How To Choose A Profitable Niche Without Overthinking with Gordon Brewer

Niching down can feel like you’re closing doors, but the real risk is staying so broad that nobody knows why they should choose you. Jenny sits down with Gordon Brewer, a licensed marriage and family therapist and the host of the Practice of Therapy podcast, to unpack a simpler, more grounded way to choose a profitable niche without spiraling into overthinking.

We dig into the real places people get stuck, like trying to invent a “totally unique” specialty, or forcing themselves into work they don’t even enjoy. Gordon shares how your best niche often lives at the intersection of what energizes you and what your market actually needs. We talk about how telehealth changes the game, why underserved problems can be a powerful signal, and how clear niche messaging helps you stand out in search results, referrals, and your content marketing.

Then we get practical about niche validation. We cover how to listen for patterns in your caseload, how to use colleague feedback, and why the questions you hear on repeat are one of the best clues that paying clients are already looking for what you offer. That same repeated guidance can also become a workshop, guide, or product so you stop saying the same thing in every session and build more sustainable income.

Grab the linked resources, then subscribe, share this with a fellow service-based business owner, and leave a review so more listeners can build a focused, profitable practice.

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Transcript

Welcome And The Niche Problem

Jenny 0:00

Welcome to Practice with Profit with me, Jimmy Laura. This podcast is for experts and service-based business owners who are ready to turn their knowledge into sustainable income without putting the power of going out. Each week we'll have into how to transform what you already do into yellow supports, programs, products, and platforms while building a business that supports your life, not the other way around. If you're ready to move beyond trading time for money and build profit with intention, you're in the right place. The reason you're stuck choosing a niche isn't because you're unqualified. It's because no one is showing you how to simplify the decision. That's exactly what we're doing today. Now you're gonna hear in this interview with Gordon Brewer me talk about the idea that if you are continually getting asked the same question, then it's likely that it is a product or service that you should be offering. I want you to make sure that you go and grab your 30-minute launch plan. We are linking to it in the show notes so that if you are continually getting those questions answered and asked, you can make sure that you have a way to launch that product or service that needs to be out there so those questions get answered. All right, let's dive into the interview. Hi, Gordon. How are you?

Gordon 1:21

Hi, Jenny. Good to be here.

Jenny 1:24

I am so excited to have this conversation about how to choose a profitable niche without overthinking it. But before we actually do, will you introduce yourself and your business to my audience?

Gordon 1:36

Sure, sure. Well, I'm Gordon Brewer. I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist. And um, a lot of people know me from my podcast, the Practice of Therapy podcast. And uh you can find that at practice of therapy.com and anywhere you listen to your podcast. But also I'm a private practice owner. I have a small group practice in a place called Kingsport, Tennessee, which is up in the northeast corner of Tennessee in the mountains. And so it's a beautiful place. But I've been in I've been in private practice for nearly 25 years now. So I mean it's hard to believe I've been around that long. But uh yeah, and so that's me in a nutshell.

Passion Beats Being Unique

Jenny 2:20

Very good. Excellent. All right, so let's just kind of jump right in. When you think about people trying to choose a niche, where do you see them getting stuck most often?

Gordon 2:32

Well, I think where they get stuck most often is they're trying to maybe figure out something that is very unique. And it doesn't necessarily have to be all that unique. I think what's most important in finding a niche is doing something that you enjoy doing and that you're passionate about. Because otherwise, if you're gonna try to kind of force it, um, it's it's not gonna be, it's not gonna work out well for you. I mean, for for example, you know, um I uh when I was in before I went into private practice, I worked for a nonprofit that worked with at-risk children and youth. And so got a lot of a great experience there and moved up through the ranks with that organization and that sort of thing. But I figured out along the way, I really didn't enjoy working with kids that much. And so um, when I went into private practice, you know, I switched gears and I was much happier. And and I think if you're in a niche that you enjoy doing something specific that you're passionate about, you're gonna do a much better job and you're also gonna attract more referrals that way.

Jenny 3:47

That totally makes sense. And yeah, I love that you recognized that and felt more comfortable in what you were doing because of it. So, how do you find that overthinking shows up when someone is trying to choose a niche?

