adminA niche. Everyone keeps talking about a niche. What’s so special about this subject matter?
A niche is a special fortress, something specific to you, something which you do exceptionally well and thus, which you are more likely to be known for. You almost cannot mention a popular freelancer mentioning their niche. A freelancer writer might have a niche in writing stories, or it could be in writing articles on business/finance or any other thing, but the important thing is that you are doing something specific, something unique and different.
This post is specifically dedicated to freelancers who are confused, or uncertain, or dragging their feet about whether to or not to focus on creating their own niche, and we have outlined 5 benefits of having a niche for this purpose.
1. The Benefit of Focus
Ever heard of the phrase ‘Jack of all trades and master of none?’. When your work isn’t focused or targeted on one particular area, you have the tendency to lose focus. In effect, you burn so much energy running in circles and being unable to hit the nail on the head. But if you have a niche, you tend to focus all of your energy spent in freelancing in that particular area, giving all of your strength to it, and growing. You can also target a particular set of customers/clients- because now, you have narrowed down your service to a particular segment. This is the service which you provide, and those who need that service are more inclined to get it from you, because it would over time, have become your own peculiar area of expertise.
2. The Benefit of Referrals
If you’re a non-specific freelancer, it’s hard for your clients to refer other clients to you, and here’s why: they would be confused. However, if you are already known to provide a specific service, on the spot, you get referrals from clients who know other prospective clients who need the service which you have gotten specialized at providing.
Ever heard of the word of mouth epidemic? Referrals tend to provide an opportunity for this sort of epidemic, and if you have a niche, you are likely to get more referrals.
3. The Benefit of Additional Skill
Have you noticed that the more you do something, the more skilled you are at doing that thing? This is why you can button your shirt without really paying so much attention to it, or buckle your shoes without ardently focusing on the task. If it’s something you’ve done over and over again, you become really good at it, and perfectly so. When you have carved out a niche, most of your freelance work would be done out of that alcove and so you’d begin to build adept skill at carrying out those tasks.
4. The Benefit of having other freelancers work for you
Eventually, because of your skill, even other freelancers would begin to refer customers to you for those specific tasks which you are known to carry out because it is simply easier for you to do those things. Both differentiated (specialized) and undifferentiated (unspecialized) freelancers would refer clients to you if they know you to be excellent at your job and for the specialized freelancer in particular if he or she doesn’t want to get distracted from the course of pursuing their own specific niche.
5. The Benefit of Reduced Competition
Yes! With the evolution of your niche, you no longer have to fight tooth and nail with all other freelancers to get jobs. With each movement towards the area of specialization, you succeed in creating for yourself, a template for even more success because you have fewer people to pitch against. Take for instance a simple example such as boarding a plane. With that simple decision, you have overcome the limitations of others on the ground- how many times have you seen planes getting stuck in traffic? Not quite possible, right? In the same way, you become a certain breed of unstoppable once you take the route of creating your own niche.
Who knows what you’d find along the way, other sub-niches which you can also create and which added value you’d end up having as you take this path? While on the path towards creating your niche, you are likely to stumble upon unique opportunities which you are unlikely to have encountered had you not sauntered upon that journey.
In other words, you might not even become the influencer which you’ve always dreamt of becoming if you don’t carve out your niche, for if you aren’t specific about what you do, how can you help others be specific about what they do?
We hope you have been convinced about the importance of creating your own niche, and we look forward to you shining in your space, even this week!
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