sum up. If you have something to sell, like a program or a service, the sales will come easiest from your sphere...