The wall of the niche

Niche = Exclusion 
…but also…
Niche ≠ Exclusion 

🤔 Are you excluding potential clients by niching, or aren’t you?

I say yes 🙂

As a soloist, you have full control over how you run your business, so try this on and see if it fits.

The way I see soloists break through the “niche” wall, is realising that a significant part of the commitment to that niche is going to present itself less in your daily work, and more in things like marketing.

In other words, you’ll aim to work with folks inside the niche, but you can still choose to work with folks outside of it.

For example, say I’m your typical freelance designer who works with just about anyone (which I was), but since I’ve had so many clients in the education space, I decide to “niche” into creative design for education (which I did). 

A few steps I’d take to reflect this new positioning might be: 

• Alter the website
• Update my email signature 
• Change my LinkedIn headline and profile
• Create a pitch deck for sales calls
• Publish fixed-price services specifically for the education sector on my website
• Talk on socials about unusual challenges, situations, and wins I’ve experienced with these clients
• Quote happy clients
• Publish case studies
• Etc etc etc – all about and around clients in the education sector. 

Now…

Let’s say a referral comes in from a company outside of the education sector… maybe a hotel. 

• They’ve seen my work.
• They like my approach. 
• They appreciate my insights, even though they’re in a completely different market.
• They’d like to work with me. 

(Faint echo: “you have full control over how you run your business… business… business”).

If you have the capacity and the interest, you can still work with this client. There is no law in the niching handbook that says you can’t.

But you’ll need to consider a few things, such as:

• Will diverting your attention to this outside project break your momentum or pull you too far away from your regular activities… or will it be a welcomed mental break?
• Will their case study / testimonial get published, or archived for future use? Is it a big deal to you, that all projects become a case study? If so, that might be a reason not to take it.

Point is, it’s up to you. Know your deal / no deal criteria because you likely have some (like “every project needs to be a publishable case study”).

When folks on the fence understand it’s still a fluid thing, committing to a niche can come more easily.

You focus your marketing, R&D, product development and innovation on your niche, then flex your ability to make the call when outsiders come knocking (because you can, and they will).