125. The VA/OBM Niche Positioning Shift That Actually Works in 2026

Hot take: the most powerful niche you can have in 2026 has nothing to do with choosing an industry.

If you have ever tried to niche down but nothing felt quite right, or you did pick a niche and you are still blending in with everyone else who does the same thing, this episode is going to explain why and give you a better way to think about it.

In this episode, I get into why traditional industry niching is no longer enough on its own, three real client examples of what values-based positioning actually looks like, and the three questions to ask yourself so you can do the same thing.

Key Points Covered:

✨ Why "I help coaches with X" is a category, not a differentiator

✨ Three client examples of niching by values, working style, and beliefs instead of industry

✨ The three questions to weave into your messaging: who are you, how do you work, and what do you believe

✨ Why values-based positioning attracts better clients, longer retention, and less scope creep

✨ How to figure out your values if you have no idea where to start

For VAs & OBMs turning expertise into a signature method and a business that pays for outcomes, not hours.

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Podcast produced and edited with love by @FerAssists

Transcript

[00:00:00] Andrea Elibero: Hello and welcome to Solepreneur Scaling Stories. I'm Andrea a certified OBM turned business coach, helping VAs OPMs and done-for-you. Service Pros turn their unstructured expertise into a signature method and a business that pays them for outcomes, not hours. So if you want a business that gives you freedom instead of taking it, you are in the right place.

[00:00:23] Andra Elibero: Here is my hot take for today. The most powerful niche that you can have in 2026 has absolutely nothing to do with choosing an industry. And I know that that goes against everything that you might have heard. And if you've ever felt like you should niche down, but nothing feels quite right, or if you have niched down, but you're kinda questioning it, this episode is going to explain why and give you a better way to do this.

[00:00:51] Andra Elibero: And when you finish listening, check out my interview with Alyssa Schneider, it was episode 122, where we talk about how she does not niche by industry at [00:01:00] all and what she does instead, so you can get a more complete example of this concept. So when it comes to niching, I totally agree with the fundamentals.

[00:01:08] Andra Elibero: Specificity matters, and this fog, this positioning fog, is a really big reason why done-for-you service providers have trouble finding clients. When you can't clearly articulate what you do and who it's for, it's extra difficult to attract the right clients. But here is where the conventional advice of that you can just pick an industry like, "I am a VA for coaches," why that just doesn't work anymore in 2026.

[00:01:36] Andra Elibero: It's because most service providers are getting specific about the wrong things. The traditional niching advice is to pick an industry. "I work with coaches. I work with e-commerce brands. I work with real estate agents." Totally fine. That's not wrong. As an OBM, I focused on working with what I call soulpreneurs.

[00:01:55] Andra Elibero: These are the health, wellness, and spiritual entrepreneurs. But in 2026, [00:02:00] with how saturated things are, with how people are more careful in how they're spending their money, how they're hiring, that's just not enough on its own. And on top of that, it doesn't actually get you what you want, which is those premium aligned clients.

[00:02:18] Andra Elibero: Because what happens is this, you do all the things that you were told to do. You pick the niche, you get specific, and you still look exactly like every other VA, OBM, done-for-you service provider offering the same service to the same type of client. "I help coaches with X." Great. This is not a differentiation.

[00:02:39] Andra Elibero: This is you putting yourself into a bucket, into a category. And it's one of the most common things that I see in my free business audits that I do. A lot of VAs and OBMs come to me, and they're indistinguishable from everybody else that does the same thing. So I'm going to give you a few real-life examples of how to do it [00:03:00] differently from some of my clients.

[00:03:02] Andra Elibero: So let's go with the first one. So this client is really introverted. She does her best work when she has space. She doesn't- Feel good being constantly on, and that's not how she operates the best. So she needs a client relationship that doesn't require her to be available and responsive every hour of the day.

[00:03:22] Andra Elibero: And this is a thing that she thought was a negative, and she didn't really talk about it before because she followed the advice of leading with your services and nothing else. And when we ha- were working together, this is when she started putting this introverted side directly into her messaging as a feature, not a bug.

[00:03:42] Andra Elibero: She became so clear that she works best with clients who respect her deep focus time, and they are going to get amazing work. And these are clients who also value, let's say, not being bothered, right? These are clients who value this thoughtful delivery, and they don't want somebody who's gonna go g- back and forth, [00:04:00] back and forth, back and forth.

[00:04:01] Andra Elibero: And because of this, because now she's featuring this part of herself, and it's unique and different and really true to her, now she's attracting the right type of clients faster. She didn't niche by industry. She filtered her clients by how she works and who she is, uh, which is really cool. 

[00:04:20] Andra Elibero: There is another client who built her brand around being human first in an AI-obsessed world. This is her thing, right? She genuinely believes that human judgment and connection are irreplaceable in her work. And she's a systems person, by the way, and so it's really cool to see this. And the people that she wants to work with share those same values.

[00:04:43] Andra Elibero: So when they see her things, when they find her, they are like, "Yes, you are mine," because we know there is a big divide, and there are some people who are really passionate on one side or the other. So now, when she is vocal about this, she is aligning with people who [00:05:00] feel the same, and she is standing out, and this is all before they've even had a conversation.

[00:05:05] Andra Elibero: So again, now she has aligned clients. Now they come faster. Also doesn't niche by industry. She niches by her belief system, and this does the filtering to easily attract her dream clients. And the last one. This one is cool because this one is both industry and lifestyle. So she works with website and brand designers who are moms, so yeah, industry and lifestyle.