Telehealth Reach And Local Gaps

Gordon 4:02

Yeah, well, I think they, you know, one thing that I think is good is try to figure out in your area, if you're depending on how you're delivering your services, of course, there's telehealth, which, you know, you if you're uh uh strictly a telehealth practice, I think that's even more important to niche down because you're gonna have a broader reach across a region. Uh whereas if you're in a brick and mortar place, um, figuring out what it is that is um maybe is underserved in your area, but also at the same time matches up with what you enjoy doing. And again, an example, example of that for for me. When I first went into private practice, there were very few marriage and family therapists in my area, and uh very few people that wanted to work with couples. And so I enjoyed working with couples, so I, you know, that that very quickly became my niche, which is that's a very broad niche, but it might be that you want to niche down, eat niche, niche down um even even smaller than that. So, for example, maybe if you're working with couples, working with couples where there's been infidelity, or there's um been, you know, some sort of affair or trauma in that sense, or working with you know, uh couples that are maybe even divorced and figure figuring out how to help them co-parent, that kind of thing. So I mean, you can you could take any particular area, but also make it even more specific, which I think is good.

What Makes A Niche Profitable

Jenny 5:44

Yes, because then it makes it easier to talk about the problems that they have as far as you're creating content to attract them so that they know that they are the right person to be coming to your practice. I love that. So, what actually makes a niche profitable?

Gordon 6:00

Yeah, that's a that's a good question. I think um number one is what are you going to do to attract your ideal clients in that niche? And as you as you alluded to, Jenny, is being able to um uh communicate to people how you can help them with that specific problem. And so that in and of itself is going to um, you know, it's a smaller net that you're casting, and people are gonna seek you out in that sense. And so you're gonna have um probably a better better chance at getting referrals depending on how uh how you run your practice, whether you're insurance-based or not, whether you're cash practice, that kind of thing. But I think as much as anything, what makes any niche um um profitable is the number of people that are seeking help with that specific problem.

Jenny 6:58

Yes. No, absolutely.

Gordon 7:00

I love that.

Jenny 7:01

So is it better to go broad or specific when you're starting out?

Gordon 7:10

I think it when you're starting out, um if you go too broad, you're not gonna stand out. So I think it's important to to figure out a niche very early on. In other words, what's gonna make you stand out from any other the number of therapists that are in your area? So I think it's important to to niche down from the very beginning. So really figure out, okay, am I gonna work with um depression and single moms or um, you know, maybe uh, you know, depression and anxiety and people that are going through life transitions or that sort of thing. And so I think very getting really clear about that because that way you can make your messaging clear in your website and the way in which you're marketing your practice. In other words, you're gonna really be able to address specifically how you can help people, but also the transformation that they can go through by coming to you.

Jenny 8:15

Yes. And I think too, that goes for any online business that is offering service-based businesses that are looking to really, like you said, stand out. Because when you have specific words that you become known for, it's much easier to find you because of that, whether they're doing a Google search or they're in a Facebook group looking for something like that. Um, and like you said, too, referrals, being able to say, oh, that's the person known for this that has that specific niche kind of like marketed and targeted. That's their expertise. Yes, I would entirely agree with you. Do you think that you can get broader as you continue to grow, or do you think that it's better to stay within that kind of solving the problem that you originally started out for and offering that transformation that you stuff?

Growing Beyond The First Niche

Gordon 9:06

Yeah, well, I think I think sticking with your niche and you're gonna get other stuff anyway. Um, that's that's the thing about you know, a niche. Um, you know, one example I love I love to uh um uh use is is that um I've got a good friend of mine that's a cardiologist. And so if I have a medical question, I'll probably go to my friend Keith first to ask the medical question whether it has to do with cardiology or not, because I know he's got broad expertise in a lot of other areas, and so I think it kind of works that way as well, you know. Um, you know, um, it might be that a person might not have a specific problem like depression or trauma or whatever, but if they know you're working with a certain demographic, they will come to you with those other things. And so I think that's uh uh how how that works. But I don't think that you need to, you know, it might be that you find as you as your practice builds, as you build your clientele, you'll find sub niches that are related, um, and that sort of thing that that will just occur naturally. So yeah.

Jenny 10:20

Yes. I think that also goes along with what you said about the demographic, right? Knowing who it is that you are looking to serve age-wise, um financially, where they are, what their family makeup might be, whatever it is, and that understanding that there are going to be outliers to that. Yes, you have an ideal, but uh, people that you may not expect to be attracted to what it is that you offer could very likely end up being a client.

Gordon 10:46

Yeah, right, right. And and and I think, you know, uh if you get known for working with that particular demographic, then you're just gonna the others are gonna fall fall in place as well.

Validate Demand With Real Questions

Jenny 10:59

Yes, absolutely. So how can someone validate that their niche will actually lead to paying clients?

Gordon 11:06

Oh, that is a great, that is a really great question. And I think, you know, there's a lot of different ways you can validate. Um one is just, you know, polling, you know, colleagues and that sort of thing about, you know, what is it that you're seeing? What do you feel like, you know, maybe there's an underserved kind of demographic or or problem in your area. And so you get that and you think about, okay, how you know what how are they referring, you know, to other people. But also, um I I think um you know, I I don't I wouldn't put too much stock in social media, but I think because the algorithms drive so much, but I think even just you know what you're hearing, you know, on social feeds and all of that kind of thing can kind of give you an idea, okay, these are the people that are are um are are looking for particular help. And also if you're if you're active on social media, look at the questions people are asking. And I think that's that's pretty um pretty good way to validate that.

