Niche Down In Order To Grow

I know this can feel counter‑intuitive. I want to get more work, therefore I must need to appeal to a wide range of people in order to show off all the different skills I have. In our minds it makes sense, but in reality it’s not how people buy services/products. Let me explain how niching down and becoming an ‘expert’ in 1 or 2 areas, will actually attract more work to come your way.

What’s a niche and why bother?

A niche is a specific area that you typically thrive in. For me, it’s portrait painting. It’s important to know what area you’d like to associate with so that you know who your target market is. You can become specific about what you can offer too.

When marketing and building your personal brand as an artist people need to remember you. It’s difficult to remember someone when they’re okay at photography and animation, oh and they do some embroidery as well as a bit of landscape painting on the side.

You want to be remembered like, “oh that’s X, have you seen their work? They’re incredible at portrait photography”, or which ever area you work in.

It doesn’t mean you can’t develop your skills in multiple areas either. Yes I specialise in portrait painting, but I also do murals and I’m passionate about art & accessibility and running educational workshops. My unique combination of skills does offer itself as its own niche, however they are all complimentary and make sense in its own unusual way.

In summary, you want to niche down because:

• Build a reputation in that area.

• Become ‘one of the best’ by focusing on strengthening your skills.

• Better quality clients, your clients know what to expect from you before they even contact you.

• Raise your prices. When you focus on 1 to 2 areas you raise your value.

• You get more work enquiries that align with what you are known for.

• Work comes to you rather than you looking for work.

How do I find my niche?

What are you passionate about + what are you good at?

I do think it’s that simple. However it’s sometimes difficult to be critical of our own abilities in figuring out ‘what are we good at’. I’ll often think I’m rubbish at something until someone mentions to me, “oh you’re amazing at that”.

We can ask the people around us to name a couple of things they think we excel at. Make sure these are people who will give their honest opinion.

Finding your niche is an ongoing journey.

Yes I have an idea of what areas I’d like to base my expertise in however that definition is able to adapt and change as I grow and learn.

How do I become an expert in my niche?

Consistency over a period of time will grow your expertise in your chosen area. I see an expert as someone that people go to for advice and guidance on a certain topic. They’re the go‑to person you think of when you need a problem solving.

I need a videographer who is great at capturing people and their stories, let me go to X for that.

Or

I need a painter who has a specific graphic design style that creates animal portraits, I know X is perfect for that.

It does feel scary to commit to publicly saying “yes, I am a specialist in X”. However, doing so repeatedly creates a clear lane for you to manoeuvre in and for others to know what it is you can offer.

Like I mentioned, this isn’t carved in stone. If further down the line you decide to pivot that’s absolutely fine.

How to attract more work?

One of the consequences about getting focused on what you do and who you are, is you will naturally attract more work. Your skill set and abilities will improve in your chosen area helping you stand out among the rest. Having confidence in knowing your offering is magnetic to potential clients as many want to hire artists who they know, like and trust.

Building a reputation of expertise and mastery in an area will help to build trust and awareness. You can help to display a level of expertise by:

• Create informative social media content

Talk about the processes behind creating your work and help to educate others.

• Start a blog

Similar to me writing these every week. You could start a blog to share your knowledge on a specific topic which will help to demonstrate a level of expertise.

• Share Tutorials on YouTube

Guide your viewers step‑by‑step of how you do what you do. This can be picked up by potential clients and build confidence in their minds that you know what you’re doing.

• Live Q&A

Answer questions from your audience about the topic.

• In person Workshops

Running workshops shows the attendees and venue your level of knowledge and skill in that area.

• Public Speaking Events/interviews

Share what you do at events or even virtual interviews/talks. I tend to keep an eye out on social media for these opportunities. Do drop an email to doncastercreativenetwork@gmail.com if you are interested in talking at our next PechaKucha Event!

Let’s create more thriving creatives!

Guiding emerging artists to have a financially sustainable practice.