[00:05:29] Andra Elibero: The reason it works for her is not just because she's like, "Ooh, there's a lot of moms out there." No, it's because she's a mom, and she's really passionate about helping other moms. She understands the mental load. She understands the creative pressure, the identity shifts, the specific way that time works when you have kids in a way that people like me would never understand.

[00:05:46] Andra Elibero: You know? And you can feel that in her marketing. You really, really can feel that. So you can see from these three examples that these are the types of things that get VAs and OBMs to stand out [00:06:00] from everybody else. Because a niche is not just a category anymore. It's not a list of the type of clients that you accept.

[00:06:07] Andra Elibero: It is a filter, and really, and this is at the risk of sounding like a 2020 boss babe, it's a magnet, right? It helps you to become more magnetic, and it's really, really, really powerful. So here are the three questions that you can ask yourself and you can incorporate into your marketing, into your messaging, into when you talk about your offers, so you can do the same thing.

[00:06:33] Andra Elibero: One is, who are you? Two is, how do you work? And three is, what do you believe? Because when those things are visible in your messaging, you are not just describing your service. You are describing a working relationship, a personality, your values, and you've immediately now piqued the interest of the people who resonate with those things.

[00:06:56] Andra Elibero: And now you stand out head and shoulders above everybody else who is [00:07:00] still just talking about what they do and who they do it for. They are resonating with you. They are feeling a connection to you, and that's what you want. Very, very few done-for-you service providers talk about these things. So when you do it, that means that you are so far ahead, and that's really awesome.

[00:07:18] Andra Elibero: And so that means an easier time attracting clients, better clients because they vibe with you 'cause you like them, longer retention time, less scope creep, less of this invisible drain that comes from constantly adjusting yourself to fit somebody else's personality and expectations. And the most powerful positioning just doesn't describe what you do.

[00:07:41] Andra Elibero: It signals what it's like to work with you and who you are as a human. And by the way, this is not me saying that you get to be vague about your services. You don't get a pass on that either. You still need to be very clear on what you deliver, on your framework, on who benefits from it, on your [00:08:00] outcomes.

[00:08:00] Andra Elibero: That's non-negotiable. But this additional values-based positioning, it doesn't replace that clarity, but it amplifies everything that you do. And so overall, what I want you to take away from this is that if your messaging stops at, "I help X do Y," and your perspective is nowhere to be found in there, you are just going to blend in with everybody else who does the exact same thing, and that makes finding clients that much harder.

[00:08:27] Andra Elibero: In 2026, standing out is not about having the most specific service in the most niched industry. It's about having a specific point of view. And the amazing thing about this is that it is so much more sustainable in the long run because you get to be you. You get to talk about your values, your beliefs, your point of view.

[00:08:47] Andra Elibero: You easily find more to talk about when you are more human in your marketing. It's way more fun. And again, you really get to be you and not put on [00:09:00] some weird mask that you thought you had to put on in order to be successful in this industry. You don't. And it's not just about your marketing. Obviously, marketing is a big piece of it, but it's also about attracting that aligned client and the work that you do with them.

[00:09:12] Andra Elibero: So if you are listening and you are thinking, "I don't actually know. I'm not very clear on what my values are. What is this? You know, I don't know where to start." I invite you to think about your best clients, the ones where it felt easy, where communication was smooth, where you didn't find yourself constantly adjusting to them.

[00:09:32] Andra Elibero: What did they have in common? What was it about their personality that vibed with yours? What was it about the working style that you got to do in between you and your client? What was it about the beliefs between them, between you? What was it about how this wor- working relationship felt? And pull that out, and that could be a piece of it.

[00:09:56] Andra Elibero: And now if you're thinking, "Well, I have no idea how to figure that out," or, "My [00:10:00] messaging has never quite sounded the way that I wanted it to," then you need to hop on this free business audit. I am going to show you where your time or money is leaking, what's capping your income, and what needs to shift so you can grow.

[00:10:13] Andra Elibero: And often that is how you talk about what you do. And so you can grab a spot through the link in my show notes. And if you want to actually build this into your business in a real way, that is what expansion is.

[00:10:25] Andra Elibero: It's my four-month one-on-one coaching experience where we get to take all of this and build from it. We put you in your business to create a core offer, a signature framework, and a marketing system. We work on your positioning, your offers, your messaging, the whole structure, your foundation of how you work and who you work with.

[00:10:45] Andra Elibero: So your business is supporting who you really are, and it is so sustainable, and it's not just about some random industry that you have been trying to fit into. So check that out in my show notes as well. And so to bring it all together, [00:11:00] industry niching still works. I am not saying throw that away. You don't have to do that.

[00:11:07] Andra Elibero: And it's not the full picture anymore. The real question is not just about who you serve. It's about who you are, how you work, and what you believe. And that is what actually connects people. And it's really, really beautiful. That's what makes them choose you over everybody else who does the same thing.

[00:11:26] Andra Elibero: That's what makes you attract your actual aligned clients who you love working with. And that's what makes your business a whole lot easier to run and to grow. And that is all I have for this episode. So I would love to connect with you on Instagram, LinkedIn, or Threads. Send me a message and tell me what you got out of this episode, if it sparked anything, and I hope to see you on a business audit or inside of Expansion. 

[00:11:52] Andrea Elibero: That's a wrap on today's episode, and thank you so much for listening. If anything we talked about today made you think, okay, [00:12:00] well, what does this actually look like in my business? That's exactly what a free business audit is for. In just 45 minutes, I'll help you identify your unstructured expertise, pinpoint what's keeping you capped, and map out what your signature method could look like.

[00:12:14] Andrea Elibero: There's a link in the show notes to grab your spot, and I will see you in the next episode.