Mistakes And Viability Signals

Jenny 12:20

Yes, oh I love that. Because then that becomes content that you can actually create to attract those people because you know specifically what it is that they're asking and what they're looking for. Yes, I entirely agree with that. So what are the biggest mistakes people make when choosing a niche?

Gordon 12:37

I think the biggest one I've got which I've kind of already kind of mentioned already, is picking one that you don't enjoy. I think um, you know, trying to force yourself into doing um a particular thing that you really are not that into anyway. Or maybe you just think, oh, well, this is a um, you know, this is an opportunity here. But also I think um if you're doing it just for the money, that's probably something you need to check in with. Because if that's your reason for picking a niche, because oh, I think I'll get just a lot of people wanting this. But if you're not enjoying that particular population, uh, I think that that would be a big mistake to make.

Jenny 13:21

Yes. No, I think it agrees. So what signals should someone look for to know their niche is actually viable?

Gordon 13:31

Yeah, that's a that's a good question. And I I think again, it has to do with um the feedback you're getting from people. And um, you know, I think too, one of the best referral sources are your former clients or your current clients, you know, that refer to you. And so, you know, what you hear from them in sessions, that those kinds of things, um, you know, feedback you get uh uh again from your your current client base is a good good validator, I think. Yes.

Jenny 14:06

So if someone is listening right now and feels stuck on choosing a niche, what's the one thing you tell them to do today?

Gordon 14:16

I would say um start thinking about the clients that you enjoy the most, the ones that you just really look forward to seeing. And and just really kind of coming up with uh, okay, these are the kind of the common problems, the common themes that I see with these particular clients that I really enjoy working with. And so just thinking about that, also thinking about, you know, in your um, you know, in doing sessions, I think one of the things we all find is we end up repeating ourselves with different different clients of saying uh, you know, okay, the same kind of psychoeducation, that kind of thing. And so I think that can be a clue as well, is to really look at, okay, what is it that you know that you that you might take for granted that you know these things, but it might be that the general public or partitional clients don't know those things. And so really, you know, maybe doing what I like to call as a brain dump of just really kind of brainstorming what are those different things, you know, what are the different issues? Yeah, you know, and I think another thing too is um, you know, looking again at your current um caseload and maybe just doing a little exercise of okay, what are the problems that I'm working with with each of these cases? And what's the common thread that runs through all of those?

Jenny 15:44

Yes, that's it's funny because when I was over on your podcast when you interviewed me, we talked a little bit about that as far as like if you're hearing the same thing, having to provide the same psychoeducation, that potentially not only is it a good ideal as far as who you're looking to work with as in person, but also potentially is that a product that you could create, a workshop, a um that they could be able to create for as an another resource for their clientele that's that way they're not continually repeating it and they can just say, okay, you've read this, and now let's move to the next step, even.

Gordon 16:27

Right, right. Exactly, exactly. Yeah.

Startup Guide And Resources

Jenny 16:30

Yes. So tell me a little bit about your free private practice startup guide that you offer. We're gonna link to it so that people can make sure that they head over to your practiceatherapy.com website. But tell us a little bit about the private practice startup guide.

Gordon 16:46

Yeah, so it's a like a little small um, you know, kind of mini book. It's uh it's about 23, 25 pages, something like that. But what I do in that in that startup guide is just kind of outline for people, okay, these are the steps that you need to think about in starting a private practice. And it's really, it's not, it's not, you know, definitely fully complete, but I think it gives people a good overview. If you're thinking of starting a private practice, these are the things you need to think about and prepare for along the way. And so, um, yeah, and there's some there's some resources to links to resources and all of that sort of thing in that guide as well.

Closing Thanks

Jenny 17:28

Yes, I think everybody can always use the clarity to know where to go in creating one private practice. I know I when I was, I knew when I first graduated from college, I had said I wanted to be a therapist, but there wasn't clear direction for my college as far as like what that would look like. And this is exactly what I would have needed. This is what you are gonna do if you're gonna start your private practice and what your next step is. Um, so I appreciate that. We are gonna make sure that is linked to that everyone can go and grab that. Gordon, I appreciate you so much for taking the time to speak with me and share your knowledge with my audience.

Gordon 18:07

Well, my pleasure. Thanks for having me. I always uh enjoy these conversations.

Jenny 18:13

Very good, excellent.